Monthly Archives: December 2008

Trader Vic’s | Chicago

Trader Vic’s is back in Chicago, bitches. Go get yourself a Mai Tai or a Planter’s Punch or a Chi Chi or a Daiquiri. Anything faux Irish or tiki or sophisticated usually turns me off, but Vic’s is over-the-top enough to be very appealing. And the drinks are great. And the drinks are great because [...]
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The Martini Bar at Chandler’s Steakhouse | Boise, ID

It’s easily the swankiest place in town. If you just got out of some charity benefit, or the symphony, or some other affair that requires you to dress up and you’re looking for a martini, then the Martini Bar at Chandler‘s Steakhouse is probably where you’re headed. Beg your pardon… it’s probably actually called (deep [...]
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The Falcon Tavern | Boise, ID

The Falcon Tavern is just a bar. That might seem like an insult, or at the very least a mildly melancholy endorsement… but it’s not. Endorsement yes… melancholy no. It’s a corner bar that’s not on a corner. It doesn’t have more than seven or eight taps, but they’re good taps (mainly from the North [...]
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Tug Hill Snowmobile Bar | Tug Hill, NY

So, I forgot the name(s), but I was bar-hopping with my soon-to-be father in law and we’d already made a few stops and I wasn’t taking notes. This review really could apply to every bar we visited. The bartender, a female, is all cleavage. Not beautiful cleavage, but bountiful cleavage. Beers are cheap. The crowd [...]
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Pengilly’s Saloon | Boise, ID

Until recently, it was illegal to buy distilled spirits in any form in the state of Idaho on Election Day. That includes in a bar. Yes, you could get a beer, but forget the hard stuff when the polls were open. The antiquated law came from the early 1900s when saloons were polling places, and [...]
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Upstairs Pub | Bloomington, IN

The bartender’s surly, which I like. “You open?” I asked the first time I stepped in. It was three in the afternoon and the place was empty. “Door wouldn’t be open if we weren’t,” he answered, not bothering to look at me. The place is big, with darts and pool tables and a great view [...]
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FARMbar | Bloomington, IN

“Would you like to try my glass of tequila?” asked a drinking buddy. Another offered a glass of vodka with a couple of berries at the bottom. The martini glass full of tequila was in theory a “Green Teani” and the vodka with berries had another too-cute name I can’t remember which alluded to the [...]
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Rose’s Lounge | Lincoln Park, Chicago

We arrive and there’s a elderly woman in the back muscling a huge trash bag out from behind the bar. Attempting to muscle is more accurate. There’s one other patron at the place. He notices what’s going on and says, “Rose, let me get that.” He grabs the bag, takes it out the back door, [...]
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Nomad World Pub | Milwaukee, WI

Attributed by many, incorrectly, to be Ben’s favorite bar. But I can see why. The place has a good vibe. Kind of transient but with regulars — the world-weary mingle with the never-been-out-of-towners. Grab a stool at the chipped granite bar and you’ve got a temporary home. If you tour the Lakefront Brewery, you’ll get [...]
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Potter’s Lounge | The Loop, Chicago

Potter’s Lounge tries to capture what we imagine when we idealize the cocktail’s glory days — something involving low light, comfortable seating, well-executed drinks, and expensive prices. Which is fine. It’s part of the whole anti-tini backlash, I think. We’ve become fed up with Tom Collins-tinis and margarita-tinis and appletinis and want something better. Potter’s [...]
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