Moe's Cantina Bar / Restaurant

River North, Chicago –

Despite a preponderance of creative galleries and contemporary boutiques in River North, Moe’s Cantina manages to stand apart from the hipster contingent with a cavernous, upscale space that attracts a preppier crowd than many of its neighbors.

Exposed brick, beamed ceilings, and intricate ironwork chandeliers and banisters create an airy warehouse feel for the hordes of finance types and post-college gangs of friends who show up at lunch for small plates of Mexican fare and signature Horchata cocktails.

Trendy girlfriends smart enough to make reservations for the evening crowd into the dozens of sleek booths and candlelit tables on the ground floor, where they take on rounds of margaritas and mojitos as the bro brigade gawks from a spot along the eighty-foot curved concrete bar or catches the game on the flat-screen TVs lining the perimeter of the room.

Patrons looking for a cozier retreat can take the wrought-iron staircase up to the loft and settle into low sofas and ottomans overlooking the action below, or find a perch at the bar to try some of the twenty types of tequila. Despite its impressive size, however, the venue often fills to capacity Thursday through Saturday nights, when ear-splitting conversation competes with DJs spinning Top 40, hip-hop, and R&B.

Stylish and usually brimming with an outgoing clientele, Moe’s Cantina is an upbeat option for both classy breaks from work during the day or wall-to-wall collars and cocktail dresses at night.