4 things to know about The Boiler Room

Alter Ego Form

True fact about me and The Boiler Room: It's the only movie I've ever walked out of. (If you thought Giovanni Ribisi's boyish charm could save any movie, you're dead wrong.)

I can't be sure, but I don't think I'll have that same problem with Logan Square's forthcoming pizza-bar of the same name. Opening in late June at 2210 N California Ave, this Boiler Room will be the second collaboration between the owners of Simone's and TOC Eat Out Award-winning design group Alter Ego Form (pictured). Will it mimic Simone's? Not really. As one of the owners, Desiree Grant, told us: "You get bored doing the same thing all the time." So what can we expect from the Boiler Room? Here are a few details:

1. There will be pizza. Like Simone's, the Boiler Room will not be a restaurant but a bar with food. And that food will be pizza. "The burger angle is already covered in the area," Grant says. "Would we really want to try to compete with Revolution and Logan?" (Rumors that the chef behind those pizzas would be another Eat Out Award winner, Enoch Simpson, are false; Simpson was offered the job but passed. I vowed not to name the chef at this time [giving him time to put in notice at his current job] but his credentials are promising. Especially for pizza.)

2. There will be beer. Wine and cocktails will be served, of course. But really, the Boiler Room "will be more of a beer place," Grant says. The large beer selection should come in handy for the equally large beer garden in the back. And if it's whiskey you're after, you'll be able to get, too: Jameson will be on tap.

3. There will be secret menu items. Every day, the (secret) chef will offer a secret special. It will be seasonal and sustainable, and a little more substantial than pizza. It will be "something completely unexpected," Grant promises.

4. There will be crazy bathrooms. In general the design of this place will be much more subtle and subdued than the arcade-inspired decor of Simone's. Some of the inspiration this time around: Chicago subway cars and old boiler plates. But the bathrooms, Grant says, will be completely "over-the-top."