Scofflaw
Scofflaw holds its ground in a neighborhood crowded with cocktail bars by running a quarterly-rotating menu with genuine depth and an atmosphere that makes you want to stay for three rounds.
Scofflaw opened at the corner of Armitage and Kedzie in 2012 as a gin-focused bar at a time when that was a contrarian position, and it has held the line ever since without becoming rigidly historical about it. The room is all exposed brick, hardwood floors, and two working fireplaces — built for January in Chicago — and the cocktail list rotates every three months with a consistent philosophy: gin as the spine, everything else as conversation.
The Heliotrope — gin, lavender, rosemary, and arak — has appeared on enough menus to become a landmark in the city’s gin canon. At midnight, the bar sends out complimentary warm cookies, which is either charming or too much depending on where you are in the evening. The kitchen does more than bar snacks deserve. This is Logan Square’s easiest recommendation for a first-date bar.
- The Heliotrope (gin, lavender, arak)
- Any gin-forward seasonal cocktail
- A Negroni variation from the current menu
