{"id":29847,"date":"2025-07-01T12:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T12:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/29847\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T12:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T12:40:10","slug":"what-makes-a-great-chicago-cocktail-bar-chicago-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/29847\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Great Chicago Cocktail Bar \u2013 Chicago Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Subscribe on\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Spotify<\/a>. Read the transcript below.<\/p>\n

Amy Cavanaugh: <\/strong>\u00a0Welcome to Dish From Chicago Magazine. I\u2019m Amy Cavanaugh, Chicago magazine\u2019s dining editor.<\/p>\n

John Kessler: <\/strong>And I\u2019m John Kessler, Chicago magazine\u2019s dining critic.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>And today we\u2019re going to dig into Chicago\u2019s cocktail bar scene. We\u2019re going to talk about some of our favorite spots in town for a drink. We\u2019re going to talk about what makes a good cocktail, and we\u2019re going to talk about what makes a good cocktail bar. We\u2019re also going to share the best things we\u2019ve eaten lately, which include a fancy beef skewer at one of the city\u2019s best restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just a reminder, on July 16, the magazine is hosting its best restaurants event<\/a>, which will feature signature bites from some of our favorite spots, including Dear Margaret, El Che Steakhouse, and Publican Quality Bread. Both John and I will be there, and we\u2019d love to see you there too. If you\u2019re interested in purchasing tickets, and they\u2019re going fast, head to Chicagomag.com\/cbr<\/a>, that\u2019s C as in Chicago, B as in best, and R is in restaurants.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Amy, since you\u2019re the expert, tell me, what does make a good cocktail bar?<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>I think that a good Chicago cocktail bar \u2014 let\u2019s start there \u2014 I think is, I think Chicago is really known for having an approachable scene. You know, we have some places that are certainly fancier, such as the Aviary and Kumiko, but I feel like the scene is really best understood through places that feel like they\u2019re more neighborhood spots doing great drinks<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Best Intentions kind of stuff?<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Exactly, exactly like that. These are places that are serving really high quality drinks, but in much more relaxed environments. You know, I see all the time that these kinds of places say we\u2019re not cocktail bars. We\u2019re just a bar. And so they might have a feel of, you know, just your neighborhood corner tavern, and I think that they really kind of draw on Midwest tavern culture, you know, you mentioned Best Intentions, which really, I think, gets to that. But then also places like Sportsman\u2019s Club, Small Bar, Quality Time. Even Pizza Lobo. I\u2019m a big fan of, you know, swinging by there for a slice, and I love their mezcal Negroni. It feels just like, you know, a pizza tavern from the 70s, but they have a really, they put some thought into their cocktail program, and they\u2019re doing a really great job. So I think that that\u2019s<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>So interesting to me, because there are so many neighborhood bars and taverns in Chicago. Like, I\u2019m just amazed that I can walk one block in any direction from where I live and just, oh, look, there\u2019s a bar. You know?<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Yeah, absolutely. And Chicago is not unique in having neighborhood bars, by any means, but I think that there\u2019s, there\u2019s really a feel to these places that is very Chicago. You can kind of see some places like this, if you go up into Wisconsin, where I spend a lot of time, like around Madison, and places like that. But if you\u2019re trying to think about, like, what sets Chicago\u2019s cocktail bar scene apart, I think it\u2019s really the sense of approachability, but that approachability is not at the expense of really great drinks. I think that I would say the majority of my favorite places are these kind of these bars like the Queen Mary<\/a> in Wicker Park is a particular favorite. They have. You know, the best martini in town,<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Right? What is it like, isn\u2019t it made with, like, the martini has some unusual ingredient it right? Like\u2014<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>The Navy-Strength Old Fashioned, which I named as the number one best cocktail in town last year<\/a>. It\u2019s gin and Navy-strength rum. So totally off the wall combo to see gin and rum in a drink together, but it\u2019s absolutely fantastic. And every time I go to that bar, I have to have, to have one, but it\u2019s served in a space that you know is pretty much unchanged for decades. That bar was was owned by a couple, and the husband passed away, and the wife just locked the door and it sat there for decades until it reopened in 2015 with Heisler Hospitality. And it has that feel of, you know, this really unchanged time capsule. So there\u2019s nothing fancy about this at all, but they\u2019re serving incredibly high quality drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yeah, there are a lot of bars in Chicago that like, feel they\u2019re right out of a David Lynch movie or something. I mean, they\u2019re kind of like old and dark and maybe, you know, borderline creepy, but not actually creepy, just kind of moody.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>This thought that these bartenders are putting into the drinks, you know, really, really comes through. But I think when we\u2019re talking about approachability, we also need to talk about price, because even though a lot of these places really kind of have that casual feel, the cocktails might still be $16, $17 and that is pretty expensive for a drink. Probably my single favorite place right now is Gus\u2019 Sip and Dip<\/a> in River North, which is from the team behind Three Dots and a Dash<\/a>. The drinks are absolutely fantastic, and they\u2019re $12 and these are some of the highest\u2014 it\u2019s amazing. And, you know, these are some of the highest quality drinks you can get in the city at some of the lowest prices. And, you know, I think there\u2019s a reason that people are lining up to get in the doors when this bar opens. That\u2019s such an important factor these days. Like, I really think that this era of the $20 cocktail is not going to continue much longer, and I really hope it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>God and $25 and it\u2019s like, you know, truffle-washed rum made by some monk on a little Caribbean island or something. I mean, it\u2019s like these cocktails that have all these weird, savory ingredients in them, and they\u2019re like, $25 or $30 and I feel like I should try them because they sound special. But I, I kind of, I kind of suspect a little BS in it. I\u2019m not sure how do you feel about that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>I feel very similarly to you. I think that, I think that cocktail tastes can be very personal. We all gravitate toward certain flavor profiles and maybe others don\u2019t quite work as well for us. So you know, for me, I tend to avoid spicy cocktails. I tend to think that drinks that are intended to be spicy are, like, too spicy, to the point where, like, you can\u2019t taste anything else. I love spicy food, but for me, a spicy cocktail, just like, really doesn\u2019t work. And I think that savory is another thing that I\u2019m really trying to be careful with because I think that a lot of the savory drinks just go too hard, and they\u2019re throwing too many ingredients in there, and it\u2019s just not working. That said, I was at Sepia<\/a> over the weekend, and I had Keith\u2019s World Famous Cheeseburger Martini<\/a>, and he\u2019s got a lot in there. He\u2019s got tomato water, he\u2019s got dill. He\u2019s washed the the gin with beef tallow. And so, like, there\u2019s a lot of flavors in there, but it could also work. And so\u2014<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Are there, like, little chunks of meat stuck on the rim, or no?<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>There\u2019s, there\u2019s a cheese cube. But I was like, You got to serve this with a little slider. You know? I love, I love any cocktail that comes with a little snack. Yeah. Big fan of a snack with my drink. At Deere Park in Highwood, the martini comes with a bowl of chips, which I greatly appreciate. In general, I look for drinks that use fewer ingredients rather than more. I think that, you know, once you\u2019re getting above four or five, how are you achieving balance here, I think there\u2019s just, there\u2019s too much happening in a lot of cases. And I think a lot of places could kind of ascribe to the Coco Chanel rule and remove one accessory, and it would be a better drink.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yeah, you seem to really like stirred cocktails a lot, and I do too, but sometimes they seem so strong to me, and particularly the ones that have a lot of ingredients in them just seem like they\u2019ve got, like they\u2019re very alcoholic. You can sort of taste like hot in your mouth. Kind of, it kind of burns a little bit, but a couple times like, and I know there was one you recommended, which I think was the Martinez at Bisous, and it felt like it had been so well stirred that all the flavors just kind of segued into each other. It wasn\u2019t like you were tasting different things. You\u2019re tasting one thing. And I got the impression too that there was a little bit more water had worked into it so it wasn\u2019t quite so alcoholic. I\u2019m just curious if you can talk a little bit about stirred cocktails.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Yes, absolutely. I mean, I gravitate toward stirred cocktails because I love cocktails that just really have these layers of flavor, that have a middle note that really just kind of ties like the high and low together. And those are the places that achieve that are my favorite places. And I think Bisous absolutely nails the stirred drink<\/a>. With stirred cocktails, water\u2014 well water is an, is a key component of every single cocktail. You need ice to chill the drink. You need water to dilute it. And it\u2019s really finding that proper dilution point is, is what really brings that drink together. I\u2019ve certainly been served some drinks where, when you put it down in front of me, it is shockingly strong. It is, it\u2019s just too much. And then I, like, set it aside for a couple minutes, and then I take another sip, and that additional, the ice is melted a little bit. Now the drink works perfectly together. So, you know, that\u2019s some of it. It\u2019s finding the bartenders with the skills to know how many, how many shakes that shaker needs, and knows how many stirs they need to stir that cocktail to ensure that like everything is perfectly in balance. You want to go to places where you\u2019ve seen bartenders do the straw test, where they\u2019re tasting the drink as they go along, to make sure that like everything is perfectly in sync.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>I think the place I drink the most cocktails is not any kind of a big player on the cocktail map, but it\u2019s The Charleston<\/a>, great old bar, great moody bar in Bucktown. They spin records at night and everything. I like to go kind of early during the week. There is a bartender there named Josh who, I don\u2019t really know him. He\u2019s an employee there. I don\u2019t think he has any. I mean, I don\u2019t know his story at all, but he\u2019s seen me come in there enough, and I would order, I like the way he made a Boulevardier. I tried one once, and I liked that, and so I\u2019d order that. But then he said to me, you know, I think probably your drink is going to be a Black Manhattan. And I had no idea what a Black Manhattan was, but he made one for me, and it was great. Like, he figured me out as a drinker, but I like, like, he\u2019s somebody I trust to do the stirred cocktail, because I can see that it just, it\u2019s really well blended in a way, and it\u2019s just kind of funny, like, I think that\u2019s a big part of I\u2019m going to like, the hottest, trendiest new bar where you have to either make a reservation or wait for a while to be able to get in. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m ever gonna do that, unless it\u2019s just to try it. I mean, that doesn\u2019t seem like fun to me, but getting a neighborhood bar where there\u2019s somebody who kind of sees who you are as a drinker, I think, is interesting, and I\u2019m kind of curious if you have a place like that.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Yeah. I mean, I think that one of the most important things you can do if you\u2019re a cocktail drinker is to find those bartenders whose tastes really sync up with yours, who, yes, who can have a read on you and be like, you know, I know that you like this. How about you try this? I think there\u2019s, there\u2019s a lot of places that I really love, but honestly, like, you know, I, I love Gus\u2019, which I just talked about, but I think that the Bamboo Room<\/a> is probably my favorite place to go for drinks in the city. That\u2019s, that\u2019s the little side bar at Three Dots and a Dash that you do need a reservation to go there. But, you know, I find that the team there just has such a good read on me. Scott Kitsmiller was was working there for a while, and he moved over to Gus\u2019 when that opened. But like, I just remember going there one time, and without even ordering anything, he\u2019s brought me a sherry Daiquiri. I\u2019m a huge sherry drinker, giant fan of sherry. I drink it all the time, and it was just like, the perfect start. And also, just like, had such a read on my palate and what I like. And so I really find that the drinks at Three Dots and Bamboo Room and Gus\u2019 are just like, so in line with what I\u2019m looking for, and so in line with what I like that I go to these places and I like everything that I have, which is, you know, not the case everywhere. You know, there are some places where I\u2019ll go and I\u2019ll like a couple drinks, but maybe not every drink kind of nails it. And I find that Gus\u2019, Three Dots, and Bamboo just absolutely work for me.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yeah. I mean, it\u2019s interesting because I think you mentioned Three Dots and a Dash, which I know with a lot of shaken cocktails. And I think those are, even though, like I started out talking about drinking Boulevardiers and stuff. I think I gravitate more toward, like, kind of very citrusy, sour, shaken cocktails. That\u2019s just more my palate. And boy, you really nailed it when you told me I\u2019d like Scofflaw<\/a>, because I think that\u2019s a great bar. I think I went there recently, got a daiquiri, and it was just, I think it was just like, you know, white rum, sugar and lime juice. I mean, it\u2019s pretty simple, but it was so in balance to what I wanted. And I was like, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. This is, this is my drink right now.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>I knew that you would love Scofflaw. I think you would also love the shaken drinks at Sparrow<\/a>, which is where I went last night. I went and had a Floridita, and I think at both Sparrow and Scofflaw, I think little tiki drinks can be like, just like a touch too tart for me. But you know, I love how icy and cold they are and refreshing, and the stirred drinks at those places just totally nail it for me. And so I\u2014<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Where\u2019s Sparrow?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Yeah, Sparrow is in the Gold Coast. I think you\u2019d like the Floridita. It\u2019s a daiquiri variation.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Amy, I know you\u2019re a fan of Cara Cara Club<\/a> and Nine Bar<\/a>, which are two bars that are run by the same couple. Is that right?<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>They\u2019re both run by Joe Briglio and Lily Wang, both who are super talented. I love Nine Bar for their use of Asian ingredients. They opened down in Chinatown a few years back. I think they\u2019re doing very cool stuff there. And I\u2019m also a fan of Cara Cara Club, which is like right next to Lula Cafe, and it\u2019s more inspired by Italian drinking. So they use a lot of Amaro. I think what\u2019s particularly novel about what they\u2019re doing is they\u2019re making their own like, vermouth and red bitter blends. You know, which you certainly see some bars do that. But I think they\u2019re just doing it to, like, such a great effect. I really love a lot of the drinks there, and it\u2019s a very breezy spot.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yeah, I saw, gosh, where was it? There was some place I went recently where they did their own blend, very specific blend of different vermouths that they put in something, and it was like a terrific drink. Did I tell you about that? I think I did. Where was that?<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>I think it was at Daisies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yes, that was it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>And I think that, that is so important to me, in terms of, like, achieving, like these layers of flavor, is that, you know, bringing, not just using one vermouth, but using two, three to bring in all of these different kind of like weights and flavors and different notes. And I think that works great. Daisies I think really has an excellent bar program. And I think that\u2019s just one of the restaurants lately that have really been killing it. I think that the restaurant bar has really seen a great resurgence in Chicago lately. I mean, Daisies is great. Sepia is one of my go-to places. Rose Mary is incredible. Elske is great. Oliver\u2019s. Like, I go to these places just for drinks and don\u2019t always eat when I go there, and I find that I\u2019m seeing more and more people there doing the same thing. So the restaurant bar scene was, yeah,<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>I really want to go back to Oliver\u2019s<\/a> and just drink because I thought that the cocktails were kind of like one of the strongest parts of going there. Luke DeYoung\u2019s work there was really, really good. I remember getting a crusta. It was just so much fun, and it was balanced, and it was, it was just kind of a pleasure to have this, you know, big, like colorful, happy drink in front of me, and<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>He\u2019s a former Scofflaw guy, so that that could make sense there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Okay, so there we go. It all comes around. And then that, there\u2019s that place, you like, Golden Years<\/a>, right? It\u2019s got that sign that looks like it\u2019s the title card from a 70s sitcom, I think.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Yes, yeah, we went and had highballs before a dinner one time. That is my favorite Japanese highball in town. Japanese whiskey highball. It is so freezing cold, and I just love the balance of whiskey to soda. It is like the most refreshing.<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yeah. I when I lived in Japan, I drank a lot of high balls and also a lot of whiskey and hot water was a big thing there, which<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Like a toddy?<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Sort of, but it\u2019s just plain hot water and whiskey. It\u2019s called oyuwari, and it\u2019s kind of the thing that the old men would drink. The older guys like to go to their their little snacks and clubs and things after work and drink whiskey and hot water. It\u2019s kind of, it was kind of fun, but it was very, like, heady. You know, you got a lot of, like, alcoholic vapor into your nose as you were drinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>I\u2019ll have to try that this winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yeah, come on over. We\u2019ll have, we\u2019ll have a whiskey and hot water party. It\u2019ll be fun. Everybody. All listeners, you can come, too.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>John, what\u2019s the best thing you ate lately?<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Loved my pasta at Daisies<\/a>. Yay. It was really perfectly cooked gnocchi with morel mushrooms, maybe some truffle, you know, bucket of butter. Just delicious. Loved. How about you?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>I just had a fabulous lunch at Monteverde<\/a>. I had never been for lunch before somehow. I\u2019ve been so many times for dinner, but I went for lunch and I had the Wagyu beef skewers. Oh, my God. These were incredible, with pickled cherry peppers, some cumin, honey. It was just like the richest, most beautiful bite. Like, it\u2019s a small skewer. You only need one. Really, really tasty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>Yep, I love that. When something is so like, nice and rich and well balanced that you just think, Okay, I\u2019m happy after this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Perfect, perfect little bite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John: <\/strong>You know, I always like, it\u2019s like the almost-great food that I overeat, but it\u2019s like the really delicious food that just makes me happy.<\/p>\n

Amy: <\/strong>Thanks for joining us for this episode of Dish From Chicago Magazine. Your hosts are dining editor Amy Cavanaugh and critic John Kessler, editing by Sarah Steimer, and music by Bill Harris. You can find us online at Chicagomag.com. Please be sure to follow, rate, and review us wherever you get your podcasts. We\u2019ll see you next time.<\/p>\n

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