At Park & Rec, It's All Fun and Games, and Really Good Cocktails

A new kind of food and drink revelry is gearing up for launch in University Heights, where neighborhood fixture Bourbon Street (4612 Park Boulevard), which shuttered in January, is being replaced by Park & Rec, an indoor/outdoor bar-focused hangout that's due before Memorial Day.

Waypoint Public owner John Pani of ELE Collective has tasked drink dynamos Trevor Easter (Noble Experiment) and Anthony Schmidt (Fairweather, Rare Form) with crafting 15 signature cocktails that Pani says will be simple, straightforward and made with a compact list of ingredients; they'll be featured at Park & Rec's largest bar, housed in its main building along with seating and shuffleboard, fronted by a sidewalk patio.

At the center of the 3,500-square-foot space is an oak tree-shaded courtyard that will be filled with park benches, a ping-pong table and old school games. A second outdoor space will hold communal tables and another greenhouse-like bar that will serve daytime refreshers. Park & Rec's food service will be provided by Royale with Cheese, which will cook up a menu of burger, grilled cheese sandwiches, tater tots and salads; on weekends, a variety of breakfast sandwiches will be available.

The multi-use venue host live bands and DJs, and there's even a dance floor inside a Craftsman-style cottage, which has more seating and another bar and will be opened for special events.

Pani also holds the lease to the adjacent 3,500-square-foot Lei Lounge, which will be a separate, more restaurant-centric venture. It will likely reopen in late summer.