Best bar for day drinking in winter: Handlebar
Two and a half years ago, when I had the privilege of being seated across from Michael Rother of Neu! at Slows Bar BQ in Detroit, I did my patriotic duty, encouraging him to try a staple of American culinary fare: mac ‘n’ cheese. He declined, smiled politely, and asked, “This is children’s food?” Well, I guess it is, but it’s also breakfast food at Handlebar (2311 W. North), where a grown person can consume smoked-gouda vegetarian chili mac with tortilla strips, pickled jalapeño, and a fried egg while drinking three mimosas, a shot of whiskey, and a pot of coffee, all by 11:30 AM, if that sounds like something you would like to do. —Jonathan van Herik, Rainbo bartender and guitarist for Disappears
Best bar for learning what fresh hop cones smell like: Hopleaf
The hop bines in the beer garden behind the bar at Hopleaf (5148 N. Clark) bloom in late summer. Roll a flower gently between your thumb and forefinger and give it a good sniff (maybe wait till nobody’s looking first). You will instantly understand why our ancestors were compelled to invent a way to incorporate that smell into an intoxicating beverage. —Philip Montoro, Reader music editor
Best place to brunch and booze away your post-Reader Bar Guide hangover: The Publican
You’ve had one of those weeks. You were snowed in but climbed out. You figured things would come together (somehow, they always do), but things came together differently this week—harder but better—and that calls for a reward. You go to the Publican (837 W. Randolph). You order a Bloody Mary (vodka, not white whiskey, with a Victory ale beer back and house-pickled vegetables and plenty of celery bitters) because of course you do. You don’t order another, you don’t even order champagne, because you honestly don’t need to. You eat eggs poached in red wine and realize all eggs should be poached in red wine. You taste what your friend’s having and find that it’s just as good, probably because smoked paprika and pine nuts and cauliflower are a less decadent companion to eggs than red wine but no less ideal. You get the sense that even if there isn’t balance in the universe there is balance in this restaurant at this moment. You’ve just had the perfect end to one of those weeks. —Mara Shalhoup, Reader editor
