Fan the flames

The heat is on at bars with fireplaces

By Ellen Fox

October 27 2003

Now that cold weather is here, it's time to gather 'round the fireplaces at these cozy bars.

Tsunami
Warm your outsides and insides in the second-floor sake lounge above this Gold Coast sushi spot, where a black marble, wood-burning fireplace and free hot sake (9-10 p.m. Thursdays) cut the chill.

Friar Tuck
This decades-old Lakeview favorite keeps folks toasty with its large, copper-topped gas fireplace. Pull up a nearby stool, grab a seasonal special-- like the $4.50 mini-pitchers of Michelob Amber Bock--and soak up the warmth.

Celtic Crown Public House
Everything about this ersatz Irish pub is imitative--right down to the electric fireplace set into the wall of the main room. Then again, who needs real logs when there's Irish coffee: Jameson's Irish whiskey, coffee and green crème de menthe topped with whipped cream ($5.25).

Pops for Champagne
If the bubbly at this romantic, jazz-lover's lounge doesn't heat you up, a little snifter-sipping by the gas fireplace across from the stage is sure to do the trick. Can't splurge for the $44 snifter of Brillet cognac? For $10 you can try the Kelt Tour du Monde V.S.O.P., aged in oak barrels aboard seafaring ships.

Hourglass
The gas fireplace at this Korean spot will make you feel like you've stumbled upon a woodland hideaway. The hand-built wood corrals, tree-trunk stools and fake foliage help too. Gather 'round for family-style platters of fried chicken or warm your bones with a carafe of fruit-flavored soju before heading back out to the cold.

Gilhooley's Grand Saloon
Two fireplaces round out the old-fashioned ambience at this large, classy pub, which draws St. Xavier students lucky enough to have it for a nearby college hang. But even with its grand Euro trappings--like vintage posters, cut glass and woodwork--the place isn't too highfalutin to serve up pub grub or rock the house with DJs and live bands.

The Grafton
Lincoln Square's anti-schlocky Irish bar and grill retains at least one traditional attribute of its native land: a handbuilt stone fireplace in the back room, surrounded by comfy couches. As Grafton's Irish owners know, it's best complemented by a hot toddy, a blend of brown sugar, Jameson's, boiling water and clove-studded lemon.

Ellen Fox is a metromix special contributor.

Originally published Oct. 29, 2003.

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