Western Springs Cocktail Bar Opening

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs resident Dan Schovain is about ready to achieve a goal he has been working on since before the pandemic.

On Friday, Jan. 12, he plans to open The Opry at 4354 Johnson Ave. in Western Springs.

It will include a cocktail bar, a small café with a coffee roastery (Daydream Coffee), a bottle shop and a music venue.

"The cocktail bar is the centerpiece of what we're doing," Schovain said in an interview Thursday. "Our focus is to create a quality experience in everything we do."

The business will feature a Nashville-inspired "listening room," he said.

"Each time an artist performs, it'll really be a unique experience," Schovain said in the interview.

In 2020, he said he decided to open a café, where he would expand his coffee roasting operation, as well as serve roasted coffee and fresh pastries.

He said he wanted his business to be inclusive of his many interests. From that, he said, The Opry was born.

In an email to Patch, he said The Opry wants to bring a piece of Nashville's singer-songwriter culture to Western Springs, supporting the songwriting community.

Schovain, who is from La Grange Park, attended Mount Carmel High School in Chicago and graduated from DePaul University in 2008.

In 2012, he and his wife, Anne Schovain, moved to the Forest Hills neighborhood in Western Springs and opened the School of Rock in Hinsdale. He founded Daydream Coffee in 2018.

On Friday, Jan. 12, The Opry plans concerts starting at 6:30 p.m., with the bar opening at 10 p.m.

The next day, the café is set to open at 8 a.m., with the bar opening two hours later. The place will close at 2 p.m., with concerts starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Opry plans to be open seven days a week.

Musician Ella Gibson performs at The Opry's soft opening.