Violet Hour opened quietly, with little
ballyhoo, in the summer of 2007, in Chicago's formerly
arty - and now very trendy spendy - Wicker Park neighborhood. The
bar is
owned by several different investors. One of them is Toby
Maloney, a former employee of Manhattan's amazing Pegu Club.
Although Violet Hour has a completely different style of decor compared
to Pegu, Maloney has clearly been influenced by his erstwhile boss
Audrey Saunders. Violet Hour brings to Chicago the classy
atmosphere and amazing drinks that New Yorkers have been
enjoying ever since finding themselves on the leading edge of the
cocktail revival (vive le cocktail revival, by the way.
HELL yeah.).
Violet Hour is invisible from the street, hiding in an completely
unmarked space (perhaps taking a cue
from another Manhattan cocktail bar, Milk and Honey), and will only
allow as many customers through the doors as will fit
comfortably in the room. The upside of this is that the room is
never crowded, but the disadvantage is that you may have to wait in a
very slow line, even on a weeknight. All of the doormen I have
encountered to date (a few times each) are courteous and professional,
and one of them is even downright friendly.
Inside, Violet Hour feels like some sort of 18th century French parlor,
with periwinkle blue walls, and a big heavy drape (in that same shade
of
grey-blue) dividing the room in half. Candles provide most of the
illumination in the dim space, but crystal chandeliers add a bit
of light as well. The bar runs through both sections
of the space, with the drapery landing in the spot where the centermost
bar stool might sit. Tables and booths are surrounded
with plush,
high-backed seats that give each seating area a feeling of
privacy. Music is always audible, but never loud, so you will
always
be able to have a conversation at Violet Hour. I have enjoyed
some classic jazz there, but things also may shift to a mix of Tom
Waits ballads (good), and another mix that alternates between Johnny
Cash
(good) and Kenny Rogers (someone's attempt at humor, I was told).
No television, no gambling machines, no video games, and a no cell
phone policy.
I love this.
Violet Hour features a small menu of light food (a dozen selections at
$8 to $12), but I know what you're here for: cocktails.
Let's go.
All drinks are $12.
The menu contains about thirty drinks, that (of course) rotate
seasonally.
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Gin and Rum drinks are
the most plentiful, followed by Rye and Brandy
concoctions. There are also a few cordials, some wine and
champagne drinks, selected tequila cocktails, and (as it should be)
only two vodka drinks.
The Cocktail Snob and Gal Friday Night have made a dent in the menu
over the
course of two dozen visits, and we'd like to tell you all about it...
My first drink was the
Mai Tai Roa Ae, which is the proper name
of the drink that
Trader Vic
invented in 1944. Using great Matusalem and Brugal rums with
orange Curacao, fresh lime, and Orgeat, this drink is a worthy take on
the Trader's signature beverage. The only thing they missed is
the mint sprig garnish. More, please.
Sticking with the rum for a sec, we also tried a
Golden Age,
which
sticks with the Brugal, and adds Cherry Heering, egg yolk, Lemon
Bitters, and dashes of lemon juice and simple syrup. Toby served
us one of these, and then a few weeks later Michael (another New York
expatriate) served us another one that was more or less
identical. Nice job on the consistency, guys. In the case
of both efforts, we enjoyed the drinks, but we felt like it was not the
best thing on the menu. Upon reflection we decided that if this
drink were served in almost any other bar, it would be a miracle.
But at Violet Hour, miracles are daily occurrences, and there are a
grip
of drinks on the menu that are much better than the Golden Age.

For example:
Poor
Liza. I ordered this one because the list of
ingredients on the menu made it look like it might be a complete train
wreck. I wanted to see if they could surprise me by making it
work. They definitely did. It
rules. Pear
Brandy, Green Chartreuse, simple syrup, lemon
juice, and Peychaud's Bitters.
Whaaaa?
Trust me.
Go get one.
They also do the flaming orange peel.
Flaming cloud of zest.
Dig it.
Cocktail Snob is also a fan of the
Corpse Reviver #2.
Bombay Gin,
Lillet, Orange Curacao, and a few drops of Absinthe in the bottom of
the
glass. This is great stuff, and once again we found that ordering
this drink from a different barkeep on a different night still resulted
in more or less an identical beverage.
I am a Sidecar fan.
I like that the drink is simple, consisting of three
basic ingredients (lemon juice, Brandy, and Cointreau), but can be
easily made more tart, more sweet, or more boozy just by altering the
ratios a little bit. The variations are endless. I
sometimes
use it as
a litmus test in borderline bars: if they can make a Sidecar, they're
in, and if they can't then too bad, so sad. Violet Hour's Autumn
Sidecar uses Landy Cognac, Cointreau, lemon, and adds a few drops
of
Pimento dram. Perfecto. Their Summer Sidecar
substitutes
homemade
Limoncello for the Pimento dram. Good stuff, recommended.
I am not much of a Tequila fan.
Nevertheless, we sampled the Spanish Margarita along with the El
Diablo, and found both to be agreeable drinks.
The former is Sauza Plata, lime, Licor 43, and Hell-Fire Bitters.
Licor 43 is tasty stuff (and a key ingredient in my pal Dave Wolfe's
classic drink the Concubine). The latter is made of Sauza
Hornitos,
lemon, soda water, and ginger syrup, with a float of Creme de
Casis.
This is the better of the two, with the soda's fizziness giving way to
a lingering ginger flavor on the tongue.
We're not done yet!
Exploring the whiskey section, it was mandatory that we take a cruise
with the Irish Pirate, which is Red Beast Irish Whiskey, Sailor
Jerry Rum,
Demarara syrup, and house-made Autumn Bitters. This one is an
ass kicker. There's no subtlety here, just a glass of booze with
a big iceberg in the middle of it all. Sailor Jerry isn't
exactly my favorite rum, but I guess it fits the theme of the
drink.
It'll put hair on your chest.
In the wine and sparkling section, the Cocktail Snob testing team
perused
an Airmail (Gruet Sparkling, Brugal Anejo, lime and honey)
which we
found to be a tasty treat, worth ordering a second time. The Rio
Jockey Club (Gruet again, with pineapple, Cointreau, and Orange
Bitters) seemed like it might be another winner at first, but our
eventual reaction was a
bit indifferent.
Finally, Violet Hour offers a dozen wines mostly in the $7 - $10 range
(per glass) and another dozen beers, mostly $5 per bottle.
....and this is all from the first few of our 2007 visits.
We've been back many times and are never disappointed.
See you in line there!
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October, 2007
v1.1
Nacional 27 is a trendy Latin restaurant in
the spendy West Loop area of downtown Chicago. It has been
delighting Chicago area foodies and wine fans since opening in the late
1990s. A modern-feeling dining room
serves a variety of dishes inspired by adventures in South
America. Live music and Salsa dancing happens in the lounge area
on weekends.
The restaurant is owned by a company called Lettuce Entertain
You. Lettuce owns several dozen Chicago-area restaurants, each
different in vibe and approach, but all united by serving food that
ranges from above average
to very good. The atmosphere in many of them can be a little
corporate; Lettuce-owned places will never be able to give their
customers that homey warmth that
comes with going into a restaurant and knowing that the owner might
walk over at any minute to greet you, and that his family are all at
work there.
Of all of the Lettuce restaurants, we like Nacional 27 the best, and
that is because of their secret weapon, Adam Seger.
Adam is the General Manager and sommelier at Nacional 27 (the job
description on his business card is "El Presidente"), and is also the
designer of the cocktail menu. He has contributed to the cocktail
menus of other Lettuce restaurants as well. The man has a real
feel for the art of cocktails, and has advanced his craft to degrees
rarely seen anywhere. Having moved past the limitations of sweet
/ sour / fruity / bitter, Adam is known for raiding the kitchen in
order to incorporate a vast array of flavors and spices not normally
found in cocktails - and with great success.
These recipes in the wrong hands might be recipes for disaster, but
the man knows his flavors, his textures, and his balances, and has a
real passion for booze to boot. As if that wasn't enough, he
passed the
Advanced Exam of the Court of Master Sommeliers in one try. (That
sounds pretty serious, and very secret, and kind of creepy. If
you accidentally learn their secret symbols, you'd better forget them,
or else some guy is going to attack you in your sleep with a corkscrew
and leave arcane symbols
scrawled in Merlot on the nearest wall).
Anyway, Adam has got his bar team at Nacional 27 trained well, and this
crack squadron of shaker monkeys can usually be counted upon to
bring his creations to life with
skill and enthusiasm. Given the South American vibe, there is an
emphasis on original Tequila and Mezcal drinks, as well as a few
different takes on the Mojito, Caipirinha, and yes, even Margaritas.
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Blood Orange Caipirinha
Trinidad Beachcomber is a
great
tropical drink for $9.
Were Don the Beachcomber still alive, he'd have been proud to have come
up with this drink, which is clearly named in homage to him. By
the way, Don would have been 100 this past February (2007), and yes,
there was
a party. Speaking of celebrations, this drink needs to be
celebrated in it's own right. Jeff Berry, please write book #5,
and put this one in it! Trinidad Beachcomber is essentially
Adam's recreation of Pimm’s Cup #4. It is tart and and refreshing
(Ten
Cane Rum, Grand Marnier, house-made lime aid, and of course a 'secret
ingredient'... which would sort of have to be Pimm’s... right?).
A few places serve the Pimm's Cup #1, but you don't see the #4 too
often. That's a problem. Spread the word about this one.
I tried three of these over the course of 2007; two of them were
absolutely great, and the third tasted like overly-sweetened lemonade
(see above, re: "can
usually be counted upon"...).
Nacional 27 keeps things lively by continually rotating their menu,
including drinks made with seasonal fruits. One example from
early 2008 is a
Blood Orange Caipirinha, a variant on the
classic made
with - guess what - blood oranges. It is a completely different
drink from what Caipirinha fans will be used to, but it is a beverage
well worth having sampled.
We have also sampled -- several times -- the house specialty at
Nacional 27,
El Corazon, $12 (ask for it ‘pimped’).
The Del Maguey Co. makes a variety of Mezcals, each named for the
recipes used in one of several local
villages (such as Minero). Nacional's El Corazon uses the
Minero Mezcal, with a passion fruit and
pomegranate vibe going on, a salt and peppercorn rim, a dash of Del
Maguey single billage Mezcal for that smoky flavor, and then a variable
seasonal fresh fruit. This is probably a good place to mention
that all of the drinks at Nacional 27 use seasonal fresh fruit from a
local market. All of the herbs are grown on site in the
restaurant, and a wide variety of interesting bitters are hand made by
Seger. Out-freaking-standing.
Mango-Ginger Habenro

Nacional 27's
Smoking Orchid
is $11.
We like the rich, fruity quality. Lime, Ten Cane Rum, Aqua de
Jamaica, Hibiscus infused Rum, Navan, Mezcal. Sugared glass rim.
Good stuff.
Also worth having sampled, but not our favorite, is a
Mango-Ginger
Habanero. This creamy drink is made with mango puree, Ten
Cane
rum, a dash of house-made Ginger Habanero syrup, and then Chinese
five-spice along the rim of the glass. Interesting flavors, but
there are others that we prefer.
Nacional 27's take on the classic Sidecar is called a
Havana
Sidecar ($9), and uses Gran Torres Orange Brandy (sort of
combining the
traditional Brandy and orange liqueur into one ingredient there), lime
(replacing lemon), and Bacardi Anejo Rum. A thin sliver of lemon
and another sliver of lime float in the glass, which of course has a
sugared rim. This configuration actually brings the drink closer
to Jeff Berry's drink, the
Outrigger (see his
Grog
Log
for
details) than the traditional Sidecar, but that is no complaint -
we're just sayin'. It is delicious.
On a recent visit to the bar, we were treated to the joy of finding
Adam in a creative mood, and he shared some of his current projects
with us. First is a berry imported from South America called
acai. This obscure fruit has antioxidant properties that put even
pomegranate to shame. It inspired Seger to develop an organic,
healthy cocktail (if such a thing is possible, he is the man to do
it). Combining the acai with organic Tequila and a few
ingredients that we won't
reveal until he nails down a solid recipe, the man is on the right
track
towards another winner. The tentative name:
Look Better
Naked Margarita!
(Update: As of January 2008, it is on the menu).
Another improv that needs to be added to the Nacional 27 menu (and/or
your menu at home) is a
Brazilian Southside. This is
essentially
a Gin Mojito with added acai, garnished with a healthy sprig of
mint and a thin slice of sugar cane. Adam told us that Cocktail
Snob were the first people to try this one, and it is an honor to have
inaugurated such a tasty treat. Hopefully, we'll see that one on
the permanent menu soon.
(Update: As of January 2008, it is on the menu).
3659 W Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60647; (773) 384-9423
October, 2007
v1.0
Weegee's lounge was opened in mid--2006 by
Alex Huebner, in Chicago's slightly rough Logan Square
neighborhood. Like the work of the bar's namesake - Arthur
"Weegee"
Fellig, a famous 1940s street photographer - there is a gritty feel to
the neighborhood. This may actually enhance the flavor of the
bar, which feels vaguely retro without going over the top or hammering
customers over the head with a "look how vintage-hipster we are"
attitude. Still, the photo booth, the shuffleboard game, the
Weegee
photos on the walls,
and a giant antique photo enlarger all make Weegee's feel sufficiently
mid-century. Huebner was once a photography student himself, so
the choice of theme seems relevant. The vibe is made complete by
a restored tin ceiling, classic Baldwin back bar, and the soundtrack of
terrific classic jazz records that are never too loud. I think
that if the real Arthur Fellig's photos and name were not plastered up
in the place, he
might have felt comfortable sitting in this bar, after working the
crime photo beat in this neighborhood.
We've had good, if occasionally standoffish, service from a few
different bartenders, but if you manage to make it to Weegee's on a
night when Alex himself is manning the vintage mahogany bar, then
you're in for a treat. Alex has filled a sorely missing void in
the Chicago area, which is a bar that serves high quality classic
cocktails, but in a low-key, unpretentious neighborhood bar
atmosphere. Unlike Nacional 27 and Violet Hour - two other
Chicago bars that the Cocktail Snob adores - Weegees has a casual
midwest corner bar feeling to it,
while still insisting on serving high-end cocktails. Their wine
and beer lists are also impressive.
Most of Weegees drinks are in the $7 to $9 range, with a few peaking at
up to $11.
We recently sampled their take on a Sazerac - soon to be added
to their
official menu - and were not disappointed. Alex used excellent
rye, exactly the right amount of that oh-so-dangerous Pernod, and
muddled an orange slice with some sugar until it was quite sufficiently
pulverized.
Laird's Applejack and locally produced maple syrup are complimented by
a
touch of orange and a peel of lemon in Weegee's version of the Jack
Rabbit.
Their Martinis are perfect, naturally, but our only real
disappointment
was that they used sour mix instead of fresh lemon juice in the Sidecar
that we sampled.
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Overall, we're going to put the cocktails at Weegee's at a notch below
Nacional 27 and Violet Hour, but it should be
noted that this also puts Weegee's about five notches
above
most of the
other bars in town. Any town.
If you want very good cocktails in a vintage 1940s-feeling Chicago
neighborhood environment (and really, don't we all?), Weegee's is
strongly recommended.
Bonus points: No television, Savoy and Trader Vic's books behind the
bar.
5418 (shop) - 5420 (bar) N. Clark St.,
Chicago, Illinois; (773) 334-9463
This Andersonville wine shop with adjacent bar was
founded by Jill and Shane Kissack in 2004, with Johnnie Grozenski and
Paul Hasenwinkel joining the partnership in 2007 to develop the bar
half of things. The bar is a large and spacious place with a long
bar, a dozen tables, and - of
course - a great wine list. Their cocktail menu is several pages
long and is also rather detailed.
I first visited in late 2008, and although that first visit to IFS was
disappointing, I have since returned a half-dozen times throughout
2009,
and have been served fantastic drinks every time. IFS has earned
my respect and loyalty slowly, but extremely solidly.
During my first two visits of 2009, I
was unable to get a seat at the bar either time, but perhaps this
ended up being a good thing: on both occasions my waitress was the
efficient, friendly, and adorable Erin D. The drinks she brought
Gal Friday Night and I were made by the service bartender, whose name
was Anne. All of Anne's libations are (within Chicago) second
only to Violet Hour's drinks, and as such IFS has been rising to to top
of my must-visit Chicago bars list fairly quickly.

One visit included:
Aviation - this classic was the weakest of the five that we
tried this night; it was a little overshaken (watery) with too many ice
chips floating in it.
Manhattan - a rock solid rendition of the old standby.
Deshler - Benchmark bourbon, Lillet Rouge, Prunier liqueur
d'Orange, and Peychaud's bitters. Carefully built so as not to
overwhelm the bourbon, the Lillet and orange balance nicely.
Old Fashioned - another standard, this one was dense, weighty, and
proportioned just right.
de Amor - hibiscus-infused Pueblo Viejo Blanco tequila, Damiana (a
herbal-based liqueur from Mexico), vanilla, lime, egg white,
bitters. Carefully balanced and as delicate a tequila drink as
you'll find.
All of these drinks were either $8.50 or $9. We also had a "pick
three" cheese plate, which included hopelessly tiny portions of three
artesianal cheeses for $15. The drinks were worth the price
(which is a hair less than the going rate for a quaff of this quality),
but the cheese plate could have been a touch more substantial.
That said, the bites o' frommage were quite interesting and went well
with the booze choices.
The following visit included similar drink choices but fewer notes; my
only real gripe was that this place can get impossibly loud, even
though the music levels are always reasonable and the crowd are not
rowdy. The
customers at In Fine Spirits tend to be mature and well-behaved, but a
lack of sorely needed acoustic treatment means that even on a
moderately busy night, it is difficult to hear someone sitting across
one of the smallish tables. It can in fact be uncomfortably noisy
in there as everyone fights to be heard above each other.
During several further visits, I had the pleasure of sitting at the bar
and being served by the head mixologist, Benjamin Schiller. His
creations have convinced me that In Fine Spirits makes the best drinks
of any bar north of North Ave. in Chicago. Although the
Andersonville nieghborhood is infrequently visited by tourists, the
strip of Clark St. just north and just south of Foster Ave., is a
thriving nightlife area for locals. In addition to IFS, beer
lovers cannot miss Chicago's premeir brew destination,
The Hopleaf
(5148 N. Clark St.), or any of the two dozen good restaurants along
this stretch of road.
The Whistler (The Whistle Stop)
2421 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, Illinois; (773)
227-3530
This is a small bar meets art gallery meets live
music venue which opened in the early autumn of 2008.
A new site-specific art installation is unveiled in the front display
window every two months. Musical acts on the small stage are
alternated
with local DJs. It is easy for volume to get way out of control
in a room as small as this one (it feels crowded at half of its maximum
capacity of 74, but at least there is a patio that holds another fifty
in Chicago's brief annual temperate period). But when I visited
the act playing was a solo fella who was a sort of Woody Guthrie cum
early Bob Dylan sort of chap, and wasn't too overbearing.
The Whistler never charges a cover for this entertainment, and the
cocktails are priced relatively reasonably at $8. The usual array
of microbrews (mostly $5-$6) and ironic PBR (still only $2) is also
available; the crowd I observed seemed equally interested in both ends
of the spectrum. Said crowd is mostly skinny guys in their late
twenties with a lot of facial hair posing with their arty Logan Square
girlfriends.
The cocktail menu usually contains about eight drinks at a time, and is
a mix of classics like
Sazerac, Hemingway, or
Blood and Sand
with house creations like
Hibiscus Sour and
Violette Fizz.
I tried the Hemingway and the Hibiscus Sour. The latter uses a
house-made hibiscus syrup with Maker's Mark and fresh lemon. I
found the Maker's and lemon to be predominant, with the hibiscus barely
present. I would have upped it a bit. The Hemingway
(Matusalem rum, fresh grapefruit, and maraschino liqueur) was a bit
more
precisely balanced, but is a bit sweet for my personal taste.
My bartender was friendly and enthusiastic about his craft.
This is one to watch: as long as the place doesn't become overcrowded
and unpleasantly noisy (both risks), the combination of art, music, and
cocktails in an unpretentious environment is an exciting
proposition. I hope it succeeds.
600 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, Illinois; (773)
227-3530
Motel bar is a relaxed and only modestly trendy bar, which also serves
a
menu of elevated bar food. The interior has an essence of
mid-century modern retroness to it, but without being too heavy-handed
or too
obsessively committed to the theme. Vintage motel memorabilia
adds to the vibe; sports television and prodigious amounts of exposed
ductwork detract from it.
Owner Hubie and bartender Chris are committed to serving cocktails in
keeping with the theme of the bar, and as such they are happy to serve
a Harvey Wallbanger, a Blood and Sand, a French 75, a Gimlet, or a Rob
Roy, prepared in keeping with the classic recipes, and untainted by
modern twists on the themes -- or by the chronic indifference that is
exhibited in the sad majority of other bars.
Gal Friday night and I tried a classic pairing: a
Sidecar and a
Sazerac. Both contained Pierre Ferrand Ambre; the
Sidecar (naturally) also contained Cointreau and fresh lemon juice,
while the Saz was completed with Wild Turkey, Ricard, and Angostura
bitters. We finished with a
Singapore Sling made with
Hendricks Gin, Cointreau, B & B, pineapple, grenadine, fresh
lime, Angostura bitters, and club soda.
The Sling and the Sazerac were very good, mixed carefully and with
attention to detail. The Sidecar was made with the same care,
but somehow didn't impress quite as much. Not sure why, since
Chris seems knowledgeable and enthusiastic about keeping these classics
alive. A momentary slip-up, I am convinced.
We also sampled the hummus plate ($8) and the grilled Yellowtail
sandwich ($12). The food was fresh, tasty, and served in nice
portions, but contained no real surprises. Thus it matches the
drinks - neither food nor beverage are innovative, but both are
familiar fare prepared with quality.
Violet Hour Nacional
27 Weegee's
Lounge
In Fine Spirits
The Whistler Motel Bar Sepia more
Sepia
123 N Jefferson St.
(between Adams St
& Monroe St), Chicago, IL;
(312)
441-1920
Sepia is a stylish west Loop
restaurant that showcases a collection of century-old Chicago
memorabilia. Sepia, as the name implies, has a warm and woody
atmosphere. It is a bit on the spendy side, but does not feel
stiff or snooty. Until recently, the person in charge of the
cocktail program was a big fan of infusions, but was not much for
careful preservation of the classics. This changed in February, 2009 when a new head bartender took over,
having newly arrived in Chicago from Australia by way of
Vancouver.
Committed to doing things properly, our bar host for the night served
us Dale DeGroff's Sazerac variant, the Sazerac Royale (Sazerac
rye, Herbsiant wash, sugar, Peychaud's bitters, and cognac - didn't
catch the brand; $10). It was quite a solid drink, so Gal Friday
Night and I moved on to a Monk's Daiquiri (Cockspur rum,
yellow Chartreuse, grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple syrup;
$10). Crisp and well-balanced. One must love that Cockspur
rum, no? Having just spent time in Canada, our mixologist
insisted that we try a Toronto, a simple drink, but an
effective one when made properly, as this one was (Rittenhouse rye,
Fernet, and a dribble of simple syrup, just enough to take the
edge off). He also recommended an untitled combo of Old Raj gin,
green Chartreuse, and lemon in equal parts... sort of a Last Word
without the cherry flavor and with a specific gin in mind. We'll
give that one a go next time... and perhaps we'll try the food at Sepia
then too!
More in Chicago...
Flo
1434 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL; (312) 243-0477
Autumn 2008
v1.0
Flo is a casual and slightly rustic-feeling
restaurant on the rapidly trendi-fying strip of Chicago Ave. between
Milwaukee and Damen.
On board with the cocktail revival, Flo's ownership enthusiastically
mixed up a trio of cocktails for Gal Friday Night and myself. The
Mississippi Mule ($8), Caipirinha ($9), and Hennessey
Side Car ($9) were all well-balanced and true to the classic
recipes.
More restaurant than bar, the South American-influenced Flo served us a
portabella quesadilla ($7.95), and a Brazilian bowl (a sort of South
American stew; $7.95) and we were pleased with both.
At Flo's price point, the food is better
than it might otherwise be. Although nothing
at Flo is overwhelmingly good, nothing was disappointing
either. A casual meal with good drinks at a reasonable
price is a hard thing to come by, so we'll be back.
The Green
Mill
4802 N. Broadway,
Chicago, Illinois; (773) 878-5552
October, 2007
v1.0

The Green
Mill is an historic Uptown bar that was once owned by Al Capone's
lieutenants. The bar opened in 1907, but had fallen into
disrepair by 1986. At that time, Dave Jemilo bought it and
restored the Capone-era decor. Now, the spruced-up Green Mill
offers live jazz seven nights a week.
Although the period decor is often associated with cocktails, and
although some people claim to enjoy the drinks at the Green Mill, I
find them to be average at best. The staff there - from doormen
to barmen - are universally surly and/or arrogant. I stopped
going there a number of years ago, tired of paying too much money for
indifferent drinks in an unfriendly atmosphere.
There are other historic lounges in Chicago, there are other jazz bars
in Chicago, and there are other cocktail bars in Chicago.
However: the Green Mill offers all of these things at once. So,
if you're visiting Chicago this mix of history, a wide array of
talented jazz players, and restored 1930s murals make it worth a
peek.
Pump Room
Ambassador East Hotel, 1301 N. State Parkway,
Chicago, Illinois; (312) 266-0360
October, 2007
v1.0

The
legendary and no longer elegant Pump Room has been a staple of
Chicago night life since 1938. It was the haunt of visiting west
coast celebrities for half a century, as evidenced by hundreds of
framed 8x10 glossies covering three huge walls. Unfortunately,
the grandeur and class that the Pump Room once symbolized has slid into
squalor over the decades, and as of my last (I do mean
last,
not
'most recent') visit there (December 2006) it was a mess.
None of the bartenders had ever even
heard of a Sazerac or a
Rob Roy, the place was stinky and run down feeling, and I was told that
all of the classic photos were being permanently removed just a few
weeks later in
preparation for a full renovation.
I guess it is good that they're fumigating the place, but with the
photos all gone, the complete cluelessness of the staff, and the final
removal of any furniture or decor evocative of mid-century style, there
is no longer any reason at all to visit the Pump Room.
Redhead
Piano Bar
16 W. Ontario St., Chicago, Illinois; (312)
640-1000
October, 2007
v1.0

Spotting the Redhead
while striding tipsily down
Ontario Street, it seems as though the place could not fail to be
amazing. From the cool 1960s winking cutie on the sign, to the
dark garden doorway (that means a few steps below street level, in
Chicago parlance), the stage is set for a classic.
Inside, things aren't as red hot as you might hope. The decor is
a bit renovated-in-the-1980s, the cocktails are expensive and nothing
special, and it all feels a bit run down. Perhaps you wouldn't
want to see the place when the lights came on. The crowd will be
almost exclusively tourists.
That said, the piano players are uniformly good to great (try to show
up when Phil Baron is on the ivories - currently late-night on
Tuesdays... you've got nowhere else to be then), occasional singers
spice things up, people usually seem to be having fun, the wait staff
are usually attractive, and a dress code is enforced - so the Redhead
is making
some effort.
Better cocktails would go a long way... but isn't that the case
everywhere?
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