The Violet Hour

Last Friday night, Gabe and I went on a date to The Violet Hour in Wicker Park. It's a modern day speakeasy with some crazy cocktails and little bites to eat. The only way you'd know where it is if you know the the building number because there's absolutely no sign outside, and it actually looks boarded up. It seems very exclusive, and they have some funny house rules...

"No cell phones. No reservations. No standing. No jager bombs, car bombs, or bombs of any kind. No Grey Goose. No Cosmopolitans. Proper attire required."

Because of those house rules, I was kind of worried about it being pretentious, but I was surprised at how NICE everyone was. The bouncer, a big black guy, was so nice and soft spoken, kindly asked for our ID's, and even asked us if we had ever been there before. Our waitress was really sweet too. I kind of wished we sat at the bar so we could watch the bartenders in action and maybe even talk to them about the cocktails, but it was relaxing to sit in the huge Alice in Wonderland-esque chairs too.

Pictured above is my Juliet&Romeo made with Beefeater gin, mint, cucumber, and rose water. It must have been the best cocktail I have ever drank in my life. It was so smooth, and all the ingredients blended together perfectly. Gabe's first drink was a Dolce Maria, which is a rum-based drink. While it was also quite smooth and easy to drink, I could tell it was very strong from the one sip I had. Definitely a man's drink. Another crazy thing about The Violet Hour is that they have a dozen different kinds of ICE. Yeah, I'm not sure how that works. But Gabe had a single big hunk of ice in his drink. It looked nice, but I wasn't sure how it was different from your average ice. My second drink was The Riviera, made with pineapple infused Beefeater gin, lemon, egg white, and campari. It was sweeter because of the campari, but I like how the egg white adds texture. Gabe's second drink was Gilded Cage, which was a vodka based drink.

I definitely want to go back to The Violet Hour again. It's a good thing we came when we did because there was a line down the block once we left. Thankfully, we only had to wait 5 minutes. I loved the drinks, the atmosphere, the interior decor, and the service. There was something attractive about the bartenders too in spite of their facial hair. The wore nice vests and shook those cocktails up with style. Just ask Gabe. He knows how much I enjoyed watching them shake and stir. Yum!

P.S. Had croquette-sized fried banana-peanut butter bites with wildflower honey and bacon. Only $5. You can probably imagine how much I loved them.