Best Cocktail Bars for the Tragically Unhip
April 25, 2018 5:31 PM Subscribe
Chicago filter: Looking for a cocktail bar that would be decently chill on a Saturday night for a small group (not more than 4 or 5). Some friends are visiting from out of town and want to grab post-dinner drinks. I am An Old and I tend not to go out to bars on weekends anymore, and I do not know what is good. Halp!
Preferences:
- cocktails available (not just beer and/or wine)
- reservations fine - maybe even preferable
- they can get a table, or at least seats
- won't be a huge loud screaming packed mess with a line out the door on a Saturday.
- absolutely no fucking arcades
- not Hopleaf (insert sadface)
Ideally this would be a kind of cool fun good bar, but obviously all of the Important Cocktail Bars will be absolute madhouses, so it doesn't have to be that level of cool. Not a true true dive, though, as they really do want tasty cocktails. Sorry, Happy Village, maybe next time.
Location is fairly flexible but everyone has to get back to the North Side at the end of the night. So like, city proper for sure.
For possible reference: they used to really like Bar Deville, but alas it is no longer with us.
Thanks in advance! I shall attribute any cool points I am given with the greater Metafilter community.
Preferences:
- cocktails available (not just beer and/or wine)
- reservations fine - maybe even preferable
- they can get a table, or at least seats
- won't be a huge loud screaming packed mess with a line out the door on a Saturday.
- absolutely no fucking arcades
- not Hopleaf (insert sadface)
Ideally this would be a kind of cool fun good bar, but obviously all of the Important Cocktail Bars will be absolute madhouses, so it doesn't have to be that level of cool. Not a true true dive, though, as they really do want tasty cocktails. Sorry, Happy Village, maybe next time.
Location is fairly flexible but everyone has to get back to the North Side at the end of the night. So like, city proper for sure.
For possible reference: they used to really like Bar Deville, but alas it is no longer with us.
Thanks in advance! I shall attribute any cool points I am given with the greater Metafilter community.
In the almost hotel category near State, Atwood does reservations, has good views and would be good for seated appetizers/cocktails/desert. Not necessarily any cool points.
On the northside near Montrose, Band of Bohemia (metafilter recommended in another thread) had great ambience. I didn't try a cocktail but it had an extensive menu.
posted by typecloud at 6:05 PM on April 25, 2018
On the northside near Montrose, Band of Bohemia (metafilter recommended in another thread) had great ambience. I didn't try a cocktail but it had an extensive menu.
posted by typecloud at 6:05 PM on April 25, 2018
The Sixth has fun cocktails on the north side; it's ~buzzy~ and gets pleasantly crowded but it's not really a scene, which is nice. Your friends may like Sportsman's Club if they liked Bar Deville (owned by the same group, I think), though I can't speak to the crowd on a Saturday night.
posted by coffeeinanIV at 7:43 PM on April 25, 2018
posted by coffeeinanIV at 7:43 PM on April 25, 2018
Three Dots and a Dash. Really good Tiki Bar. Make reservations.
posted by overhauser at 7:51 PM on April 25, 2018
posted by overhauser at 7:51 PM on April 25, 2018
I haven't actually been there yet but if you want excruciatingly hip, this place recently opened to good reviews in the carcass of the Orbit Room.
posted by theodolite at 9:14 PM on April 25, 2018
posted by theodolite at 9:14 PM on April 25, 2018
I was going to recommend Nighthawk in Albany Park as a nice option for a low key neighborhood cocktail bar masquerading as a dive bar, but if you're talking about this Saturday, they've got stand-up starting at 8 PM, so it won't be quiet enough. If you're not asking about this Saturday, I do recommend it.
Another possibility is The Victor Bar on Irving Park. Great cocktails, nice grown up atmosphere.
Also seconding the Sixth and Band of Bohemia suggestions above.
posted by merriment at 6:04 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Another possibility is The Victor Bar on Irving Park. Great cocktails, nice grown up atmosphere.
Also seconding the Sixth and Band of Bohemia suggestions above.
posted by merriment at 6:04 AM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
It kind of depends what time on a Saturday. Relatively early (say, before 8pm?) you would probably enjoy a lot of the even trendier cocktail places: Billy Sunday, Longman and Eagle - especially the little bar with the entrance on the side street called OSB [Off Site Bar], Scofflaw.
Other places that tend to be a little more chill and might work:
The Double Tavern
Spilt Milk
Weegee's
[BTW, Three Dots and a Dash ain't what it used to be. They even pre-mix some of their drinks/mixers now, and the prices have gone up while the quality went down. Plus the crowd has always had a strong douchecanoe factor due to the River North location. For tiki I now go to Lost Lake, but unfortunately on a Sat night it would probably be pretty crowded.)
posted by misskaz at 6:59 AM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
Other places that tend to be a little more chill and might work:
The Double Tavern
Spilt Milk
Weegee's
[BTW, Three Dots and a Dash ain't what it used to be. They even pre-mix some of their drinks/mixers now, and the prices have gone up while the quality went down. Plus the crowd has always had a strong douchecanoe factor due to the River North location. For tiki I now go to Lost Lake, but unfortunately on a Sat night it would probably be pretty crowded.)
posted by misskaz at 6:59 AM on April 26, 2018 [2 favorites]
Do you mean cocktails or cocktails (as in, the new fancy trendy ones)?
How about The Office, the speakeasy hidden underneath Next?
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:25 AM on April 26, 2018
How about The Office, the speakeasy hidden underneath Next?
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:25 AM on April 26, 2018
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