The Cedar Hotel Bar / Beer Garden / Restaurant

Gold Coast, Chicago –

Set between the swanky shops of Rush Street and the wild bar scene of Division Street, The Cedar Hotel – a crime-riddled boarding house in the 1920s – now provides a bit of both worlds with its unique combination of historical architecture and energetic sports vibe.

Popular with a party crowd of post-grads and sports fans, the bar and restaurant’s main claims to fame are its oversized cocktails served in plastic cups and its two-thousand-square-foot beer garden, both of which draw hordes of lively patrons in the warmer months.

Groups of well-dressed but rowdy girlfriends and prepsters fill the wicker seats in the garden, ready to dig into some hearty comfort food to help soak up the signature punch and powerful No Tell Hotel Lemonade, a killer concoction of passion fruit vodka and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

Those looking to catch the game can grab a seat inside, where the raucous cheers of Packers and Badgers fans filter out to street from the bay windows, and fraternity types crowd around the wooden bar to share a bucket of beers and hoot at the flat-screen TVs.

Much like any popular outdoor establishment in Chicago, The Cedar Hotel is more subdued during the winter, but makes up for it the rest of the year as a bumping hotspot for eating, drinking, and sports fanaticism.