Nine Bar is Chinatown’s first cocktail bar, located behind the Moon Palace Express takeout counter. Owners Lily Wang (whose parents own Moon Palace) and Joe Briglio mix up “Asian-ish” takes on classic cocktails, creating Old Fashioneds, highballs, and margaritias with baiju, soju, and shochu.

The owners of Pearl Club are banking that River West, which is just north of West Loop, will have a similar real estate boom. They’ve gutted a divey Irish pub and replaced it with a sexy cocktail bar that should appeal to folks who want to go out on dates or avoid baseball caps.

The unofficial Harry Potter bar makes its debut in Chicago inside a former bank. Stroll into the vault for a cocktail that may change colors thanks to come old-fashioned magic with an assist from an interactive wand. There are no nerds in this fantasy realm, just elves you haven’t met yet.

The owners of boho haven Beatnik and Michelin-starred Porto seek to top themselves yet again with Kashmir, an opulent new bar and lounge that debuted in late June with lavish new digs on Randolph Restaurant Row. Inspired in part by the hedonistic 1980s club scenes in New York and London, Kashmir serves a menu of playful, easy-drinking cocktails like the Space Cowboy (tequila, coconut, rectified pineapple juice, edible strawberry glitter) and yuzu margarita (anejo tequila, fortified wine). Visual art aficionados will also appreciate its custom collection of eight paintings by famed Spanish neo-expressionist Domingo Zapata.

British-Indian gastropub Monarch & Lion, the latest project from the owners of Rooh Chicago and Bar Goa, has roared into Streeterville with a regal space where patrons can try familiar hits like fish and chips and savory pies alongside chicken tikka masala and lamb shank rogan josh. The cocktail list plays along similar themes with cocktails such as the Kensington Gardens (Hendricks, cucumber, mint, egg white, black pepper, chartreuse spray) and Turmeric G&T (turmeric-infused Dharma gin, orange and thyme syrup, grapefruit soda).

Last month, a new tenant checked into the space next to JP Graziano’s on Randolph Restaurant Row. Good Night John Boy is a party bar that opened locations in Cleveland and Tampa. There’s lots of nostalgia here in this cavernous space with odes to ‘70s actors like Burt Reynolds. There are fun cocktails and DJs. One of the owners, Dante Deiana, is a DJ and longtime associate at Barstool Sports. The owners are hoping to launch a new dinner menu after Labor Day and only offer their casual to-go options currently.

Yochoko, restaurateur Susan Thompson’s (Sushi Dokku) recently reborn tribute to the casual bars and restaurants that crowd Japan’s old-school urban alleyways, treats its food and drink menus with the same delicacy and eye cast toward tradition. Cocktail selections range from staples like Toki highballs (Toki whisky, lemon, soda water) to the clever Ume Smash (Akashi White Oak, spicy Akashi Ume, lemon). Several sakes are also available by the glass and bottle.

Fancy Plants Kitchen recently expanded and started daytime cafe service. This makes the restaurant a rare all-day vegan affair with great meat- and dairy-free morning, afternoon, and dinner options like a vegan Italian beef sandwich and more. Wrapped up in that package is a cocktail program that won’t feature ingredients like gelatin or honey that aren’t considered vegan. The wines are also wholly vegan — some vineyards filter their wines through animal bladders. All in all, it’s a quality neighborhood hang with great food that doesn’t rely on proteins from big national companies.

Middle Brow continues to reinvent itself in Logan Square. The brewery, which has a love for wild beers and makes some of the city’s best pizza, has dove head first into the world of natural wine, offering funky and easy-going pours with grapes from Michigan and California. This move has created Chicago’s first natural winery.

This charming street-level French restaurant, a short distance from Harold Washington Library in the Loop, screams old-school Chicago. The bar is the ideal space to escape the busy city with dark woods and brass rails. The food is marvelous, but the bar space is also a treat during the week. Sometimes the Heatmap isn’t about a bustling room, but a place where drinkers can talk with a bartender, shuck a few oysters, or eat a dynamite burger while ordering a stiff martini.

Division Street in Wicker Park has seen a few phases in recent years. Once a neighborhood for creatives, the bar scene has shifted to more sporty and family-friendly. Desert Hawk reverses that trend, returning a little charm to the area. The West Coast owners want to bring a little of the Golden State to Chicago with tequila drinks and an arsenal of cocktails. The food is also noteworthy: there are tacos and smash burgers from Cocina Sublime. Formerly known as Taco Sublime, they’ve popped up at Marz Community Brewing and Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club and specialized in cheesy, griddled food.

Chicago loves its tropical drinks, especially during bitter winters. In Uptown, a first-time restaurant owner has opened Marina’s Bistro and Rum Bar which serves Puerto Rican cuisine. Find ridiculous concoctions like the “El Viejo San Juan cocktail” (coconut rum, pineapple rum, pineapple juice, coconut cream). It’s a four-seat bar, so this is a place for an early nightcap if customers aren’t eating a full meal.