Three Dots and a Dash, Chicago, IL (bar)

Name:Three Dots and a Dash
Type:bar, plus a limited menu of appetizers
Street:435 North Clark Street--enter through rear alley off Hubbard
City:Chicago
State:IL
Zip:60654
country:USA
Phone: (312) 610-4220
Status:opened July 31, 2013

Description:
This new tiki bar from Paul McGee & Jerrod and R.J. Melman is now open. Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 5pm-2am; Friday, 4pm-3am; Saturday, 5pm-3am.

http://threedotsandadashchicago.com/

[ Edited by: randomcha 2013-01-15 19:51 ]

[ Edited by: randomcha 2013-07-31 06:06 ]

[ Edited by: randomcha 2013-09-03 11:34 ]

You can read some posts about the new spot at:

http://chicagoist.com/2012/08/29/paul_mcgees_tiki_bar_gets_a_name.php
http://chicagoist.com/2012/02/10/tikiphiles_rejoice_paul_mcgee_to_op.php

Did this place ever open up? There aren't any reviews on yelp.com and the website says 'coming soon', but funny enough Details Magazine calls it one of the best new bars in America in their February 2013 issue.
My neighbors mail ended up in my mailbox and when I saw the Best New Bars in America on the cover I had to take a look.

Mr. McGee told me "off the record" that they'll be opening at the end of January. I guess I jumped the gun a bit when I created this listing ... anyway, he also told me that there will be Polynesian bar food of some kind. Perhaps pu pu platters?

I also heard "end of January" just today as well.

Fortunately, I'll be back there Feb 4-8 - SO looking forward to checking it out!! Sounds like some great stuff coming :D

It took a friend 6 months longer to open up a coffee house than she had planned due to bureaucracy so I can only imagine what a bar has to go through.
I'm looking forward to seeing the pics and hopefully being able to visit Three Dots and a Dash after it opens.

Looking forward to this. Chicago proper is quite "Tiki-deficient" at the moment. I've heard February opening.

On 2013-01-15 19:20, tikilongbeach wrote:
Did this place ever open up? There aren't any reviews on yelp.com and the website says 'coming soon', but funny enough Details Magazine calls it one of the best new bars in America in their February 2013 issue.

HA! Wonder what it cost to get on that list?

Seriously though, can't wait to see what they've done with the "Trader Joe's" tikis.

TT

Yesterday's Chicago Reader (1/31/13) reviewed the bbq restaurant they opened upstairs. It says the tiki bar is opening "later this year."

TT

Yes ... and now I'm hearing through the grapevine that the opening date is more likely to be March. Sigh. Gotta be patient.

Any word on whether it's still possibly opening this month (March)?

I've heard nada so far

3 Dots and a Dash is about to start hiring: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/fbh/3767601990.html

This has to be a good sign!

According to their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ThreeDotsandaDash), they're open (?)

I'm gonna try and check it out sometime this week. Pretty darned excited though!

response i got on twitter was "soon, but not yet!"

Dang...

This place is one heckuva tease, ain't it?

--Pete

Can anyone clarify how soon "soon" would be for the opening? I need to line up a sitter

Latest I've heard is "late July." I will be seeing Mr. McGee on Saturday and will ask him point-blank.

At least Tiki Iniki is on an Island...:wink:!! ( Joking!!) It takes time to get em' right.

okay- this wednesday night (tomorrow) is the pre party opening for friends and family of three dots and a dash.

I hope to have a full report for you all by thursday. It should be open to the public this weekend. Will find out for sure.

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2013-07-30 09:05 ]

i screwed that up- private party tonight for family and friends and i believe the grand opening is on wednesday.

YES, can't wait to check this action! Let's throw some support their way asap, for we all know the perils of the Chicago Tiki life expectancy.

Holy smokes. I'm not old enough to have experienced Don the Beachcomber's old Chicago outpost on Walton. But Three Dots and a Dash easily measures up to the classic Palmer House location of Trader Vic's (RIP) and then ups the ante in a big way. Speaking of that Chicago Trader Vic's, Three Dots has salvaged a great many pieces and accents from that shuttered tiki shrine and incorporated them into the new establishment, including the carved host's stand, a number of stand-alone tikis, the barstools, carved wood panels, hanging colored glass lamps, and more.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Last night I was lucky enough to attend the friends and family "try out" night, so these impressions are based on that. You enter Three Dots via the rear alley. JUst past the entryway, the exposed brick walls morph into rounded stone blocks, and as you turn the corner you begin your descent to the basement level. The stairwell is bathed in a eerie blue light; above the stairs you see a pile of skulls. Wonderfully creepy. Once you reach the bottom of the stairs you walk down a hallway. On the right is a bamboo-screened room designed to accommodate private parties of 20-25. Leopard print banquettes, a black velvet painting of a topless native girl, and plenty of other tiki touches in evidence. At the end of the hallway is the carved host's stand (and behind it, the doors to the washrooms). The hostess greets you, picks up oversized Trader Vic's-sized menus (complete with charming illustrations and a short history of tiki), and leads you off to the left.

The main room is extremely large; the bar alone seats around 25, and the rest of the space is filled out with cozy booths, banquettes, low tables for 4, drink rails for standing customers. All told, between the main area, an "invite only" section in the back near the service bar, and the private Bamboo Room, Three Dots can accommodate around 240 people! Big!

The initial drink menu has about 20 drinks, divided into three categories: Classic, Modern, and For Sharing. I'll give a brief outline of those I sampled last night. Paul McGee's take on the classic Jet Pilot is lethal and absolutely delicious. Very spice-forward--it's even garnished with a fat cinnamon stick. (Oh, about those garnishes--they're insanely intricate. As served, each drink has at least three, and many have more. Included are many types of plants and flowers, all edible, various citrus shells carved into skulls or boats, and of course swizzle sticks.)

The Christmas in July is a sharable drink served in a giant shell; smooth, delicately spiced. Painkiller #3 is a dessert drink all the way, very sweet and creamy. A Lonely Island Lost in the Middle of a Foggy Sea (named after a line in the song "Bali Hai") is a very intriguing bittersweet coffee-noted drink with a dry finish. Rum River Mystic is a sort of Rum Manhattan/Old Fashioned variation, quite sweet, which improves as the lump of ice it's served with begins to melt. The Pago Pago is unashamedly herbal, lots of green Chartreuse and pineapple flavor, served in a coupe glass. Lastly, the Jungle Bird, with Campari, fruity but pleasantly bitter. The single-serve drinks are all $13, while the shared drinks (meant for between 3 and 12 people) are $50 and up. The big kahoona is a concoction known as Treasure Chest No. 1. Intended for about 10-12 people, it's served in a giant treasure chest filled with dry ice. It includes an entire bottle of Dom Perignon!

The food menu is obviously still being tweaked and tested. If the Crispy Tuna (tuna tartare which you scoop up with crispy fried wonton wrappers) and Luau Chips (served with pineapple guacamole) are less than enthralling, the insanely addictive Thai Fried Chicken makes up for it. Crispy chicken chunks tossed in a sweet/spicy glaze, it's phenomenal. Probably could have had 2 or 3 orders of it by myself. The Crab Rangoon, which comes with 4 different dipping sauces, is also really tasty.

Three Dots serves their drinks in a variety of different mugs, all Tiki Farm I believe, which can be purchased for $15 each. They'll give you a fresh mug, boxed and wrapped, so you don't have to worry about sticky liquids dripping all over you. There will also be several custom mugs designed just for Three Dots.

So, my first impressions? This is absolutely the tiki establishment that Chicago has been waiting for. Every drink I had was absolutely top-notch; the servers and bartenders were all knowledgeable and enthusiastic; the d�cor and atmosphere are spot on. Though it�s brand new, the level of overall quality already measures up comfortably to a benchmark like Smuggler�s Cove. I�m definitely looking forward to spending a great deal of elbow-bending time at Three Dots and a Dash.

[ Edited by: randomcha 2013-07-31 08:01 ]

Looking forward to heading there next time I'm in town!

I did hear about the swizzles.....

The detail on the swizzles is EXQUISITE - some of the best I've ever seen, by far!

c'mon, guys, share more pictures....pretty pleeeeeease!!!

Here's a link to a PDF of the menu: http://static.urbandaddy.com/uploads/assets/file/pdfs/fba638447564121630e8322d510b01b9.pdf?sp_mid=6658265&sp_rid=NTM0MDUyNjg2OTUS1

Looks like a great place, very good reporting! I've always wanted to visit Chicago...
I think Cheeky Tiki designed some of the mugs too. They posted it on Facebook today.

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-07-31 20:54 ]

Thanks for the review.
Sounds amazing.

Jeff btd

Now this really sounds like a must visit.

Whoa, this joints sounds awesome. Anyone want to meet up this weekend?

This link on Urban Daddy has a fairly thorough amount of photos:

http://www.urbandaddy.com/chi/nightlife/25788/Three_Dots_and_a_Dash_The_Tiki_Playground_Under_Bub_City_Chicago_CHI_Bar

On the right hand side, there's a little box that says "extras" and "Three Dots
and a Dash Slideshow."

Mr. McGee is an absolute whiz with cocktails, so there's never been a doubt
in my mind those would be stellar. I was mostly curious how the decor would come together,
seeing as how his previous bar, The Whistler in Logan Square, suffers from an absolute lack
of atmosphere, in that it is a small, crowded, noisy white room with good cocktails.

It seems from these photos like he's managed to perfectly ride the line of other
haute-and-award-winning cocktail joints in Chicago (see the Aviary, Sable, Violet Hour,
the lower level of Barrelhouse Flat, Scofflaw, etc) while giving it a tiki twist-
NOT an easy thing to pull off!

I can't wait to check it out- I know the kind of "TiPSY" factor we all jones for,
and the overall "Tikiness" of the place may be fairly minimal in the classic "stuff
everywhere to look at" original-era Vic's or Don's sense, but with the right lighting
and the right music, this ought to be a helluva nice sleek, modern, Tiki-ish space to
have a kickass premium cocktail (which is something we've been severely lacking in Chicago
for a long while.)

I absolutely love Hala Kahiki and Chef Shangri-La, visit them often, and both are near
and dear to my heart, but in terms of cocktails vs. atmosphere, they're "all hat..."
fantastic places to spend hours hanging out in (HK arguably ranks among the best classic
atmosphere of any original-era Tiki bar anywhere), but if you're looking for a properly
prepared classic Mai Tai or a mind boggling rum selection, yer outta luck.

I'm just stoked to finally have a place I can get to on the CTA without having to get
in the car and schlep out to the 'burbs or up to Milwaukee...

We'd hoped to make it here for the opening last night, but had other plans. If the buzz
locally is any indication (I had six friends forward me stuff about this place opening in
the span of about two hours yesterday, my wife had four) it will be an absolute madhouse
this weekend. Early next week seems like the thing to do.

Of course, on first visit should I uncover anything earth-shattering that hasn't
already been reported here, I'll be sure to post.

--Pete

Well,goodness,I'm late to the party! Thanks for the review! Looks like a winner-just have to remember to bring lots of cash! Love the swizzles,too.

Looks cool. Those swizzles are rad. Too bad I'm never in Chicago.

They posted their menu on Facebook. Their webpage isn't up and running yet.

http://www.facebook.com/ThreeDotsandaDash

Eater Chicago has some great pictures of the place and you can download their menu to get a better look since my downloaded pic is too small.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2013/07/31/go-through-the-tiki-portal-starting-tonight.php

They really give credit to a lot of people on the menu.

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-08-02 09:05 ]

I went back for another visit, reworked my initial reactions, and came up with this piece--enjoy:

Paul McGee's Three Dots And A Dash Is A Genuine Tiki Paradise
http://chicagoist.com/2013/08/07/paul_mcgees_three_dots_and_a_dash_i.php

Wonderful! Sounds and looks like someone got it right. What a relief. Happy face!

Just visited this past weekend and I cannot recommend it enough! Their Jet Pilot is an excellent balance of spice and rum power, and the namesake Three Dots and A Dash is a great utilization of an Agricole. Their own "A Lonely Island..." showcases my recent fave Blackstrap Rum. And the pupus were awesome to boot.

It's been far too long since I've been in a Tiki bar that was this crowded, so hopefully this joint will be around for some time, yay for us!!!

Well,went this past weekend to celebrate my birthday,and boy,is it terrific!Love the fact that the entrance is in an alley-complete with stanchions and velvet rope! Had a terrific server named Gabby-the gals have long hawaiian dresses that are cut in a flirtatious manner-very cute.Drinks were tasty-MaiTai,and two others.Crab Rangoon was fair,but weren't there for eats.Asked Gabby if I could purchase a menu,and she gave me one for my birthday.Purchased two mugs-Poipu Beach Boogie Board,and Paul came by and gave me a Saturn mug and some swizzles for my birthday! Nice,nice fella-really good vibe there-looking forward to returning for a longer evening.Highly recommended!

I will echo the positivity. Great place! It was absolutely hopping when we went, but we got a table after not too horrible a wait (we stood around having drinks while we waited.)

The first two drinks we ordered were the best of the evening: Jet Pilot (A+) was absolutely sensational--spicy, complex, delicious rum flavor. The Lonely Island (A+) gives you a weird first impression but grows on your palate--hearty blackstrap rum, coffee, pineapple. Just amazing.

We also sampled the Three Dots and a Dash (A-) which was very good, a bit more booze forward than the traditional Three Dots. The Rum River Mystic (A) is kind of like a rum/bourbon old fashioned--served with a big chunk of ice, strong, flavorful and delicious. Bunny's Banana Daiquiri (B) is not as complex as some of the other options, but has fresh banana flavor and a super cool banana dolphin garnish. The Poipu Beach Boogie Board (B) is made with Rye and Overproof Rum, its flavor is complex and tasty, but also similar to a really good Chinese restaurant drink. My least favorite was the Mai Tai (B-) which I thought was a little on the sweet side, and while the Macadamia Orgeat was a great change of pace, the Macadamia doesn't "play" as nice with the other ingredients. Granted, these were all fantastic drinks by all accounts; order anything off the menu and you're guaranteed something great.

We actually witnessed a table of 6 order the Treasure Chest No. 1 (the $385 drink containing a whole bottle Dom Perignon). I did not expect to see them sell one of those, but apparently they move quite a few of them; the fact they are doing that kind of business is a good sign, even this early on.

Went there on Saturday night and was not disappointed! My group was there early enough, and I was wearing a snazzy shirt with a tiki sewn into it, so we were offered the private lounge area.

As much as I tried to talk them into letting me buy the Urchin mug a couple days early, the manager very apologetically declined. And, of course, I understood. The service was great, the music was sometimes a little loud, but considering the playlist was could have been straight off my iPod, that wasn't really a problem!

I purchased three mugs, all by Tiki Farm, and $15 each. Fair price.
1 - The Onigawara (still available from Tiki Farm) had the bar logo imprinted on the back.

2 - The Ika Ariki in light blue was not imprinted, but there is space on the back were a Rapa Nui Birdman should be.

3 - A pineapple mug that I haven't seen before, with the bar logo on the back, printed on somewhat raised lettering of the same logo

We arrived at the bar just before 7 and by the time we left, just after 10, the was a line of people to get in. I didn't try any of the food, as I was still full from dinner at the Cuban restaurant just up the street (which offers 4 variations of flights of rum, as well as a flight of mojitos), but the rest of my group ordered just about every dish on the menu and loved it.

We had about 8 different drinks, and they were all delicious! I had to keep turning on my phone in order to examine the garnishing!

We even got to witness a "normal" group of about 15 people order the $380 Treasure Chest, which is carried out with dry ice smoke pouring out. The server then opens and pours a bottle of Dom into its hold. I hope they keep serving these to the bottle service crowd, so the rest of us normal folk can can keep enjoying our tiki drinks!

Well we went there for the mug release tonight, and was not near as blown away by the place as most of these reviews here. Decor is ok, but it ain't no Hala Kahiki, Chef Shangri-La, or Tiki Terrace. Drinks were good for the most part, but not cheap, so bring lotsa money. None of the 8 of us at the table liked the Mai Tais, definitely no comparison to Trader Vics.Then to top it all off when we all got our checks our mug purchases were added to the bill along with 18% gratuity!!! WTF! Not in any big hurry to return, but hey that's just me. :)

On 2013-09-02 19:03, BambooLodge wrote:
Well we went there for the mug release tonight, and was not near as blown away by the place as most of these reviews here. Decor is ok, but it ain't no Hala Kahiki, Chef Shangri-La, or Tiki Terrace. Drinks were good for the most part, but not cheap, so bring lotsa money. None of the 8 of us at the table liked the Mai Tais, definitely no comparison to Trader Vics.Then to top it all off when we all got our checks our mug purchases were added to the bill along with 18% gratuity!!! WTF! Not in any big hurry to return, but hey that's just me. :)

my advice to anyone going there- buy your mugs first. pay for them before you sit down to drink. otherwise you need to be vigilant that they aren't adding the 18% gratuity to the mugs at the end of the night.

I was also told by someone else that went there tonight that they were out of certain styles of the swizzles - WTF ? you are having a mug release party and you are out of some of your different kinds of swizzles ?

Just went to Three Dots this evening, and had a mighty fine time. Figured I'd take a couple o' minutes to give the full run-down of our experience here...

In the interest of full disclosure, my wife and I made the trek on the Red Line down to 3 Dots first about two or three weeks ago (a little over a week after they'd opened) and at about 8:30 on a Thursday night, it was an absolute hellacious mob scene... we waited to get in (no biggie) but the line outside seemed to have nothing to do with what was going on INside, and they kept sending in folks to pile on top of the people already packed five deep at the bar, spilling over into the tables. The music was fine for an open-format drive time radio station (we heard the Cure, Simon & Garfunkel, but then also Ace of Base, Biz Markee and...the Wu Tang Clan??) but it was cranked up L-O-U-D and absolutely 110% out of place. Between the blast-y out-of-place sound track and the crowd (mostly made up of stock exchange, yuppie white collar investment banker-types and overgrown frat guys... but for that I blame the neighborhood)and after waiting 1/2 an hour for a table (or a drink) we decided to get the hell out of there. The backwards hat-bro walking in and declaring "SPRING BREAK DUDE!" was the nail in the coffin for us.

But.. we went back, primarily because I've heard nothing but glowing reviews of the place, and... it's all we got within the city limits and I like to be able to get a cab or the CTA to get my ass home after a few exotic tipples.

So this time...

I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when we walked up and saw a minimal line, and then entered to an appropriate classic exotica/lounge-y soundtrack playing at an appropriate level... and it wasn't so packed with people you couldn't move. AND the folks who WERE there seemed to be less the cocaine-and-BMW crowd and more just regular people out to have a nice night.

We got a booth and secured our mugs for the new mug release party. It's a nice, unique lookin' mug, designed to look like a sea urchin, made by Tiki Farm exclusively for the place for $20 (no drink, so WITH a drink yer lookin at $33...) but as stated above, DEFINITELY watch yer bill for the automatic gratuity when buying mugs. They DID re-run our tab so we weren't paying 18% gratuity on $60 worth of mugs, but only after someone was able to track down the manager, who explained to us that it's the "policy" to include everything on one bill but they'd "do us the favor" of rerunning the tab. Ultimately all was OK, and they were pleasant enough about it. Not trying to be a cheap ass but with a $20 mug (without a drink), and $13-per-drink rounds, paying an EXTRA $11 tip for handing us 3 mugs seems like stickin' it to ya in a not so nice place. Especially when we were told if we had just walked in off the street and bought a couple mugs at the bar from the bartender directly, there's no automatic gratuity added. I get that it's a flaw in their automated system and they're still workin' the bugs out, but the way the whole thing was handled was kinda weird. Anyway... on to the meat & potatoes here...

The Drinks...

First round, I had an very good Jet Pilot, and my wife had an odd tasting Mai Tai that was nothing like the classic Vic's. With the research and props to all the drink creators of the classic drinks on the menu (and with the Mai Tai being the sole offering here from Vic's, i.e. the place where 99% of the Tiki decor for this joint came from, post Rush St.-implosion)I woulda expected the solid almond-lime-and-agricole-Mai Tai we all know and love (fortunately for us on Lake Michigan, the Foundation in Milwaukee makes a perfect one.)It wasn't just that this drink didn't taste like a Mai Tai... it just was a weird taste altogether and would not have been very good as a drink with an entirely different name, either.

The Jet Pilot I had, however, was really quite great. Weirdly, there were several Jet Pilots delivered to the table in different rounds, which all had different garnishes and came in different glassware. My 1st Jet Pilot was REALLY cinnamon-y by the end due primarily to the large cinnamon stick that came as a garnish.. the ones in the second round didn't have those and seemed far more balanced to me. Of course, I've never had the Steve Crane recipe they're using outside of the Grog Log (Mr. Crane's ventures were all long gone before I was born) but the Mai Kai's version is definitely more booze-forward, less cinnamon/spice. Regardless... it was a killer drink I'd absolutely order again.

I also tried the "Tall as a Tree and Twice as Shady" (a mouthful of a name, to be sure...) THAT was an outstanding original Scotch cocktail... mighty, mighty fine.

Also sampled the Rum River Mystic, which was another original that mixed aged Puerto Rican rum and bourbon along with some other surprises and HOT DAMN was that good! I will definitely get that all for my own bad self next visit.

Overall, it seemed like the classic drinks we had were good quality and made with high-quality ingredients (even the mai tai, while weird, was still using quality booze and fresh juice) but the originals seemed to be where it's at, based on what I tried.

All the drinks looked lovely, with plenty of garnishes, flowers and what-not jammed in them... very picture-esque.

The food...

We didn't have food, but some of the other folks in our group did... it looked and smelled great, and they definitely enjoyed it, but for what they cost, the portions seemed pretty small (4 small satay chicken skewers ran $14.)That being said, the liquor license process in Chicago is an absolute nightmare, and it's next to impossible to get one without serving food unless you take over an existing tavern, so I suspect the food here was an afterthought (I base this on my time served in the food/bar business... the kitchen here is in an odd, after-thought-y place, there were massive delays in getting the place open which is a common occurrence for any non-restaurant in Chicago, and the fact that the food menu is not included on the large drink menu, but rather a separate small piece of card stock are all tell-tale signs to me)

The decor...

The vibe of the decor is pretty minimally tiki (in my opinion.) There are some very nice, elegant touches, but it definitely FEELS like it was "designed" by someone earning a very large paycheck as an interior designer for a large company. Some of the touches discussed in previous posts, like the blue back-lit skulls, are really cool, but the little kitsch elements felt kinda out of place to me with the more chic design sensibility inside. The over-all feel is far more in line with some of Chicago's other fine high-end craft cocktail lounges (Violet Hour, Scofflaw, Sable, etc)with some carefully chosen Tiki touches, and much less like the classic Poly-pop design sense of other newer Tiki bars around the country (Frankie's, Forbidden Island, Hale Pele, etc.)

All that being said, the little touches like the swizzles (which they were mostly out of), the elaborate garnishes, and the cool menus are all more "classic Tiki bar" and less "chic cocktail lounge."

Overall..

We had a nice time... the drinks were really good, and while it ain't like Frankie's or the Tonga Hut or Forbidden Island, and the decor ain't Hala Kahiki (nor do I think it's trying to BE any of those things) and the atmosphere must make some tumultuous shifts to loud dance-y 90's party crowd on weekends/later in the evenings, it's definitely doing some things right.

Sable has outstanding cocktails (they're right up the road if you're in town visiting 3 Dots... their head man behind the stick won Bartender of the Year at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this year...)but they are not served in shrunken heads and pineapples, there aren't any Tikis on the premises, and the odds of hearing Martin Denny come on the sound system are 0 (at 3 Dots, they seem to be about 50/50 from my experiences so far)so we will definitely come back here for our downtown-ish cocktail fix.

With a fully stocked bar at home, and after dropping almost $70 for two drinks each for the two of us, I can say financially speaking we may not be coming a LOT, but still definitely worth a visit if yr in town.

Congrats! You made it to the end of this unnecessarily lengthy post!

--Pete

[ Edited by: Ragbag Comics 2013-09-03 18:35 ]

[ Edited by: Ragbag Comics 2013-09-03 18:42 ]

..and here come the bad yelp reviews... read them quick before TDD has them buried where no one can see them....

http://www.yelp.com/biz/three-dots-and-a-dash-chicago

Wow, love the swizzles. Especially the octopus and the mermaid! Hope they keep those stocked going forward.

On 2013-07-31 07:00, croe67 wrote:
Looking forward to heading there next time I'm in town!

I did hear about the swizzles.....

The detail on the swizzles is EXQUISITE - some of the best I've ever seen, by far!

c'mon, guys, share more pictures....pretty pleeeeeease!!!

Wow.

Just wow.

Yes, MaiTai is not traditional.
It's described as having Agricole.
& Macadamia.
Nothing about it is traditional.
But it is delightful & balanced.
& expertly crafted.

More later.

Not the traditional.
But wonderful.

[ Edited by: croe67 2013-09-05 05:32 ]

Seems like many of the negative Yelp reviews are complaining about the joint bein' crowded. A crowded Tiki bar may be somewhat of an anomaly for some but it means we'll probably have Three Dots to kick around for a while. And while I try to show love and support for all Chicago area Tiki bars/restaurants, I think most folks would agree the drinks here are of superior quality. Of course there's really excuse for bad service, but those issues can shake out. For me the disaster/jynx/whammy that was the reincarnated Trader Vics has been largely exorcised by Three Dots, which shows that Tiki can thrive in Chicago.

the yelp reviews were posted as a goof. i particularly like the guy complaining about beer in a tiki bar. One or two stinky drinks does not doom a bar. i'm sure tiki ti has a couple clunkers in their extensive list of drinks. Also, you have to understand that at least during the first three months, all new bars are crowded. check back a year from now and the true picture will be revealed, for better or worse. croweded new bars are not a gauge for bar longevity.

On 2013-09-04 21:21, croe67 wrote:
Wow.

Just wow.

Yes, MaiTai is not traditional.
It's described as having Agricole.
& Macadamia.
Nothing about it is traditional.
But it is delightful & balanced.
& expertly crafted.

More later.

Not the traditional.
But wonderful.

[ Edited by: croe67 2013-09-05 05:32 ]

Well it definitely must be an acquired taste cuz I was not the only one at our table that thought it sucked.