Queen Mary Tavern
2125 W. Division St. 773-697-3522
Rating: !!! (out of 4) Off to a good start
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The vibe: A cozy spot for a date in a ship cabin
Price point: $12 for most cocktails
Go for: Curious cocktails with bold spices, from pepper and cardamom to tahini and cinnamon
“We’re at capacity” is not what I expected to hear outside of Queen Mary Tavern, the most recent addition to Wicker Park’s Division Street bar strip. Especially considering the location sat empty for 40 years even amidst the bustling nightlife of a gentrifying neighborhood. Heisler Hospitality (Sportsman’s Club, Pub Royale) is behind the new maritime cocktail bar, but in a different lifetime, it was a neighborhood watering hole by Mary and Matthew Kafka. After Matthew’s unexpected passing in 1975, Mary shut the doors with little interest in giving up the space. Landlady Mary, 92, still lives upstairs. She’s the Queen of Division Street as far as the Heisler folks are concerned, and now she has the bar to prove it.
The scene: My friend and I weren’t left shivering outside for too long. The narrow bar certainly was packed with laid-back flannel shirts, beards and the casual boat shoe-donning broster. We immediately grabbed a seat at the peninsula bar toward the back, a clever way to utilize space for more seating (and confuse drunk customers who don’t realize the people sitting behind the bar can’t get them a drink). Much of the woodwork is original, from the bar counter and back bar to the wood paneling. The idea was to “be as true to the spirit of Mary’s bar,” said general manager Dan Smith (The Barrelhouse Flat).
The concept is inspired by the British Royal Navy battlecruiser Queen Mary that fought in the early 1900s. With life jacket-like seat cushions, wood paneling on the ceiling and shelves lined with vintage rum bottles, candlesticks and oil lamps, the intimate bar feels like the inside of a ship cabin. But the real inspiration comes through with the cocktail program, a tribute to “British maritime drinking tradition,” Smith said.
The drinks: “Splice the main brace!” reads the top of the menu; it’s a naval expression that came to mean “let’s drink” among crew. For more than 300 years, Royal Navy sailors were entitled to a rum tot, or ration, every day. “The official spirit of the Royal Navy has always been rum,” Smith said. The menu highlights three spirits—rum, gin and scotch—and three European fortified wines—port, sherry and madeira. According to Smith, naval officers who had a budget to supplement the rum ration with other spirits had a preference for gin. The fortified wines, offered both in cocktails and by the glass, round out the rest of the menu. Powerful spices, such as cardamom, coriander and cinnamon, are also key ingredients in the drinks.
The cocktails (most ring up at $12) are interesting and feature daring ingredients: A fizzy, tart Nor’easter is spiked with long pepper, while the bitter St. Erasmus boasts citrusy curry leaf. Those leafy floaters were curious to us, and my friend said, “I feel like I’m in Cabo.” Big spice flavors were most prevalent in the Clove Hitch, a play on a rum negroni with sweet figgy sherry wine, angostura bitters, rhubarb root amaro, cardamom, clove and salt (the secret ingredient, Smith said). Cardamom is a heavy hitter in this booze-forward and sophisticated drink, and it might be my go-to winter cocktail. The Stone’s Throw—a scotch cream drink with tahini-honey syrup made with cardamom and orange blossom water—also deserves a shout-out. The smoky scotch and Middle Eastern spices provide a solid balance of flavors in a mellow cocktail that could easily be mistaken for a creamy dessert drink.
The daily grog ($10) is a series of rotating rum punches. Traditionally, the Royal Navy rum ration was diluted with water, lime and sugar, creating a basic punch to keep soldiers from drinking too quickly. You’ll also find a large format hot tea rum punch ($36, serving two to six people), which was a variation of earl gray with honey and lemon juice, angostura bitters and Cocchi Americano fortified wine when I stopped in. On the beer front, there’s Coors Banquet and two tap lines for house light and dark beers brewed specifically for Queen Mary by local Aquanaut Brewing Co. Despite the small kitchen in the back, there’s no food at the moment, but Smith said that’s in the works.
The bottom line: Between the booze-forward cocktails and subtle vibe of the sea, Queen Mary Tavern offers enough to get you sewn up. Just like Pub Royale, the bar captures a piece of history without the kitschy, campy embellishments. The inspiration lies more in the creative cocktail program, where it counts, than the decor. Let’s hope the Queen of Division Street is proud.
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