As of this past weekend, only the first floor of multilevel River North newbie Joy District (112 W. Hubbard St.) was open for revelers. This was in no way a limitation, though, as this single floor could easily be a destination bar in and of itself, thanks to striking décor, a hyped-up crowd, and free-flowing booze.

If clubby downtown bars are your thing, the place has a lot of appeal: slightly more casual crowds of social butterflies boozing, cocktails in tow and snacking a bit. When the second floor and rooftop (yes, rooftop) open, the mezzanine will shift to the main dining area and plenty of rum-assisted cocktailing will take place al fresco.

Here's what we saw when we stopped in.