District Bar

We did a "Living Social" kayak thing that included a beer tasting and appetizers at District after kayaking. District Bar was mentioned in this thread as having one of Jeff Ruby's (Chicago Magazine) best burgers of 2009. The beers for the event were a few ounces each of five microbrews: Dortmunder Gold, Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat, Founder's Centennial IPA, Madhatter IPA and Founder's Dirty Bastard. Nothing earth-shaking, but they tasted awfully good after our jaunt on the river. The included appetizers were mozzarella bites (cubes instead of sticks) with a smoked tomato sauce and a District slider, which had melted bleu cheese, red wine onions and a roasted garlic & herb aioli. We also ordered a quesadilla (roasted chicken, chorizo, blistered corn, chihuahua cheese) and their award-winning orange buffalo wings.

I admit, I was not expecting much from the food. The District slider was surprisingly good. For one, the burger itself was medium-rare, which is almost never the case in a slider. Also, the burger was big enough to fit the bun. There were a lot of good flavors in the slider. I would like to try the full-size District burger some time. The wings were pretty tasty -- decent heat with just a hint of orange. They are on special on Thursdays, which made them more appealing. I wouldn't pay the full $9 for an order, but I don't eat wings much anyway. The quesadilla and mozzarella bites were fine.

I'm not sure what the regular crowd at District is like. The Living Social group pretty much took over the place. By the time we departed, there weren't many people left. The TVs went from sports to whatever the DJ/VJ was spinning, so I suspect it has a sports bar into club transformation. Either way, it seems like a possibility for a good burger if you're in the River North area.

District Bar
170 W Ontario, Chicago
312-337-3477
http://www.districtbarchicago.com/