"The Meadowlark’s dark wooden interior and comfy leather couches are handy when your local dive’s sticky floors and “aged” keg of PBR don't exactly register as date-night material. All of the cocktails at this Logan Square bar are well-made and part of a themed menu (past themes have been birds and the Chicago World's Fair). Plus, they also have a short menu of rotating tasty small plates that match the theme. And it’s no surprise that the food is delicious since The Meadowlark comes from the same team behind Union, also on this list." - adrian kane, john ringor, veda kilaru, nick allen