Local pour · checked 2026-09-03

Chicago drinks like a city with a bitter shot in one hand and a deal in the other. The local pour is Malört with people you trust, an Illinois-brewed draft, and — because this town eats Italian twice a week — an aperitivo or a taco depending on the avenue. River North, the West Loop, and Wicker Park each claim a corner.

Malört is the handshake

Jeppson's Malört is a wormwood-based bäsk, a Swedish-style bitter liqueur that Chicago has treated as a rite of passage for decades. CH Distillery — founded in 2013 in Chicago, now distilling in Pilsen — bought the Carl Jeppson Company in 2018 and moved production back to Chicago in 2019. You will not find it on the happy-hour sheets below. That is the point: Malört is the shot between the deals, ordered after the $6 draft, not instead of it.

The West Loop does aperitivo

Randolph Street learned the Italian early-evening habit and priced it down. Monteverde on Madison posts Tuesday–Saturday Aperitivo Hour 2:30pm–4:30pm, with ABC 10, Aperitivo Spritz 12, Mazzur-Americano 12, Apero-Plane 13, and Shakerato 14 on the hosted sheet. Bar Siena on Randolph posts Monday–Friday 3:30–5:30pm with cocktails $9, wine $10, arancini $3 per piece, housemade sliders $4 each, and Bufala Margherita and Burnt Pepperoni pizza $12. In Lincoln Park, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! on Halsted posts seven days a week 4:00 PM–6:00 PM in the bar area with $23 sangria pitchers, $4 Estrella Damm bottles, and $1.50 pintxos. Three rooms, one grammar: small bites, bitter drinks, low prices.

Wicker Park answers with tacos

Big Star on Damen posts Monday–Thursday from 4–6 PM with 1/2 off nachos, Classic Margarita $12, Ranch Water $8, tequila and limeade or hibiscus agua fresca $8, Pacifico $4, and shot of the day $3. The $4 Pacifico is the beer deal; the $8 Ranch Water is the local order. Up in River North, Gilt Bar on Kinzie posts Happy Hour available until 5:00pm daily with table wine $6, all draft beer $6, highballs $7, teeny martinis $7, and Old Fashioned $8.

How to drink it like a local

  • Afternoon: aperitivo at Monteverde (Tue–Sat 2:30–4:30) or Bar Siena (Mon–Fri 3:30–5:30).
  • 4pm: $4 Pacifico and $8 Ranch Water at Big Star (Mon–Thu 4–6), or $1.50 pintxos at Ba-Ba-Reeba (daily 4–6).
  • The dare: a Malört with the table, from a Chicago still — CH Distillery, Pilsen.

Windows and prices move — confirm on the venue's own page via Deals or On now before you go. Spritz ratios for the home bar are in six cocktail recipes.

Sources

Poured here: Monteverde · Bar Siena · Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! · Big Star · Gilt Bar