The pitch: an editor's read on Estereo
Estereo holds the triangle corner at 2450 N Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square, an all day bar built around Latin American spirits: pisco, raicilla, cachaca, and agave in depth. The World's 50 Best Discovery list includes it, and Time Out Chicago gave it Best Bar Design at the 2017 Bar Awards.
Day drinkers, remote workers on Dark Matter coffee, and vinyl heads share the room until the Latin records take over after dark. Skip it if you want a dark cocktail den. This is the brightest serious bar in Chicago.
The room: a closer read
The triangle shaped room runs bright, with garage door walls that open through summer and vintage Latin American vinyl spinning behind the bar. The Infatuation calls it an all day, dog friendly party, which reads accurate by 7pm on a Friday.
The brightest serious bar in Chicago.
What to order, and what to skip
The back bar runs deeper into South American spirits than any room nearby. Start with the house serve.
Skip nothing for timing reasons; the room's whole point is that noon and midnight both work.
The crowd: who shows up, and when
Laptops and espresso until late afternoon, then a neighborhood crowd that spills through the open walls in summer. Time Out credits the design for making the shift work at both ends of the day.
For the wider picture of where this room sits in the city, our editors keep the ranked list of the best cocktail bars in Chicago updated through the year.
One bar worth your weekend, every Friday.
One email a week. The bars our editors are recommending right now, across 60 cities worldwide.
What regulars say
- “Coffee by day, raicilla by night. The best double act in Logan Square.” (Google Maps reviews, pattern read)
- “The Breezy with mezcal is the move.” (Yelp reviews, pattern read)
- “Dog friendly and actually means it.” (The Infatuation review)
- “Summer with the garage doors open is peak Chicago.” (Time Out Chicago)
Who it is for
- Daytime meetings that might become evening drinks without moving seats.
- A Logan Square crawl with The Whistler and Lost Lake.
- Agave and pisco drinkers building Latin spirits depth.
- Avoid if you want dim speakeasy energy. Try Billy Sunday up the boulevard instead.