Chicago Nightlife Tips by yooperprof

Nightlife Spot: Beer Bistro

The Beer Bistro is an excellent beer-lovers bar in the burgeoning West Loop neighborhood. Not really so many draft beers - only about 8 or 9 - but an excellent selection of bottles from around the neighborhood and around the world. The atmosphere is that of a friendly local neighborhood bar - it's the kind of place where you feel at home your first time there. The Beer Bistro also has a full restaurant menu - as the name suggests.

Worth a detour if you are fan of hops and barley.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 312-433-0013
Address: 1061 W. Madison
Website: http://www.thebeerbistro.com/

Nightlife Spot: The Map Room

Ah yes, the pleasures of civilization. . . The Map Room is a fine establishment that features many of the world's best beers, on tap and in bottles. No food, just drink. Bud light drinkers probably wouldn't be comfortable here.

On my recent visit to the Map Room, I started out in Belgium, made a quick trip to Kalamazoo Mich., and returned to Europe to end the evening in Germany. Namely:

Delirium Tremens - a blond beer from the Huyghe Brewery, in Melle BE
De Koninck Triple - from their brewery in Antwerp
Bell's "Hell Hath No Fury" - a creamy, Belgian-style ale
Reissdorf Kolsch - from Köln, of course

Leave a Comment

Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 773-252-7636
Address: 1949 N. Hoyne (at Armitage)
Website: http://www.maproom.com/

Nightlife Spot: Hopleaf Bar

Excellent Belgian Tavern/Bar on N. Clark, with suberb range of beer selections - over 200 in all, with and abundant selection on tap. I was introduced to the Hopleaf in Febraury 2006, after a VT meet-up with Dabs and David, dlandt, "it's fun having fun," and my friends Gerard and Janet. We had a merry time tippling. A Talking bar: it's an excellent place to pass an afternoon with a convivial social group. I like how they follow tradition and serve the Belgian beers each in its own particular glass. A beer for every taste, I would think.

In all, there were about two dozen beers on tap. Ten Belgian, about the same number American micros, and the others German or Canadian. I recommend the de Konick, a lovely pilsener style ale, or the Leffe Brun (Brown) ale - though you can't go wrong with the aptly named Delirium Tremens either.

(Selected by the Beer Advocate as one of the Top 50 Places for a Pint in the USA: http://beeradvocate.com/acbw/2006/places)

They serve Belgian inspired food here as well, and there's a dining room in the back which is quieter and less beery than the very social front saloon. I'd like to try their mussels sometime.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Eating and Drinking
Phone: 773-334-9851
Address: 5148 N. Clark
Website: http://www.hopleaf.com/home.html

Nightlife Spot: Clark Street Ale House

It's good to know about this River North tavern - non-chain, non-scene, non-yuppie. It has a very good beer selection (25 on tap) as well as generous number of wines by the glass. It's also home to some serious drinkers - not the touristy type of Michigan Avenue, but the real "pros" who take advantage of the Ale House's late license. (They are open till 4 on weeknights and until 5 on weekends.)

Yes, it can be loud and raucous: but this is Chicago, remember!

Leave a Comment

Theme: People Watching
Phone: 312-642-9253
Address: 742 N. Clark

Nightlife Spot: Encore Liquid Lounge

Great little tavern in the loop, adjacent to the Hotel Allegro on Randolph Street, and very convenient for pre/post theatre rendezvous.

Retro-cool without having to try too hard!

Leave a Comment

Theme: People Watching
Phone: 312-338-3788
Address: 171 W. Randolph
Website: http://www.encorechicago.com/

Nightlife Spot: The Firehouse

The Firehouse is more of a restaurant than a bar, and other VT mainstays (particularly the wonderful Deecat) have aleady heartily endorsed the food and the atmosphere here. I just want to chime in with my 0.02 worth by saying that the Firehouse is also a good place for a South Loop drink. There aren't yet a whole lot of places for nightlife along this burgeoning strip of South Michigan Avenue, and the Firehouse is definitely an option for those with a thirst and not quite an appetite. The bar here is lovely, and the atmosphere is redolent of class and good taste. It's the kind of place where you'll want to sit and chat with the bartender about the latest Chicago political scandal - but not in too loud a voice, because that's probably Mayor Daley who just entered the dining room.

The restaurant is open until 10 pm nightly during the week; on Friday and Saturday the last seating is at 10.30.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: nice comfortable
Phone: 312-786-1401
Address: 1401 S. Michigan
Directions: South Loop
Website: http://www.chicagofirehouse.com/

Nightlife Spot: the Coq d'Or

Having a Martini at the Coq d'Or is so very "Nick and Nora Charles"! The Drake Hotel, at the head of Michigan Avenue, may lack the surface glitter of some of the gaudy hotels in Chicago, but it is a remarkable gem, one of my absolute favorite places in Chicago - and I especially love the cocktail bar whose name in English would be "the Golden Cockerill." If you've ever had a fantasy of appearing in one of "The Thin Man" movies, than the Coq d'Or is just the place for you!

Leave a Comment

Theme: Nightclub

Nightlife Spot: Le Bar

If you want to find some European glamour - or Eurotrash pseudoglamour - Le Bar (in the Sofitel Water Tower) is a good place to find it. From the thump-thump-thump of the piped-in techno music, to the wall-of-clocks showing the time in the high-cheekbone capitals of the world, this is a watering hole with aspirations. My friends like to come here for "Le Bar's" good choice of scotches and martinis; it's the kind of place where it's fun to guess where people bought their clothes and how much they spent on them. Sometimes I feel like spending some of my Chicago drinking time here: they don't call me "jet set chet" for nothing!

Leave a Comment

Theme: Nightclub
Dress Code: There's no dress code here - it's a hotel bar, after all - but some of the patrons do tend to look like they just crawled off a catwalk. (They have a hungry look to them.) Men in suits, too, and in the winter, women from Highland Park wearing furs. If this kind of thing turns you off, you probably should find another establishment.
Address: 20 E. Chestnut

Nightlife Spot: NoMI Lounge

Nice place for a deluxe cocktail in the midst of North Michigan Avenue shops - up on the Sixth floor of the Park Hyatt. Lovely summertime patio. My friend Janet loves this place!

Leave a Comment

Theme: People Watching
Dress Code: Nothing too informal here - you'd feel out of place
Address: 800 N. Michigan Ave.
Directions: The entrance is actually on Chicago Avenue, across from "Ralph Lauren" and the "American Girls Place". Enter the hotel lobby then take the NoMI elevator to the 6th floor.
Website: http://parkchicago.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/lounges/index.jsp

Nightlife Spot: 16 at the Trump International Hotel

Great views of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan are the big attraction at "16," the bar-restaurant on the 16th floor of the Trump Behemoth. High speed elevators whisk patrons immediately to the hushed comfort of an airy and well-appointed lounge - with commanding floor to ceiling windows that offer startlingly new perspectives on familiar landmarks like the Wrigley Building and the Tribune Tower.

The restaurant appeared to be ritzy and expensive. I went for a drink in the bar area and was given a table with a good view of the city. A small bar menu is available throughout the day. My waiter told me that an outdoor patio will be opening next summer, when construction on the Tower is actually complete. When I visited 16 for the first time in March 2008, the hotel was opening but construction was continuing on the top floors.

Leave a Comment

Theme: Eating and Drinking
Dress Code: casual dressy
Address: 401 N. Wabash
Directions: just north of the Chicago River - where the Sun-Times building used to be!