Doc Watkins, the jazz pianist and entrepreneur behind two Texas live-music dining venues, will open Doc's Jazz Club at NEWCITY in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood in March 2027 — his first Midwest location and the third in a portfolio that has quietly become a template for the modern jazz supper club.
The Chicago venue will occupy the former Yard House space at 1500 N Clybourn, a large-format restaurant footprint that Watkins' team will convert into a dedicated live-music dining room. NEWCITY, a mixed-use development in the Lincoln Park/Near North Side corridor, combines foodservice, entertainment, and retail in a walkable urban setting — a property profile that mirrors the historic Pearl district in San Antonio, where Watkins opened Jazz, TX in 2016.
The Operator's Track Record
Jazz, TX recently marked its 10th anniversary, having hosted artists including Kenny Garrett, Bill Charlap, Brian Blade, and Kevin Eubanks over the decade. A second venue, Doc's Jazz Club in Houston, followed, establishing the brand's "Fine Jazz. Serious Hospitality" positioning — an approach that asks guests to dress up, linger, and treat the evening as an occasion rather than a transaction. Watkins performs more than 100 shows a year with his 11-piece orchestra and has released 10 albums, giving the brand an authentic artist-operator identity that distinguishes it from concept-driven entertainment-dining competitors.
The Chicago club will be led by Chef Matt Fanella, who will develop a culinary program intended to position the food as a co-equal draw alongside the live music. Nick DeFina has been named General Manager, responsible for the guest-experience layer that the brand considers central to its repeat-visit economics. Neither the menu direction nor covers capacity were disclosed at this stage.
Why Chicago, Why Now
The Lincoln Park opening arrives as the live-music dining segment faces renewed investor interest following post-pandemic rebounds in experiential hospitality. Operators in the space — from independent supper clubs to national chains — are betting that consumers will pay a premium for curated, in-person entertainment that streaming cannot replicate. For Doc's, the Chicago move is a test of whether a regional brand with deep roots in Texas can sustain its identity and hospitality standards in a larger, more competitive market.
Watkins has also broadened his footprint beyond club operations. He co-founded TurnTable, a ticketing and marketing platform built specifically for jazz clubs and cabaret-style venues — a B2B play that positions him as an infrastructure provider for the broader segment. His book, Jazz, TX: A Love Letter to Live Music, Community, and the Little Club That Could, released August 25, 2026, doubles as a brand-building asset and an entrepreneurial case study for independent venue operators.
For foodservice and hospitality analysts tracking the experiential dining category, Doc's Chicago represents a meaningful data point: a proven independent operator with a defined concept, a chef-led kitchen, and a music-first identity expanding into one of the country's most established culinary markets. How it performs against Chicago's entrenched dining and entertainment competition will be closely watched across the restaurant industry and the live-entertainment hospitality segment alike.
"There's something powerful about sitting in a room with other people, listening to musicians who are creating something in real time," Watkins said. "You can't stream that feeling. You can't put it on a playlist. It happens because you're there."
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
