“If I were to get off work and make myself a drink,” says GreenRiver head bartender Julia Momose over the din of a bustling crowd, “this would be it.” Hard to tell, though, when she’ll get a moment to enjoy the potent mix of Japanese whiskey, gently tart plum vinegar, benedictine, and Demerara sugar (a new twist on an old fashioned). GreenRiver—the first Chicago offering from Danny Meyer’s NYC-based Union Square Events and the guys from the Dead Rabbit—has been packed from the moment it opened, despite its weird location on the 18th floor of a medical center building.

All of the cocktails take their names from Chicago’s Irish American heritage, and this one’s inspired by a trio of powerful, crooked politicians in the early 1900s. A history lesson pairs perfectly with a nightcap. 259 E. Erie St.