Salud couldn’t have timed its opening any better.
The same weekend Chicago got its first real snowfall, the tequila bar opened for business with a menu filled with beach cocktails and Mexican eats.
Salud (the Spanish version of “cheers”) is the newest spot from the team of guys that owns Cans, Bird’s Nest and Big Wig. In two months’ time, they’ve completely converted the former Holiday Club into a warm Mexican hideaway that’ll help you forget the windchill for a couple hours.
Dreading the morning your eyelids freeze together on your walk to the “L”? Try the fruity Vampiro cocktail. Not ready to mark your parking spot with a discarded kitchen chair? The house margarita should help.
Once inside: If you feel like eating, grab a seat at one of the red booths that line the front and back rooms. Or grab one of the cream-colored banquettes in the back room, sip a margarita and check out the wall-sized mural that depicts tequila’s distillation process.
Drinks: The focus is the menu of
100 percent agave tequilas. So, what’s the difference between pure agave hooch and the Jose Cuervo Especial that frat boys seem to have an affinity for? Well, a splitting headache, for one. And the fact that agave tequila doesn’t have any sugar water added to it during the distilling process. As a result, it has as many flavor characteristics as the finest cognacs or whiskeys.
If you don’t want to sip it straight, try the excellent house margarita ($9). The grapefruity Vampiro ($10) and cola-and-lime Grand Paloma ($9), which contain two shots of tequila and are served in pint glasses, are also tops. For party poopers, there are a several beers on tap and in bottles.
Eats: Plenty of tasty Latin-influenced bar food in the $5-$8 range. Our empanadas, ceviche and guacamole were excellent. The chips served with the dishes were stale.
Sounds: If it’s got a flamenco guitar, timbales driving the beat and a rhythmic horn section, chances are you’ll hear it on the bar’s Spanish soundtrack.
