Our hats off to Scarlet. Seven months after a February fire in the apartments overhead caused this Boystown standby to go dark, the bar reopened September 30th with a fresh dedication to cocktailing and a handsome turn-of-the-century-inspired interior. We sent our photographer over on Friday for the relaunch of the spot’s weekly bash, the First Ward Ball, whose theme tips a jaunty cap to Chicago’s wild Levee district parties of the 1890s and 1900s. For those who missed the revelry, the next ball, on October 16th, coincides with the bar’s grand reopening.

photography: Megan Dodge