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 of a few things: they appear committed to fresh garnishes and good ingredients, they have good recipes and they follow them, and they use good ice. Not sure why the ice matters so much, but it seems to. Any bar that worries about ice seems to have everything else under control too.

Trader Vic’s has updated their menu with Mojitos and Caiparinhas as a nod to the more modern tropical cocktails. The menu is posted online so you can browse before you arrive.  Other than that, not much has changed in the 26 billion or so months it took to close up shop in the Palmer House Hilton and find a new spot to mix Mai Tais.

Sure, the place is a bit of a tourist trap, but that’s almost part of the plan. It’s a bar for transients who roam the earth and can stop in Dubai and Scottsdale and Chicago for a tasty rum creation and feel at home.