Annex at GreenRiver | Streeterville
Intimate adjunct to GreenRiver featuring exclusive cocktails from head bartender Julia Momose and a limited but luxe menu from chef Aaron Linette. Read the full review >>
Appellation | Andersonville
The cheese-focused wine bar adjunct to the Pastoral outpost in Andersonville. Read the full review >>
Band of Bohemia | Ravenswood
A “culinary brewhouse” dedicated to craft beer pairings with “elevated” cuisine (executive chef Matt DuBois is a veteran of El Ideas). There’s also a coffee bar open till 2 PM Monday through Saturday. Read the full review >>
Best Intentions | Logan Square
The former Marble is now a self-proclaimed “fancy cocktail bar,” though the patio remains. Read the full review >>
The Betty | Fulton Market
A gorgeous, spacious, comfortable space to await your dinner reservation in the Fulton Market district, from the folks behind Bangers & Lace. Read the full review >>
Booze Box | West Loop
Izakaya in the basement of Sushi Dokku, serving Japanese drinking snacks along with beer, wine, and saki. Read the full review >>
Breakroom Brewery | Irving Park
Breakroom’s rear windows look in on a custom bar-making woodshop and all the fearsome machinery within, and the massive 40-foot bar built of petrified wood and sapele (a sustainable alternative to mahogany) has its own windows, with a view of the brewing tanks. Read the full review >>
The Broken Shaker | River North
The chichi cocktail spot in the Freehand Hotel feels like hanging out in a midcentury-modern furniture store. Read the full review >>
Corridor Brewery & Provisions | Lakeview
Brewpub from DryHop Brewers featuring “rustic farmhouse” food—locally sourced sandwiches and hearth-oven-baked pizzas. Read the full review >>
Crown Liquors | Avondale
The folks behind Dante’s Pizza and the Rocking Horse took over Crown and turned a dumpy liquor-store/dive bar into a less dumpy liquor-store/dive bar with lots of charm—and foosball and that really fun Addams Family pinball machine. Read the full review >>
Empirical Brewery | Ravenswood
Now equipped with a taproom and offering tours, Empirical approaches beer as serious science. Read the full review >>
Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery | West Town
Brewpub at the botanically focused brewery Forbidden Root. Read the full review >>
The Heavy Feather | Logan Square
Modeled after the so-called “fern bars” that rose to faddish popularity in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Heavy Feather is decked out in dark wood, booths with tufted cushions, Tiffany-style glass lamps, peacock-feather-patterned wallpaper, and (of course) green plants peeking out of every nook. Read the full review >>
Lost Lake | Avondale
With Martinique-patterned wallpaper, pufferfish lamps, and a knowledgeable staff, the Land and Sea Dept. tiki joint directed by Paul McGee and Shelby Allison is a dreamy escape from urban drabness. Read the full review >>
Mezcaleria Las Flores | Logan Square
Former Frontera bar manager Jay Schroeder is behind this mezcal- and tequila-focused spot adjacent to Johnny’s Grill. Read the full review >>
The Milk Room | Loop
Paul McGee-directed “microbar” inside the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. Read the full review >>
Presidio | Bucktown
At this cocktail barstaurant that’s supposed to remind you of San Francisco, there are a few nice, arty shots of the Golden Gate Bridge on the walls, and some classic cocktails that were first created in the City by the Bay. Read the full review >>
Pub Royale | Ukrainian Village
The impressive, ever-changing selection of two-dozen drafts is only the main draw at Heisler Hospitality’s take on the subcontinental British colonial pub. Read the full review >>
Queen Mary Tavern | Wicker Park
Part of the growing Heisler Hospitality regime, the maritime-themed craft-cocktail bar should probably feel a lot kitschier. Read the full review >>
The Sixth | Lincoln Square
The Sixth’s beverage director, Benjamin Schiller, who lives in the area, wanted to create for Lincoln Square a neighborhood cocktail bar, and this place feels like one. Read the full review >>
Tack Room | Pilsen
The name’s a sly reference to the building’s 19th century heritage as a carriage house, but there’s no horse tack to be found in this cozy, candlelit addition to Thalia Hall. Read the full review >>
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