The Complete Bar Guide to Chicago

The Violet Hour opened in 2007 and is the bar that defined Chicago's cocktail movement. The rules are still in place: no standing, no loud music, no cell phone calls at the bar. The cocktail list is seasonal, hand-printed on card stock, and executed with a consistency that places it among the best in the country. The room is intimate and beautiful. The staff know more about spirits than almost anyone you will encounter behind a bar. Go before 8pm on weekdays if you want the quieter version of the experience.

Order: The Paper Plane if it is on the menu, otherwise defer to the bartender's current recommendation

The best tiki bar in the Midwest and one of the better ones in the country. Lost Lake takes rum seriously in the way that the original tiki movement was always supposed to, before it became synonymous with umbrella garnishes and mediocre cocktails. The rum selection runs to over 150 bottles. The cocktails are built with the precision of a serious craft bar. The tiki decor is executed without irony. A genuinely excellent bar that would succeed in any city it happened to be in.

Order: The Jet Pilot or whatever their current barrel-aged rum cocktail is

Named after the Prohibition-era evangelist, Billy Sunday has the best amaro selection in Chicago and one of the better cocktail programs in the city. The focus is on bitter, complex flavors built around Italian amaros, American bitter liqueurs, and fortified wines. The bar seats are the priority. The food program is genuinely good. A reliable choice on any evening when you want a serious drink in an environment that takes the drink as seriously as you do.

Order: An amaro-based cocktail from the current menu, or ask for the house Spritz variation

The bar directly across the street from Wrigley Field, open since 1930, where Cubs fans have been processing wins and losses for generations. Murphy's has the rooftop, the open-air feel on game days, and the complete absence of any self-consciousness about what it is. The beer is cold, the Old Style cans are mandatory during Cubs games, and the crowd on a Saturday afternoon in summer is Chicago at its most itself. A bar that is not trying to be anything other than what it has always been.

Order: Old Style on draft and a hot dog. This is the correct order at Murphy's.

Over 300 whiskeys, 200 beers, a jukebox that runs to punk and metal, and a crowd that covers every Chicago demographic from the Lincoln Park professional to the Wicker Park musician. Delilah's has been on Lincoln Avenue since 1993 and has never once tried to make itself more appealing to people who would not understand it. The whiskey selection includes bottles from small American distilleries that do not appear in most bars. One of the 10 essential bars in Chicago by any reasonable measure.

Order: A poured single malt you have not tried before, guided by whoever is behind the bar

Chicago's largest craft brewery and still one of its best. The Logan Square taproom runs 20 taps of Revolution's full range plus seasonal and experimental releases that never make it into distribution. The Anti-Hero IPA is the beer that put the brewery on the national map, but the barrel-aged program is the real reason to come. The food is honest pub fare at fair prices. Expect a full room on Friday evenings and an early arrival if you want the experimental tap before it runs out.

Order: A pint of Anti-Hero IPA and whatever is on the single-keg experimental tap today

The best gin bar in Chicago, with a selection that runs to 100 bottles and a cocktail list that takes gin's versatility seriously. Scofflaw occupies a narrow Logan Square storefront that gets full early on weekend evenings. The cocktails lean toward citrus and botanical, the staff know the gin list intimately, and the price point is honest for the neighbourhood. A reliable mid-week option and an excellent date night bar for gin drinkers.

Order: The house Gin and Tonic with a gin you have not tried, or ask for the seasonal cocktail recommendation

A small cocktail bar in West Town that has been doing the right things quietly for several years while the Logan Square bars get the attention. The cocktail list is short and seasonal, the bar stools are comfortable, and the kitchen serves food until 2am on weekends, which makes it the rare Chicago bar that functions as a genuine late-night dining option. The crowd is a reliable mix of neighbourhood regulars and the people who found it on a list like this one.

Order: The house Old Fashioned or whatever the current seasonal whiskey cocktail is