It’s easy to be dazzled by Chicago’s centrally located Loop and River North neighborhoods, especially the bevy of swanky bars. But in a city of 77 diverse communities, we advise you to venture further afield. It’s in these neighborhoods you’ll stumble upon local watering holes, wine bars, and breweries that keep the city buzzing, literally and figuratively.
Take Lincoln Park, home to some perennial heavy hitters like Boka and Alinea, or the James Beard Award–winning farm-to-table favorite Lula Cafe in Logan Square. Esmé’s chef Jenner Tomaska and Katrina Bravo have recently opened a cocktail counterpart, Bar Esmé, where a seasonal three-course prix fixe menu is accompanied by equally seasonal cocktails like a milk punch with Scotch whisky and farmers market berries.
Just west of Chinatown, in Pilsen, new businesses like Monochrome Brewing are a testament to the economic power of Latino-owned and -inspired businesses that have fueled the neighborhood for generations.
Down in Hyde Park, JBFA-winning chef Erick Williams runs acclaimed Virtue Restaurant & Bar. Last November he debuted Cantina Rosa, a cocktail bar that celebrates Virtue general manager Jesus Garcia’s Mexican heritage with punchy mezcal-based cocktails alongside the unsung rums of Michoacán and more.
And that’s just a small snapshot of what’s brewing, fizzing, shaken, and stirred around the city. From non-alc pours at all-day cafés to bars with happy hours, read on for where to drink in Chicago now.
Photograph by Huge Galdones
5230 S. Harper Ave., Chicago
instagram.com/cantinarosahydepark
Off the heels of his dining hit, Virtue, JBA-winning chef-owner Erick Williams opened Cantina Rosa, a cocktail lounge in Hyde Park that celebrates Mexican spirits similar to how Virtue showcases Black Southern food traditions. Williams collaborated with longtime colleague and general manager Jesus Garcia on the new concept, which honors Williams’s late grandmother, Rosetta, and Garcia’s mother, Rosa. Adorned with Monstera leaves, mesquite-style woodwork, and hand-stitched embroidery on barstools, Cantina Rosa was designed by Erin Boone of Boone Interiors with blackened windows that invite guests to fully immerse themselves in the experience.
