When Dennis Baughman and Malisa Monyakula purchased the building for Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop on County Line Road in Westwood, a small house was included on the parcel.
For years, the couple used the house for restaurant storage purposes as they ran LuLu’s — but they’d been discussing how to actually make more return on investment with it.
Miranda Nichols, who has worked for Baughman and Monyakula for eight years, said Baughman presented her with a proposal to turn the home into a bar named, appropriately enough, The House.
Now that idea is a reality with The House open at 2701 W. 47th Avenue, with Nichols as bar manager.
“That conversation happened a month-and-a-half ago, and we’ve just been going to town with painting and thrifting and finding cool decor [ever since],” Nichols said.
The House has now been open for nearly four weeks.
It features drinks, snacks, ice cream, yard games, as well a small kitchen featuring food from Chicago-based Wow Bao, which specializes in steam buns and dumplings.
Aside from root beer floats, Nichols said their signature drink is the Housefeather. It’s a spin on a horsefeather, a cocktail made with freshly squeezed lime juice, Old Overholt Rye, ginger beer and bitters.
Though the House has only been open a few weeks, Nichols said they’ve already picked up a few regular customers. She said that’s representative of the goal of The House to be a place that is intended to act as a hub for the Westwood community, a place where people feel at home.
“It’s really all about making the people, the neighborhood feel at home at The House,” Nichols said. “Their neighborhood bar where they can come relax.”
The House is open Thursday to Saturday from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m.
