I spend a lot of time writing about big restaurant openings, and sometimes it seems as though each operator feels the pressure to insist that they are the greatest, biggest, most exciting, and most innovative restaurant ever to exist in Chicago since the day when du Sable built his trading post. That’s why it was so refreshing talking to the folks behind Friends of Friends, a new bar in West Town (2001 W. Grand Ave.). The key players are experienced experts, the drinks sound delicious, and the space holds a lot of history, but their goal isn’t to reinvent the wheel, just create a great neighborhood watering hole.

Friends of Friends is a collaboration between the team at Heisler Hospitality (Queen Mary, Lone Wolf), Terry Alexander (One Off Hospitality), and Abe Vucekovich (Meadowlark). This dream team turned an old tied house in West Town (which hadn’t been a bar since the 1980s) into a charming new bar, complete with a giant patio, a fireplace, and a warm, cozy feeling. Why West Town? Well, the space happened to be right below Heisler’s offices, but the huge outdoor space was also a big draw. “I’ve worked in a lot of dark bars that didn’t give me a lot of vitamin D,” laughs Vucekovich.

The idea that cocktail culture sometimes gets a bit overblown is central to the approach at Friends of Friends. “I think that cocktails can be intimidating, and there’s a time and a place to really showcase technique,” explains Alexander. “But I wanted to do a bar that had really thoughtful ways of doing things without having to tell a short story to every guest when they come in.” If a guest wants to hear, say, about how the bar makes its own tonic, or how it makes milk punch with Greek yogurt using a rhubarb oleo saccharum, the bartenders are happy to chat. But if a customer just wants to order a quick drink and turn back to their group of friends, that’s okay too. As Vucekovich puts it: “The tweezer stuff happens in the basement.”

This approach translates to the drink menu, including the titles. Rather than the typical witty obscure references to literature or pop culture, the cocktail menu at Friends of Friends is more like the old-style magnetic poetry that used to grace every fridge. “I’m finally using my English degree for something!” says Vucekovich. Each drink gets two words, shown using hand-painted magnets. A drink might be “Fruity and Savory” or “Big and Spicy” or “Floral and Bubbly” and that’s really all the drinker needs to know before ordering.

That doesn’t mean the drinks are simple; far from it. The “Fruity and Savory” is a milk punch made with the aforementioned Greek yogurt, toasted sesame, Korean rice wine, tequila, lemon, strawberry, and rhubarb. It’s so popular that it’s now on draft, meaning that guests don’t have to wait while a bartender assembles all that goodness. The “Alpine and Tropical” is made with arrack, mezcal, génépy, sage, green chartreuse, and sparkling tepache. There are non-alcoholic options, too, and a short beer and wine list with a focus on fun, inexpensive beers. They’ve already proven popular – only five weeks in, Vucekovich has been informed that Friends of Friends is already the top Schlitz account in Illinois.

Perhaps my favorite part of Friends of Friends is the history contained within it. Remnants of departed bars, from Chicago and elsewhere, make up the interior. “It’s a hodgepodge of bars that don’t exist anymore,” explains Vucekovich. There are albino peacocks from Pub Royale and fixtures from Bar Deville, while the bar itself came from New York’s the Knitting Factory.

The key to the concept, all of the principals explain, is in the name. The idea is that guests will bring friends and make new friends from the neighborhood, and also references the fact that the industry is filled with friends. The website for the bar has a “friends” section, listing some of the best bars in town (many of which have no connection to the owners). “People ask us what the best part has been so far,” explains Vucekovich. “The best part is just how happy people in the neighborhood have been to see us.”