Drinking Out In Chicago

Where do you like to go for a warm drink this time of year?Places with a dance floor would be a plus.


TIA,

hattyn

Kasey's Taven (701 South Dearborn).

The drinks are all cold and
........................................POSITIVELY NO DANCING!!!


A

So if you asked me where to listen to polka and I give you heavy metal recs,how is that helpful? I see this thread was deleted and added back with posts missing or changed so there might be a lack of continuity.


Smile when you say that,
hattyn

hattyn wrote:So if you asked me where to listen to polka and I give you heavy metal recs,how is that helpful?

Have I got the group for you!... German heavy metal, focussed on drinking, with a fair number of traditional tunes (including polkas) incorporated into it...
Onkel Tom Angelripper... Some of it's like a cross between Laurence Welk and Megadeth with the Cookie Monster doing the lead vocals (in German)...

Sorry for being irrelevant but I have an excuse (1,5 Liter Bier)...


A

Andersonville. It's glogg time!

I find myself in places with cold drinks and dancefloors about three to five nights a week. (They might have warm drinks, never asked.)

Before I launch into some full-on listing of nightclubs with descriptions, is that what you're looking for? (Nightclub in the "open until at least 2am with really loud, generally electronic music" sense.)

That topic is certainly something I could easily say I know a thing or two about.

I agree with sasquatch. Just plant yourself at Simon's, drink some glogg, and slow dance to the sweet sounds of William Shatner.

The Coq D'or ---only cold executive drinks

Trader Vic's---somewhat swoosy-making hot rum things in ceramic skulls

Have you thought of Bill's Blues (1029 Davis, Ev)? Dance to the live music in front near the stage on an off-night when it's not too busy.

If it helps you to help me,I frequented.Neo,Club 950,Berlin,The Closet,Paris Dance and Charmers.

hattyn wrote:If it helps you to help me,I frequented.Neo,Club 950,Berlin,The Closet,Paris Dance and Charmers.

Neo and Berlin are still going strong, but 950 has been closed for some time now. I can't say I've ever heard of the others.

Was Neo still doing the industrial/new wave/electro deal when you went? If so, they're still doing it - they kept doing it so long that it became cool again.

I generally frequent places playing music that falls under the ather generic umbrella of "EDM", short for electronic dance music. It can vary anywhere from Latin-influenced house music (which you can hear every Monday at Green Dolphin Street) to blippy, glitchy, minimal techno made in Cologne and played here. (Any of the various Meotic events at Smartbar or the Empty Bottle.)

Can you name any producers? DJs? Labels?

Pete,

Does Wax Trax ring a bell for you?The bars you don't know are Gay/Lesbian and before I get asked I am straight.I thought I heard 950 opened somewhere else.Or did that location also close?

hattyn wrote:So if you asked me where to listen to polka and I give you heavy metal recs,how is that helpful?

I quote.

"I tell you he is a eunuch; you ask me how many children he has."
Antonius

hattyn wrote:Pete,

Does Wax Trax ring a bell for you?The bars you don't know are Gay/Lesbian and before I get asked I am straight.Or not.I thought I heard 950 opened somewhere else.Or did that location also close?

Wax Trax seems to have been pretty much absorbed by TVT at this point. (I was a huge industrial fan in the late 90's in *gulp* high school.) I'd guess your best bets would be to check out Neo or the Exit, but I'd be unsure as to which nights would be the best options - I can't say that I'm terribly familiar with anyone promoting in either venue.

This has been a great year for industrial rock shows, though - Skinny Puppy, Ministry (with TKK), KMFDM, Sister Machine Gun and Die Warzau all have new offerings and tours to support them.

I sorta have a fuzzy memory of someone doing a night at 950 early this year, or maybe even last year - but that's long-since ended. If the place is still open, I'm unaware.

I'm really enjoying the hell out of the chunky analog-synth fueled new-wave-esque lyrical-synthy-but-not-synth-poppy revival that I've been seeing this past year. I just hope Tiefschwarz is back here again soon.

Ali Schwarz of Tiefschwarz at D-Edge in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Part 1 of 1) 73 minutes - 84MB

What sort of music? Alcoholic drinks or coffee/tea/etc?

I think good, warm, alcoholic beverages and dancing might be mutually exclusive pursuits. The good warm beverages - glogg, mulled wine, hot-buttered rum, toddies, whatever - are going to be at drinking establishments such as the afforementioned Simons and, more than likely, other spots in Andersonville. Or other booze centered establishments either on the hip end of things or the old-school end; the spectrum sometimes bends and the twain shall meet. Dancing in Chicago is considered something to segregate to dark, packed spaces where no one can accuse you of looking foolish without also being implicated.

That said, Darkroom, Funky Buddah Lounge, Danny's, Sonotheque, and Lava Lounge have some decent nights. All depends on what's/who's playing there. This Friday at Lava Lounge is a monthly event called "No Labels" which di/verges on/from industrial, touching electro/hard techno/italo disco/rawk/etc. Monday's at Danny's is their electronic night. Guests vary. Sonotheque has a reggae/world music kind of vibe on Sundays (I believe) and occasional (packed/guest list only) hip-hop nights (last one being last night - with Biz Markie and Grandmaster Flash). Monday's at Funky Buddah lounge is a mixed bag of electro/industrial/whatever the DJs want. Last night was a tribute to 80s video games. All you could play Galaga is heart-warming, though not quite the same as a steaming/frothy mug of intoxicating goodness. Instead of "warm" you might have to think about "warming" ... a stout or porter or brown liquour beverage.

Out_

rien

rien wrote:This Friday at Lava Lounge is a monthly event called "No Labels"

That's the Tobias/Trancid night, right?

I generally make a mental note to hit their stuff at Dark Room & Lava Lounge (both are a quick stumble from home for me) and forget every time. I made it out a couple of times when Pier (did I spell that right?) was doing those Synesthesia nights at Vision, but those are no more.

Hattyn - yep, Zoltar was my primary source for finding new music at that point in time. (I was too young to go to the clubs and parties that played it.)

hattyn wrote:Poor Pete.You are too young to have experienced Medusa.

I've met Dave a few times, but you're right - they were chased out of Sheffield & School long before I was old enough to go. (Instead I'm forced to hear about how things were so much better back then by jaded old clubbers constantly.)

Pete wrote:That's the Tobias/Trancid night, right?

That it is ... with occasional guest (eh) stars. As for the Synesthesia events at Vision, there was always the downside of having to be at Vision. When "imported" beers = Corona and Heineken, there are problems. I don't know "Piers."

But I digress ... with the exception of tangent about the inability to get a drinkable beverage at Vision, this has little to do with warm libations.

rien

Oh man I remember Medusa! It was always so cool to slip down the alley, somehow it just felt right. I was in HS in the late 80's so I was there towards the end of it.

Not really a fan of hot drinks so I can't help you there, unless you count hot cocoa with a shot of Baileys at my house:)

OMG, hattyn, I use to club at Neo's, Tut's, Waves & Club 950. Also frequented the Park West. There was another dance club on Clark near, I think, Erie that had an Irish name. I don't have the stomach for alcohol or cigarette smoke anymore but I still love the music. You go, girl!

Apple,were you the one passed out on the floor with me?I wondered what happened to you!I know what you mean about the smoke.

LMAO! No, that wasn't me, but I came pretty d*mn close to passing out at Neo's one New Year's Eve! Too much champagne and JD. I wouldn't be surprised if our paths crossed. That was many lifetimes ago!

Whether or not there is dancing,where would you go for barleywine,Christmas ale?I have some ideas but would appreciate any bar,club,tavern suggestions you might have.Once agaun,TIA.

hattyn wrote:Whether or not there is dancing,where would you go for barleywine,Christmas ale?I have some ideas but would appreciate any bar,club,tavern suggestions you might have.Once agaun,TIA.

I have some barleywine and spiced hard ciders made in my basement brewery. For a bar, Hop Leaf in Andersonville is a good bet, as is (I'm told, no direct experience) The Map Room.

hattyn wrote:Whether or not there is dancing,where would you go for barleywine,Christmas ale?I have some ideas but would appreciate any bar,club,tavern suggestions you might have.Once agaun,TIA.

My beer rundown ...

Goose Island probably goes without mentioning. I'd never trek out of my way to go there, but it so happens that I don't have to since I pass by the one just off Clybourn once or twice a day. In their defense, the seasonal beers and special brews can be pretty great.

Map Room is definitely one of the better beer destinations. Just don't go on Friday or Saturday since the crowds are repellant. That's not to knock them in particular; same goes for almost all crowds in my humble opinion ... choice lines from Crowds and Power or Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds echo through my head. They host some fun events with brewers. Election night they had Three Floyd's there for a sampling of their products. After a long day as an election judge and the disparity between the promise of exit polls and the realities of the tabulation, I needed a few.

Quenchers (Fullerton) is a good standby. As long as the city doesn't clamp down on them again. If it's not rats in the dumpster, they'll get you for overcrowding the place (again with the madness of crowds ...). They're a little bit country too, in their ramshackle glory ... if only they gave free peanuts instead of popcorn. The downer is that, though their beer list is impressive, they'll often be out of a number of your choices.

Delilah's (Lincoln) has a good selection. They also do some fun brewer events. I think it was at Delilah's where I went to a tasting of all of Bell's Stouts and Porters. This January or February they had a $35 tasting of Christmas/Winter brews with some beers tasted in three or four vintages. Very nice.

These are pretty obvious locations. Perhaps some less obvious choices: Handlebar (on North) tries to have an interesting selection of beers; Darwin's (on Ashland) is a bit annoying in it's attempts (not met) at being an upscale (gastro?) pub, but they do attempt to have good beers; Piece tends to have better than average beer selections; Sheffield's used to have a great beer selection but I've heard reports (not substantiated by a first hand visit) that they've degraded ... used to go there to savor Victory's Storm King on tap, but there were many other tempting choices.

rien

rien wrote:Map Room is definitely one of the better beer destinations. Just don't go on Friday or Saturday since the crowds are repellant

Yes, a very nice place indeed. And on Monday's, I believe, a dollar-off-special on their (numerous) Belgian offerings. I love this place in the late afternoon when it's really quiet... odi profanum vulgus et arceo...

Antonius

Map Room
SE corner of Armitage and Hoyne

edited for typos

Uncommon Ground on Southport & Grace has a warm, friendly environment and warm, even friendlier hot drinks. Often some darn good local musicians too.

http://uncommonground.com/index.htm

Nice list, rien.

A couple beer places to add, none too startling, but to keep a good list together...

Hop Leaf, on Clark just south of Foster, for an outstanding selection of Belgians as well as lots of other beers. I like the vibe here, and have never been put off by the purported rudeness of bartenders. Haven't tried the food, other than the frites, which I've enjoyed. Hmmm...I think I'm due for another Hop Leaf visit soon.

Also Clark Street Ale House, on Clark just south of Chicago, has a nice selection of microbrews in a location you might not expect to find them...a nice respite from Mag Mile holiday shopping and a good place to stop for a drink after work if it's on your way. Free (quite poor) buffet on Fridays, I believe.

An Jak's Tap at Halsted and, maybe?, Jackson. I find the atmosphere here a bit more bar-annoying, TVs playing, etc., but the beer list is quite respectable.

Cheers,

Aaron

Aaron Deacon wrote:Nice list, rien.

A couple beer places to add, none too startling, but to keep a good list together...

Nice list from Rien and nice additions, Aaron.

To add a couple more:

Resi's Bierstube... lots of great German beers and very good, simple German food (Irving Park near Hoyne)

Huettenbar in Lincoln Square... lots of great German beers and a very pleasant atmosphere.

Antonius