The Violet Hour

The Violet Hour has people talking (quietly)

One of Chicago’s most popular bars is less a bar and more a cocktail lounge. Called The Violet Hour (a name taken from a line in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land), this Wicker Park neighborhood has received rave reviews from around the world.

Setting it apart is a new breed of cocktail, one based on homemade recipes, the type of ice used, fresh fruit and produce and homemade bitters.

Toby Maloney, Violet Hour’s mixologist (someone who creates new drinks) has developed  a menu of artistic and great tasting drinks. Maloney’s drinks, however, are only part of the attraction. The lounge was specifically designed so guests could easily talk to one another.

Seating for 96 patrons is set up in small groupings — all in tall back leather chairs. The bar, rather than confined to a single long counter, is divided into separate sections, which allows patrons to cluster into small groups and fosters a hushed tone throughout the lounge.

Violet Hour is more than a trendy haunt. Its fans include both young and old who appreciate the setting, the high-end cocktails (such as the Woolworth’s Manhattan, made of Buffalo Trace, Carpano Antica, Cynar and Root Beer Bitters) and the light food menu.

Recent menu additions include duck and goat cheese wontons with rhubarb sweet and sour sauce, $6; and crispy lamb rillettes with rosemary apple sauce, $8. For dessert, try a tempura-fried Milky Way bar with milk jam for $5.

The bar's soft and elegant décor and heavy drapes pay homage to salons and upscale speakeasies of the past.

Its façade is changed monthly. One month, it may look like a boarded up building. The next, month, the boarded-up look will be dismantled and a totally different façade is built.

Entry into The Violet Hour is first-come, first serve and reservations are not accepted. All cocktails are $12.