Coq d'Or At Chicago's Drake Hotel Is An Upscale Dive Bar

July 31, 2009 at 2:53 PM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

While we spent the week in Chicago overdosing on hotels, we realized that is best to mix the new with the old, so we chased our visit to the restaurant and bar of The Wit with a nightcap at one of our favorite hotel bars: Coq D'Or at The Drake.

Having slept at The Drake years ago for some piddling price like $109, these days we keep to the public spaces that still retain the grand dame atmosphere. Can you keep a secret? Okay good, because it makes us sound like serious hotel dorks—throughout college, we would frequently head to The Drake's Palm Court lounge for some live jazz, dessert and people-watching. But since we're of legal drinking age now, instead we clomp downstairs from their lobby to the Coq D'Or, which our friend fondly refers to as "The Gold Coast Dive Bar."

Open since the day after Prohibition ended, the Coq d'Or specializes in "Executive" cocktails, meaning that you'll be getting 4oz of liquid loving, presented in a separate small glass so that you can pour it little by little into your main glass—cuts down on looking like too much of a lush. It's comparable to a dive bar only in that it's darker, and tucked underneath the elevated lobby so that it feels underground. The decor is very much post-prohibition as well, with burgundy leather chairs, round tables of dark wood, and cozy banquette nooks.

To take full advantage of this hidden Gold Coast delight, we recommend heading down between 5-7pm daily (even though they're open until 2am) for complimentary hors d'oeuvres or a little later for the live entertainment of a piano and singer. It all combines to make an executive-size Amaretto Sour go down just right.

[Photo: HotelChatter]

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