Getting into Bar Sótano requires some intention. The entrance is through an alley behind Frontera Grill on Clark Street, where you take a century-old freight elevator down into a basement with raw stone walls and the kind of dim lighting that makes you forget it's still light outside.

The mezcal list is one of the most serious in the country, running close to 200 bottles including rare and vintage reserves. The cocktails match: the house Bar Sótano drink combines mezcal, chartreuse, sugar cane juice, and hoja santa in a way that shouldn't work but does. There's also a taco al pastor cocktail with mezcal fat-washed using actual taco remnants and caramelized pineapple. Chicago Tribune named it Best New Cocktail Bar in 2019. The bartenders know every bottle on that wall.