The Chaser

Holiday Cheer, Thanksgiving's Near; Plus, Black Wednesday Bashes

2009-11-19T02:59:08-06:00

Last night, on our way out of a make-your-own-purse party at a condo on North Lake Shore Drive, my friends Jenny and Melissa, and I asked the building's doorman for suggestions on nearby places to proceed with our evening.

“Walk that way and take a left,” he said, pointing toward Irving Park Road. “Then go a couple more blocks until you see a big glittery sign...

When Facebook and Real Life Collide

2009-11-12T03:38:00-06:00

A few months ago, I found myself enmeshed in a dispute with someone who had winked at me on match.com. When I checked out his profile and saw I was one year older than the upper limit of his preferred age range (though he and I are the exact same age), I couldn’t refrain from asking why he had bothered reaching out to a senior citizen. “Women in their 20s are just easier,” he snipped...

The Other Pitchfork

2009-11-05T03:29:08-06:00

I’ve been craving two things since the chill set in: good bourbon (as a native Kentuckian, it takes me home) and irresistible bread pudding. When I heard a new bar in Albany Park was combining both in one seemingly made-for-me item, I wasted no time in grabbing a pair of tagalongs—my sister Liv and my friend Jenny—and heading north...

Points South: Modest Jackpots, Savvy Pickups

2009-10-29T03:56:00-06:00

I’ve spent a good chunk of my eight years in Chicago chillin' in 60614, but last week I was lured outside of its bounds for two adventures with only these directions in common: Take Lake Shore Drive south.

Elk, Yuppies, and Decades of Dirt: Looking for a Good Scare in Chicago Bars

2009-10-22T03:13:38-06:00

In anticipation of the upcoming Halloween festivities, I spent last Saturday trying to scare myself silly, with varying results. First up: Braving River North’s District Bar under strange and unusual circumstances. District is usually a see-and-be-seen kind of place, with a mix of youngish guys and girls watching...

Drinking Like a Mad Woman

2009-10-15T06:25:00-06:00

Do you ever put down the remote after the latest DVR'd episode of Mad Men and think, “I could use a drink?” I do, especially after this week’s installment, in which Don Draper proved yet again that unforgivable cads can brood and charm their way out of anything. After a quick glance at AMC’s Mad Men Cocktail Guide for reference, I texted my friend Tim to...

Rebar Relapse: Ben Stiller, infant barflies, and other adventures in drinking with my brother

2009-10-08T01:01:06-06:00

On Tuesday night—right after we finished stalking Ben Stiller, who was filming a scene for Little Fockers at the intersection of Wrightwood and Dayton—my brother, Lee, and I headed to Rebar at the Trump for a media tasting of the lounge's new fall cocktail menu. I’ve been cheating on Rebar with...

See and Be Cedar

2009-10-01T04:33:38-06:00

For weeks I had been driving by The Cedar Hotel (1112 N. State St.; 312-944-1112), giving the crowd the once-over and wondering if the vibe was still as rowdy as in the days of Melvin B’s. When Sunday looked like the last patio-friendly weather we’d have for a while—and even then it was iffy—my friend Kelli and I headed over for a farewell-to-September brew...

Nine Questions for the New Chaser

2009-09-24T05:11:00-06:00

Nightlifers, meet Amalie Drury (less like "ah-ma-LEE," the fictional Frenchie; more like "Emily," with a Kentucky accent). Once you've mastered the Southernese, say hello if you see our new girl-about-town—a Louisville native and longtime CS vet—on the scene. She'll be scouting the city's best spots to drink and people watch, not necessarily in that order, then reporting on it Thursdays here in The Chaser. We asked Amalie a few questions to break the ice...

Last Call

2009-07-30T05:43:04-06:00

Just as I was getting comfortable on my stool, the bar closed: This is my last post as The Chaser. I'm moving down South this weekend—following Mr. Chaser to graduate school—and will be, with a mixture of sadness and excitement, trading the Matchbox’s Manhattans (ah, bourbon-soaked cherries!) for something likely involving sweet-tea vodka. I leave you with a list of the bars I’ll be pining for and...

Recreational Drinking

2009-07-23T05:25:00-06:00

Heading to Andersonville on a beer mission is nothing new, but steering past Hopleaf is—and yet, last night I managed to close my ears to its sudsy call and continue on to a new microbrew destination: Mary’s Rec Room....

Nine Questions for the Smallbar Guys

2009-07-16T02:32:59-06:00

I spent Monday night engaged in just about the best possible Monday-night activity: drinking $4 Allagash Whites on Smallbar's dreamy patio. I named the Logan Square spot my favorite bar in my very first Chaser post, and things haven't changed much since then—for me. But for the guys behind the bar, and its sibling location on Division Street, change is afoot: namely, a third location, slated to open in...

Summer, Part 2: A To-Drink List

2009-07-09T02:47:00-06:00

The bad news: Summer’s unofficial halfway point, the Fourth of July, has come and gone. The good news: Counting Labor Day, we’ve still got nine weekends of summer drinking to go. The Chaser, for one, plans to make every sip count. Here, the top five bars on my to-drink list—from a few old standbys I’ve yet to see this season to a couple of newbies that deserve another visit:

It's Greek to Me

2009-07-02T02:05:00-06:00

It takes guts to start a business anytime—not to mention in this economy, in a location with a less-than-hopeful track record. So, I had my fingers crossed for 6 Degrees, housed in the Bucktown address that’s greeted and bid farewell to Darwin’s, Chinaski's, and Whiskey Road. I swung by a little before...

Rebar? You're Fired. We Prefer Terrace

2009-06-25T03:52:23-06:00

It's a shame it's taken Chicago so long to realize our skyline is begging for more rooftop bars. For years we've had little more than the few-stories-tall Rock Bottom, Plymouth, Citizen, and Twisted Spoke to keep us in the sunshine. But the rash of way-up-there openings in the last year—including C-View, Roof, and, as of today, the Terrace at Trump—has all but erased my memories of summers spent slumming on...

Sake Heaven

2009-06-18T04:30:00-06:00

When I heard the 22-year-old Streeterville karaoke bar Café Shino had morphed into the sake lounge Murasaki, I imagined yet another generic spot for an afterwork drink.

I was wrong...

Kuma’s New Neighbor

2009-06-11T11:02:00-06:00

The very location that killed MoJoe's Hot House coffeeshop will likely save Square Bar & Grill. The storefront sits on a relatively unremarkable stretch of Belmont, which otherwise might doom the newly opened spot to a short lifetime of thin crowds. But as anyone who has ever elbowed her way into—or been turned away from—Kuma's Corner knows, this is a block that could use a plan B...

Shanghai Surprise

2009-06-04T03:35:00-06:00

While I pretty much love any place that serves a good drink, restaurant-bars (hello, Lula!) are a personal favorite: better chance of grabbing a seat, good food at the ready, ample wine list. So I was primed to try the year-or-so-old Wang’s (3317 N. Broadway; 773-296-6800), a sort-of restaurant bar attached to the Lake View sushi spot Wakamono that’s been on my to-do list for too long...

Titillated Kilt

2009-05-28T04:40:03-06:00

I hadn't planned on spending my Tuesday night staring at boobs. But I had planned to spend it drinking beer, and after a failed trip to Bronzeville's newly opened, and seemingly newly closed, Swagger Lounge (5048 S. Prairie Ave.)—the door was boarded up; the lights were off; phone seems to have been disconnected; does anyone know what’s going on here?—I still wanted a pint. And in true Chaser style, I wanted it some place...

A Happy-Hour Hideaway; Plus, Your Weekend To-Do List

2009-05-21T04:58:07-06:00

As soon as the temperature tops 65, I become obsessed with rosé. So, after polishing off an 80-degree Wednesday in the Loop, all I wanted was a dry, crisp glass. I pinned my hopes on Saluté, the new wine bar that opened last Thursday in the Gold Coast, and was disappointed: nary a glass or a bottle on the wine list. Luckily, I found a replacement to turn my pout into a happy pucker...

Market Report

2009-05-14T03:17:28-06:00

The sleek new West Loop spot Market strays from the sports-bar norm: It's less about the champagne of beers and more about champagne, from a Chandon Brut-infused Tom Collins martini to an entire roster of sparkling cocktails. The addition of yeasty, boozy champagne to my Market Mojito ($12), for example, turned a classic into something...

Rocks It

2009-05-07T02:30:00-06:00

At the end of the day, what matters in most sports is the score. So, here it is: After my latest Wrigleyville drinking escapade, this time at the second outpost of Rockit Bar & Grill, The Chaser is 1-1 on Cubs bars. And this win was well earned (as was the Cubs' 4 to 2 victory over San Fran).

Rockit two has some cosmetic similarities to the River North original: same two-floor setup, same menu with same famed Kobe burger...

Everyday Jay’s—Plus, a Weekend Checklist

2009-04-30T03:21:21-06:00

New neighborhood bars that open in not-so-new neighborhoods have a choice to make: Stitch themselves into the fabric or blaze a new path. In a neighborhood as established as Little Italy, it’s not surprising Jay’s on Taylor (1421 W. Taylor St., 312-666-6663) toes the line—so much so that I almost expected the bar, which opened mid-April, to seem a little more weathered and old-school than shiny and sleek...

Narrow Ledge

2009-04-23T03:36:00-06:00

Opening a bar, like buying a house, is all about location, location, location. And The Ledge Bar & Grill (1745 W. North Ave.; 773-252-6053), just down the block from Wicker Park’s Six Corners, has that—and the inevitable neighborhood foot traffic—going for it. Also as with real estate, it helps if the prime spot (here, the former Parlor location) comes with nice...

Stretched Out

2009-04-16T05:08:49-06:00

Game day seemed like the only day to hit The Stretch (3458 N. Clark St., 773-755-3980), Wrigleyville’s latest steps-from-the-ballpark sports bar. Which means what follows is the account of one relatively sober person among a sea of disappointed Cubs fans—following Wednesday’s loss to Colorado—who had been drinking since at least 1:20 p.m. So, you can take my opinion with a grain of tequila...

A-Plus C-View

2009-04-09T01:04:30-06:00

If my visit to C-View in Streeterville’s Affinia hotel had been a vacation instead of just feeling like one, I would have needed only three photos to tell the story of my trip: one of the gorgeous bar, one of my equally sleek drink, and a third of my...

So-So Social Twenty-Five

2009-04-02T03:24:53-06:00

The idea behind Moda’s reinvention made sense. Shake up the pricey (bottle service), exclusive (booth reservations required), and fashion-obsessed (who’s buying Prada these days, anyway?) approach in favor of something a little less Roberto Cavalli and a little more recession-conscious. The owners’ decision to join up with the team behind the more downscale Barleycorn seemed logical, so when...

Cocktail Class-y

2009-03-26T04:11:00-06:00

My bar at home is pretty uneven: We have our pick of a good 40 bottles of wine, some rum remnants, Grey Goose (a wedding leftover), and vermouth (from … college?). As much as I like cocktails, crafting anything fancier than a martini has always seemed like an expensive hassle to me.

Leave it to a man who mixes arugula, heirloom tomatoes, and Iberico ham into his drinks to change my mind. Nacional 27’s master mixologist Adam Seger...

Re: Rebar

2009-03-19T01:16:00-06:00

They say you never forget your first love—that’s true for bars and boys, in my case. Both cemented themselves in my heart on a cold January night, post-dinner, in the Loop. The streets were dead, so when my now-husband Ben and I hopped into a cab I assumed we...

Sham Rock

2009-03-12T01:27:00-06:00

Seeing as how I’m a good 50 percent Irish and St. Patty’s is mere days away, this week seemed like the perfect time to scout out the newly opened Cagney’s, an Irish-themed sports bar in west Lincoln Park. Unfortunately, my Irish half was not impressed—and neither was the other half. Launched by a trio of New Yorkers and a pair of Chicagoans in the old Jack Sullivan’s/Varsity Club/Barleycorn space, Cagney’s has something of an identity crisis going on...