Nine Bar

Lily Wang and Joe Briglio opened Chinatown's first speakeasy-style cocktail bar behind Moon Palace restaurant in 2022, and the room—neon-tinged, Blade Runner-inspired, channelling Tokyo cocktail bar energy—reached No. 89 on North America's extended list. The drinks weave Chinese influences through balanced, technically assured constructions that treat cultural specificity as a strength rather than a gimmick. Nine Bar fills a gap that Chicago's Chinatown needed: a neighbourhood bar that represents its community's drinking culture with the same seriousness that downtown bars apply to their own.