The fast-casual and bar fusion restaurant Flaco's Tacos has officially opened, just a block from Wrigley Field, owners Ed and Jim Hebson announced.Illuminated sign

This will be their third Flaco’s Tacos, with locations already sitting at 46 E. Chicago Ave. and 725 S. Dearbourn St. Their new space is filling the former Wild Hare reggae club, a nearly 10,000-square-foot building that went through an estimated $1 million renovation.Now that the transformation is complete, Flaco's Tacos features entire walls of bright windows, a major change compared to Wild Hare's dark atmosphere. And unlike some nightclubs on Clark, Ed Hebson says their vision for the space is something different.

“We love the Cubs' business, and doing business around here, you really have to, but we really want this to speak to the neighborhood,” Ed said when interviewed by the Lakeview Patch. “We’re going to be a restaurant first, and a bar second. I think it’s important for Lake View residents to know about that. We want to be a part of turning Clark Street into a destination for people who live here, not just for the out-of-towners here for a game.”

The Hebsons also applied for a 50-seat sidewalk café license that will extend down West Eddy Street from Clark Street. That’s combined with the transformation of the former club’s interior, adding a bar and restaurant, and replacing the brick storefront with a wall of windows.

“We’re expanding the windows on all the sides of the building to move away from the dark club feel Wild Hare had,” Ed said. “…Our other two stores are about 1,500-square feet, and just the first floor of this space will be about three times that, so this is much larger.”