As with many cities in the US, the last few years have been particularly explosive in terms of craft, small-batch drinks. A few years back, Violet Hour was the one bar almost simultaneously spoken in the same breath as Chicago cocktails, while the Drawing Room (at the time helmed by Charles Joly and Tim Lacey, now Cristiana DeLucca) created some of the city’s finer cocktails. Chicago-based North Shore Distillery was founded in 2004, making national waves with their gin, absinthe and beyond. Koval Distillery launched in 2008 with their unusual liqueurs and whiskies made from grains like spelt and millet.
For a few years, new craft cocktail bars seemed few and far between, but over the last three years a slew of newcomers opened across the city, often in noteworthy restaurants. These bars showcase local and national small-batch spirits alongside larger brands, maintaining high levels of excellence and creativity in their drink menus. The last two years in particular, there is finally a longer list of bars for spirits and cocktail fanatics to find what they’re looking for… but these bars are rarely snobbish, exuding that warm, unpretentious Midwest welcome.
Roughly two years ago, FEW Spirits distillery was launched by distiller Paul Hletko. This exciting, small distillery tucked away down an Evanston alley, creates exemplary gins and whiskey, while experimenting with numerous projects from amari to grappa. Though still so young, FEW can be found at bars across the nation and is an in-demand hit in Europe, too.
Getting a heavy dose of the Windy City with multiple visits in the past year, here are standout bars besides the stalwart Violet Hour or Drawing Room, showcasing craft spirits and some of Chicago’s best cocktails.
The AVIARY
West Loop | the aviary.com
Chicago chef Grant Achatz’ cocktail bar venture, The Aviary, is arguably the most forward-thinking and experimental “bar” in the country… there’s nothing like it overseas either. Beverage Director Charles Joly (formerly bar manager at the Drawing Room, which stood out in years past as Chicago’s best cocktail bar) crafts drinks like a fine dining kitchen, with a whole team assembling various parts of each drink with unique serving accoutrement tailored just for their bar. In addition to the Aviary’s menu, they craft cocktail pairings for each course of the revolutionary menus at Achatz’ Next restaurant, literally through a door in The Aviary, with its changing themes and time periods.
Cocktails are expensive (hovering in the $20 range) but not for the effort and vision that goes into them – they aren’t the kind of drinks served anywhere else. Joly’s beer selection, particularly the menu in the private bar downstairs, The Office, is heavy on craft beers and rarities. The Aviary is not only the most forward-thinking cocktail experience in Chicago, but is as exciting as cocktails get anywhere in the world.
EXAMPLES OF DRINKS YOU MIGHT BE SERVED: Gin, watermelon and galangal root intermingle over slowly dissolving Peychaud’s ice balls, imparting a blissful bitterness. A glass might arrive on a smoking barrel stave from Heaven Hill distillery, the woody aromatics mingling with a lush mixture of Amaro Nonino, blanco tequila and VS Cognac. Yet another might be a spirituous whisky or Cognac-based drink delivered in a plastic sack filled with lavender air, punctured, subtly infusing the cocktail with aromatics.
BALENA
Lincoln Park | balenachicago.com
Savvy, knowledgeable owner Philip Walters (who co-owns Balena and also The Bristol with John Ross) showcases a fine Italian and Neapolitan pizza menu alongside a unique cocktail menu rated by bitterness scale from one to 10. One designates soft subtlety, and at 10 there is an intense, nuanced bitter. Classic Negronis and Americano cocktails are rated at five.
COCKTAIL UTILIZING SMALL BATCH SPIRITS: Fib no. 10 (the most bitter drink on the menu): Amaro dell Erborista, Ransom Old Tom gin from Oregon, pink grapefruit, basil.
MARIA’S PACKAGED GOODS & COMMUNITY BAR
Bridgeport | community-bar.com
In 2010, Maria Marszewski’s sons, Ed and Mike, took over her liquor store fronting a dive bar in the back, one that had originally opened in 1939 but which Maria has owned since 1986. Maria’s Packaged Goods is known among local industry folk as Chicago’s South Side cocktail haven. It’s also a craft-beer lover’s dream with eighteen beers on draft and a tiny, storefront packed with craft beers and spirits for sale. The bar is open all day and late into the night, lined with taxidermy and run with unpretentious charm.
EXCEPTIONAL COCKTAIL: Firebelly features bourbon, blanco tequila infused with habanero by their neighbor Doc Jones, lime, demerara sugar, cherry bark bitters… like a glorified, boozy Lime Rickey.
SABLE KITCHEN & BAR,
Near North Side | sablechicago.com
Chef-turned-bartender Mike Ryan (who formerly tended bar at the Violet Hour) makes Sable Kitchen and Bar in Kimpton’s Hotel Palomar, a shining, Chicago, cocktail destination. Sable’s thoughtful, detailed cocktail menu is broken down in themes from aperitifs and martinis to cocktails for “comfort” or “thinking”. The range and quality easily makes it one of Chicago’s strongest cocktail menus.
COCKTAIL UTILIZING SMALL-BATCH SPIRITS: Long Road Home features Sutton Brown Label vermouth from San Francisco, Del Maguey Mezcal Vida, agave, lemon.
OWEN & ENGINE
Logan Square | owenandengine.com
A gastropub-esque restaurant marked by Old World British elegance (dark woods, gold-framed paintings), the bar is helmed by Elliot Beier who is working on his master cicerone certification. Being one the early cicerones in the world, his beer knowledge and selection (on tap, bottled and hand-pulled beers) is impeccable. Cocktails are thoughtfully crafted and often use small-batch spirits. Bar food is above average, whether crispy mole pork rinds or a soft pretzel dipped in Welsh rarebit (a rich blend of aged cheddar, Worcestershire, horseradish, Young’s Chocolate Stout).
COCKTAIL UTILIZING SMALL BATCH SPIRITS: Sage Advice features St. George Terroir Gin, lemon, ginger sage syrup, orange flower water.
OTHER NOTABLE COCKTAIL/SPIRITS BARS
THE BARRELHOUSE FLAT, Lincoln Park
Downstairs is pub-like, comfortable, beer-centric. Upstairs is a Victoriana setting on velvet couches with a thankfully subdued noise level, and highlights mainly from their in-depth classic cocktail menu.
BILLY SUNDAY, Logan Square
Named after the itinerant American baseball player turned preacher (and rabid prohibitionist), Billy Sunday is a hot (read: mobbed) new Chicago cocktail bar, strong on house tonics and tall, refreshing cocktails.
THE SAVOY, Wicker Park
The Savoy is an ode to all things seafood and absinthe, with creative cocktails and generous, Euro-centric wine, absinthe, spirits, beer, and French cider lists.
SCOFFLAW, Logan Square
Just over a year old, Danny Shapiro and crew have confirmed Scofflaw as Chicago’s gin sanctuary, though you can venture into other spirits territory. The bar is comfortable with a roomy booth, vintage furniture and nooks in which to get lost in conversation over drinks.
TRENCHERMEN, Wicker Park
A romantic space for live gypsy jazz around a long, rectangular bar, Trencherman staff utilize house infusions like pine needle-infused whiskey in their cocktails, alongside creative dishes.
