Whether drinking for a cause or just because, Chicagoans can give back while enjoying the changing season by ordering everything from hot chocolate and steaming coffee to ice cream floats, shakes, and cocktails. Cheers to that!
For starters, the historic Fine Arts Building and Groundswell Coffee Roasters are revitalizing the downtown area while revving up caffeine connoisseurs with an exclusive Groundswell x Fine Arts Building coffee flavor. “We are thrilled to welcome Groundswell Coffee Roasters to our storied location, and to reactivate the ground floor of the Fine Arts Building with its first new cafe in seven years,” says proprietor Erica Berger. “Inside the Fine Arts Building, the motto above the entryway is ‘Art Alone Endures’—this applies to all of the artmaking that has happened here for more than 125 years, and also artisanal businesses such as Chicago-based specialty coffee roaster Groundswell. As a onetime barista myself, I’ve experienced firsthand how coffee shops serve as community gathering places. Now our visitors can come together for coffee, pastries or lunch as the sounds of violins, tap dancing, or an opera rehearsal sing in the halls above them.”
Per its Let’s Shedd Plastic campaign, Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium is partnering with local businesses that are using or developing plastic-free alternatives. These establishments include Bartleby’s Homemade Ice Cream (which sells both dairy and plant-based milkshakes and floats) as well as the coffee houses Off Color Brewing, necessary & sufficient coffee, and Katherine Anne Confections. Named by Fodor Travel as one the best places to drink hot chocolate in America, the latter aims to be a community gathering space where folks can order hot chocolate, coffee or tea with cafe sandwiches or salads.
As Shedd Aquarium’s campaign partner, KOVAL Distillery encourages consumers to raise a glass while raising awareness with its planet-friendly options that include the company’s signature KOVAL Bourbon and Thresh & Winnow Bourbon (aged in fruit brandy barrels). Focused on organic, regenerative grains and high-integrity aging, the brand seeks to marry craftsmanship with environmental stewardship.
Together, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) and SOMOS Hospitality are celebrating the exhibition Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón. As a part of the collaboration, SOMOS restaurants Tzuco and UMMO / Loft 22 will present signature dishes and cocktails inspired by dancehall, reggaetón, and the Caribbean. Tzuco patrons can order Old Cuban cocktails while Tamarind Martinis are offered to those at UMMO / Loft 22. After purchasing signature collaboration items, guests receive two-for-one admission to Dancing the Revolution at the MCA (through Sep. 20).
“We are thrilled to partner with SOMOS Hospitality to champion Dancing the Revolution and the global reach of dancehall and reggaetón,” says Scott Hendrickson, Chief Communications Officer at the MCA. “Music and food have the power to connect us, and this collaboration builds a brilliant bridge between regions by honoring the profound impact of Jamaican, Panamanian, and Puerto Rican dance culture and uniting it with SOMOS’s exceptional Mexican culinary artistry.”
“At SOMOS, we’ve always believed that food and art share the same essential power: the ability to bring people to the table and carry the memory and identity of those who make it. When we look at what the MCA is doing with Dancing the Revolution, we see something we recognize: a celebration of Latino culture as a living and evolving force. This is why the collaboration feels so natural to us,” adds Carmen Gutierrez de la Roza, SOMOS’s Head of Marketing. “Partnering with the MCA on this collaboration is an extension of that belief. It is an opportunity to remind Chicago that Latino culture is not a backdrop. It is a living, creative, generative force.”
The weekend begins with Vinyl Thursdays and Bubbles & Beats Fridays at Alma. As DJs spin nostalgic records in an old-school way, savvy sippers can enjoy $12 cocktails (Daiquiris, Penicillin, Tom Collins and Palomas) on Thursdays and champagne specials on Fridays. The Wrigleyville venue is also transforming its terrace for Yappy Hour (Aug. 29), a dog-friendly happy hour where guests can partake in drink specials alongside their pooch. Best of all, those who order Alma’s Peach C.A. cocktail will indirectly help out the local nonprofit cat rescue The Catcade.
Weekend drink deals continue in River North, where the New Orleans-inspired Storyville serves up $25 bottomless mimosas during Saturday and Sunday brunch. Later, additional beverages can be had downstairs in Lulu’s Speakeasy, named for the infamous Black entrepreneur Lulu White.