Opening in Chicago this week is a new establishment being brought to you by Toleso Worldwide, Inc. Once a humble tequila brand, founded by Philadelphia Liberty legends Tyler Oles Sr, Perry Tucker Sr, Micah Hendrix and of course Hall of Fame tight end Paul Dimirio, Toleso has grown to become a global brand with multiple beverage lines, establishments in over 15 different countries and even a record label. The brand new brewery and restaurant, called Ole Chicago's, hopes to bring a family friendly establishment to the city for both beer drinkers and non beer drinkers alike. Toleso hopes to use the brewery as a site for pioneering new beer formulations before bringing them to a larger market as well as collaborate with local Chicago breweries. From day one the brewery will offer their new flagship IPA Ole Number 5, an homage to Tyler Oles Sr, and hopes to be rolling out new beers on a monthly basis. The timing, location and branding of the brewery and restaurant should come as no surprise as the Oles family has strong ties to the Chicago Butchers organization including Tyler Oles Jr signing with the team this past off-season.
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We caught up with one of Toleso's founders and Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Micah Hendrix, to ask him more about the opening of Ole Chicago's.
Hi Micah, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk with us about this new venture for Toleso.
Of course!
Now first of all, why here, why now?
We've been looking for a place to roll out this experimental brewery in particular for a while as we try to continue our expansion of the Toleso brand. Because of the origin of Toleso, we have a strong connection to the NSFL and its teams when it comes to brand recognition. We had considered bringing it to Philadelphia as a bit of a homecoming, but with the original Toleso distillery already residing there, it seemed to make sense to set up in a new market. Chicago is a major hub for sports and entertainment. Especially with the signing of Tyler Oles Jr by the Butchers, as well as one of our sponsored athletes Osiris Firestorm-Fjord being on the team, it seemed like as good a location and time to bring Ole Chicago's to life as any.
Can you explain how you came up with the name?
It's no secret that the original name Toleso comes from the Tyler Oles name to some extent. So the name is a play on his name once again. We wanted to name it after an anagram of "Oles Chicago" and Ole Chicago's performed the best in our market research. Maybe not that exciting but people seem to be responding well to the name and to the establishment itself.
Was the name and opening of Ole Chicago's contingent upon Tyler Oles Jr signing with Chicago?
To some extent yes. We were pretty set on Chicago as the location for opening the brewery and restaurant but once we had the inside scoop from TO Sr on the signing we decided to push the opening forward and go with an Oles centric name once again. But if TO Jr decides to leave in the future we certainly don't anticipate slowing anything down. I'm sure that we'll be well established by that point.
Do you anticipate any hostility from local breweries and eateries with a large brand opening a location in the city?
As I said this has been in the works for some time and we've tried to make good relationships with local restaurants and breweries in the markets we were exploring. We want to make it clear that we're not here to run local businesses out of town but are hoping to add to the brewery and restaurant scene in the city. We particularly hope to partner with local breweries in making some fun creations as well as give back to the city how we can. I think we will have a unique niche in the Chicago ecosystem covering multiple demographics so as not to step on anyone's toes specifically.
What can guests expect when they visit Ole Chicago's?
This is going to be a family friendly place, we're not trying to be a bar by any means and that's why we didn't set up right in the heart of downtown. We've got a huge indoor area we've set up in a repurposed warehouse as well tons of outdoor seating and a courtyard for people to enjoy during the warm months. I won't try to hide the fact that I'm personally more excited about the brewery side of things but we've worked very hard to make sure that our restaurant will be top notch as well. We have a lot of dishes that will be inspired by Chicago cuisine as well as international recipes influenced by our travels in making Toleso a global entity. I think it's going to be a delicious pairing of the two at the end of the day.
Any big events planned for the opening?
Well right now we're only doing a soft launch as we get things set up still but we're planning to open in full for the next Butchers home game and be both a tailgate hub as well as a place that fans can come to watch the game. Other than that we have some events with the Butchers planned and a few fundraisers coming up as giving back to the city is a big part of our mission as well. So stay tuned for some more details on that as it comes to fruition.
Thanks again for your time, Micah.
Abso-lutely!
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So there you have it, whether you're a fan of food, a fan of beer or just want somewhere fun to hang out with friends and family, Ole Chicago's has a little something for everyone. We're excited to see what's next for Toleso and what fun they can cook up, or brew up, here in Chicago.
==========
We caught up with one of Toleso's founders and Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Micah Hendrix, to ask him more about the opening of Ole Chicago's.
Hi Micah, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk with us about this new venture for Toleso.
Of course!
Now first of all, why here, why now?
We've been looking for a place to roll out this experimental brewery in particular for a while as we try to continue our expansion of the Toleso brand. Because of the origin of Toleso, we have a strong connection to the NSFL and its teams when it comes to brand recognition. We had considered bringing it to Philadelphia as a bit of a homecoming, but with the original Toleso distillery already residing there, it seemed to make sense to set up in a new market. Chicago is a major hub for sports and entertainment. Especially with the signing of Tyler Oles Jr by the Butchers, as well as one of our sponsored athletes Osiris Firestorm-Fjord being on the team, it seemed like as good a location and time to bring Ole Chicago's to life as any.
Can you explain how you came up with the name?
It's no secret that the original name Toleso comes from the Tyler Oles name to some extent. So the name is a play on his name once again. We wanted to name it after an anagram of "Oles Chicago" and Ole Chicago's performed the best in our market research. Maybe not that exciting but people seem to be responding well to the name and to the establishment itself.
Was the name and opening of Ole Chicago's contingent upon Tyler Oles Jr signing with Chicago?
To some extent yes. We were pretty set on Chicago as the location for opening the brewery and restaurant but once we had the inside scoop from TO Sr on the signing we decided to push the opening forward and go with an Oles centric name once again. But if TO Jr decides to leave in the future we certainly don't anticipate slowing anything down. I'm sure that we'll be well established by that point.
Do you anticipate any hostility from local breweries and eateries with a large brand opening a location in the city?
As I said this has been in the works for some time and we've tried to make good relationships with local restaurants and breweries in the markets we were exploring. We want to make it clear that we're not here to run local businesses out of town but are hoping to add to the brewery and restaurant scene in the city. We particularly hope to partner with local breweries in making some fun creations as well as give back to the city how we can. I think we will have a unique niche in the Chicago ecosystem covering multiple demographics so as not to step on anyone's toes specifically.
What can guests expect when they visit Ole Chicago's?
This is going to be a family friendly place, we're not trying to be a bar by any means and that's why we didn't set up right in the heart of downtown. We've got a huge indoor area we've set up in a repurposed warehouse as well tons of outdoor seating and a courtyard for people to enjoy during the warm months. I won't try to hide the fact that I'm personally more excited about the brewery side of things but we've worked very hard to make sure that our restaurant will be top notch as well. We have a lot of dishes that will be inspired by Chicago cuisine as well as international recipes influenced by our travels in making Toleso a global entity. I think it's going to be a delicious pairing of the two at the end of the day.
Any big events planned for the opening?
Well right now we're only doing a soft launch as we get things set up still but we're planning to open in full for the next Butchers home game and be both a tailgate hub as well as a place that fans can come to watch the game. Other than that we have some events with the Butchers planned and a few fundraisers coming up as giving back to the city is a big part of our mission as well. So stay tuned for some more details on that as it comes to fruition.
Thanks again for your time, Micah.
Abso-lutely!
==========
So there you have it, whether you're a fan of food, a fan of beer or just want somewhere fun to hang out with friends and family, Ole Chicago's has a little something for everyone. We're excited to see what's next for Toleso and what fun they can cook up, or brew up, here in Chicago.
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[OPTION]Regular Season Stats
[OPTION](S2) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S3) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S4) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S5) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S6) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S7) 14 Games Played
[OPTION](S8) 14 Games Played
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[OPTION]Playoff Stats
[OPTION] 27839
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[OPTION]Trophy Case/Achievements:
[OPTION]Most Likely to Break the Team Bench When Sitting Down
[OPTION]Pumpkin Chuckin' Rally 2017 Semifinalist
[OPTION]Most Likely to Get Traded in S8 (T-1st)
[OPTION]Ultimus Champion S7, S8