Zach Rivera felt like he’d entered a time warp when he first walked into the space that would eventually become his new cocktail bar, Golden Years. “It gave me the feeling of the ’70s,” he says. “It had wood paneling and exposed brick. It led me to put some music together, and that kicked off everything else.”

A collaboration among Rivera and Christina Chae, both of Moonflower, and Georg Simos and Alex Tsolakides of High Dive and Dante’s Pizzeria, Golden Years takes as its muse the pre-Reagan era. That means you’re listening to Joe Cocker, Steely Dan, and the Rolling Stones while snacking on wedge salads and club sandwiches. Rivera carries the theme into the drinks menu, too. “I wanted to put together a list of cocktails from the ’70s or using ingredients from that time — Galliano, orange juice, brandy, and cognac were huge — in addition to older cocktails that people are still drinking or that have gained popularity again, like the highball.”

He turns these old-school elements on their head by serving concoctions like the Florida, with grapefruit juice, sloe gin, Galliano, and a blend of red bitters. Says Rivera: “I didn’t want to be as on the nose as a Harvey Wallbanger.” 1938 W. Chicago Ave., East Ukrainian Village

Three Cocktails to Try

Boricua Stinger

“Stingers were big during that time, but all the recipes are too sweet or simple or there’s a bunch of dairy. I wanted to bring more complexity to it. I made a Puerto Rican spin that uses Malta, this earthy, molasses soda. There’s brandy, rum, and a splash of Fernet, and it’s topped with Malta egg cream.”

Singapore

“Carbonated components were really popular at the time, but when I was working on this drink, the carbonation was diluting it in an unpleasant way. So this is a Singapore without the sling. I also swapped in pisco since we had a lot of gin on the menu already. It came together really well.”

22° Highball

“This is my favorite drink on the menu,” says Rivera. “I rigged up a freezer with a temperature controller, and 22 degrees was the magic number: The sparkling water does not freeze in the bottle, but once you pour it, it freezes in the glass. We top that with Japanese whisky, which is also carbonated and kept in the freezer. Every single thing is as frozen and carbonated as possible.”