Overview
Three Dots and a Dash is a craft cocktail tiki bar in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Three Dots and a Dash was one of the first tiki bars with a consideration to mixology, along with Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco which opened in 2009. The bar was a success almost immediately; it sold 6,000 drinks per week in its first year.
Attributes
The bar was named for the cocktail Three Dots and a Dash, a lost tiki drink discovered by Jeff Berry. The bar has a discreet alleyway entrance, off of Hubbard Street in the River North district of Chicago. The entrance is sometimes given away by a red-roped line of people waiting to enter. Inside the building, a set of stairs leads to the bar space. The staircase is heavily decorated, with a blue wall of skulls paired with drum music. The bar itself is island-themed, and evokes elements of the 1940s. Its main room includes 15 booths, 7 tables, and a bar with 18 stools. Its capacity is 240 people. The bar also includes a service bar. The interior decor is tiki-style, including a fake thatched roof, colorful lighting, and ceramic tiki mugs. Owner Paul McGee has his likeness on swizzle sticks in the bar, as well as in a cartoon image on the back of the menu.
Food and drinks
The menu has a variety of cocktails served in custom tiki mugs and glasses. Some of their custom mugs are sold in the bar. A section of the menu includes drinks meant to share, including a $385 cocktail, "Treasure Chest No. 1", which includes rums, juices, and Dom Pérignon Champagne, served in a treasure chest. The food menu is made up of small bites, inspired by Polynesian foods.
History
Three Dots and a Dash opened in 2013. One of its founding owners, Paul McGee, is a noted bartender known across the U.S. Diane Corcoran took over the position. In April 2015, the bar introduced a new menu, where she replaced several drinks, made adjustments, and added a new sharable drink. Its chef Doug Psaltis also revised the menu, adding new items. In 2016, the bar introduced a new cocktail menu by Julian Cox. The bartender, reportedly equally acclaimed to McGee, was brought in to adjust the menu, where he modernized tiki classics.
Reception
The bar has won several awards and titles, including being named 13th best bar in the world, in The World's 50 Best Bars publication in 2014. Eater lists the bar among its 28 "essential bars in Chicago". The bar does not address the controversy involved with tiki culture, and still is known as a "tiki bar". Eater wrote that in contrast, Lost Lake, another tiki bar in Chicago co-founded by Paul McGee, rebranded as a tropical bar after facing criticism. Lost Lake closed in 2022 from loss of business during the COVID-19 pandemic.