Drawing Room

Very chill place to get work done or meetup with friends for a drink
There’s tables with lights if you need to do work, and the rest of the place is pretty dark which gives it a very speakeasy vibe
The fireplaces are great for cold days.
A bit crowded on the weekends
Tip — don’t be loud af cuz you’re ruining the vibe alright if you wanna be rowdy go to panera

One of the hidden gems of Chicago. Situated right across from Millenium park I only discovered this place after living in Chicago for 4 years. This place is located on the second floor of the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.
The drawing room is throw back to a slightly more classy era where large fireplaces, ornate wood moldings, and plush elegant armchairs ruled. This great place to either grab a beer with friends of hang out by a fireplace to do some work. The drawing room is all wood everything and really has a air of class. Similar to the 3 arts club in the clientele, the drawing room is truly authentic and should be on your list of places to visit. You can sit at a table and be served. Food prices are fair for the environment and beers are totally reasonable.
In the second room is a more traditional bar but still in the wood-​on-​on environment. Here yo will find a pretty cool bocci ball court and traditional bar. I didn’t spend time in this room but it look more like what you would expect in terms of Chicago bar with the age group ranging in the 20’s/30’s. Make your way through this room and in the back right is a stairwell. Take this down a half flight following the signs for a the restooms and you will come across another aw inspiring room. I am not sure about the history behind it but you will find what appears to be what once was a pool that has now been filled in. The terra cotta remains marking the race lanes that once existed. Really interesting room.
Check it out!

I wish I could live here.
The décor is unprecedented. The service really depends on the busyness. Once I was waited on immediately and another time I had to ask for a server… The food and drinks are unstoppable tho.
I just want to move in. There are tons of comfy couches and cozy corners. The music and the vibe are perfect.
It’s a dream come true… It’s the perfect place to get away from everything and just chill… Like if Starbucks had a more attractive, more intelligent older brother who smelled like old spice but 10 0000xs better and had excellent taste in wine and whiskey.
If I could date a place I would marry The Drawing Room.

What’s not to love:
Gothic building with tons of history: check
Remodeled cozily into hotel lobby while preserving its charm: check
Overlooking Millennium Park: check
Fireplace: check
Rich wood and real leather: check
Beer, wine and cocktails: check
Prompt and friendly service: check
Delicious french onion soup: check
Decently varied «hotel lobby» menu (that, by the way, changes throughout the day): check
Reference room library style table and task lighting: check
Game Room adjacent (in case you want to part ways with that sweet library table and play some chess or bocce ball): check
Not really too terrible on the pocketbook: check, please!
Nicely done.
PS — lobby design by the firm «Roman and Williams» who did the «Freehand Chicago» (hotel/​hostel) also located in a vintage building.

I’m updating this to lower a star because of my experience going the second time, on a Saturday night. We had a waitress that was extremely rude, inept, and slow. The first time I heard her actual say anything (she didn’t introduce herself at the beginning, or ask us what we want besides just turning and looking to us) was about an hour into our evening. Two hours into it, we got our waters. Maybe three hours into it I ordered two drinks and fries, but only get them half an hour after, once I complained. I would’ve left no tip, but the group decided to leave something.
Despite this one waitress, I like the place. The Game Room next door was happening and had some fun old-​style games.

I have yet to try a drink here so cannot comment. I was super excited to try a drink here though because I especially adored the ambience and the very masculine, vintage décor of the place. Every little detail added so much character to this drawing room in this hotel. However, after waiting for half an hour to get service, I finally had to flag someone down just to get the menu. The woman providing me the menu told me she would send someone to take my order. Almost 30 – 45 minutes later (still no offer of water by the way), no service and an appointment I had to make, I had to bail. It was ridiculous that I had to wait over an hour and still not be able to get my drink or any water.

The drawing room is the quiet neighbor of the game room. We actually mistook this one for the game room when we first climbed the stairs. More on the quiet side as the name suggests. A couple of people on their computers studying or doing work while having a drink. Really relaxing atmostphere. Good decorations of a mini library and a couple fire places. Nice place to have a chat with friends and lounge around.
Had the cup and the old fashioned. The cup was reminiscent of a more lemony gin and tonic. And the old fashioned, delicious.

Came here with a friend after visiting the roof bar upstairs. Sat down to chat and were immediately greeted by a waiter with water and offering a drink menu. Absolutely amazing service. Love the vibe here. A great place to chill, sip on a cocktail and chat with friends. The atmosphere is not too loud and has a nice ambiance. Will definitely come back soon.

My friend and I were on our way to the much-​talked-​about bar at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. When we got there, I saw the sign for the Game Room. We just needed to walk up the stairs to the second floor. «No. It’s called ‘Cindy’s.’ It’s on the roof,» she informed me. OK. It feels like it’s about 30 degrees out, but it’s the eve of the eve of Independence Day; and a nice view of Chicago’s front lawn seemed to be in order, if not undeniably patriotic. Where do we go to get in?
It turned out that you can’t get there from here. (Oops… My mother’s voice in my ear demands a correction: you «may» not get there from here.) The long line in front of the elevator on the first floor was at least an hour long, unless you had made reservations for four or more. I didn’t see a drink in the hand of anyone in line, neither in a proper glass nor a proper brown paper bag. The Game Room was meant to be.
We walked up the flight of stairs that we had passed upon entering from Michigan Avenue. Wow! This was amazing! I felt like I was on a Chicago Architecture Foundation tour and we were in some sort of indoor garden of spirits. On the right was a small, hotel check-​in desk. To the left: rich wood everywhere; built-​in benches between the windows overlooking Chicago’s front yard; at least three working fireplaces; a plethora of leather chairs and couches (as opposed to a lethora of pleather); seating settings for two to twenty; a 15+ foot long reference library table with appropriate reading lights… And at the end of the library table, a large-​format book with newspaper clippings from the late 19^th to early 20^th Century, including a story that seems like it could have happened today, about «Big Bill» Thompson, Chicago’s last Republican mayor, whom the Chicago Tribune said gave «the city an international reputation for moronic buffoonery, barbaric crime, triumphant hoodlumism, unchecked graft, and a dejected citizenship.» I’ll drink to that.
And we did drink to that, on a long, comfy couch next to what I would call the one o’clock fireplace – the one in the northeast part of the room. The cocktail menu was terse, yet expansive, like a good poet. And since Chicago’s poet laureate of cocktails, Paul McGee, is responsible for the drink lists throughout the hotel, it was fitting.
(Note that I said «cocktail menu» and «drink list.» If you are one of those people who uses the term «beverage program,» and you’ve never spoken to a faceless corporate hospitality audience in a windowless conference room at a hospitality convention about how to maximize the yield of the multiple beverage programs you’ve designed… Forget it. Let’s just talk about the drinks.)
The two drinks we had were divine. My friend had some sort of tasty sour that had me puckering, aspiring to summer love. I had the Brooklyn: rye, sweet vermouth, amaro, maraschino and bitters that is made and «bottled» in house. Why the bottling? Something to do with making batches ensuring better quality. Hmmm… I don’t remember Laureate McGee needing a bottling line at The Whistler, where he gained his fame… In any case, it was delicious, and at $ 12 was the highest-​priced cocktail on the list: a fair price for a hotel bar overlooking the park.
I was loving this place. I could see coming here for many occasions, whether for a pre-​dinner drink with the gang, a chill date night with a sweetie, an impromptu respite from the Loop, some game-​playing… Hey! Where are the games?
We took a look around, and it turned out that we hadn’t yet made it to the Game Room, which is in just as large a room behind the check-​in desk. You can’t miss the games, given that there is a thirty-​foot sand pitch for some game (bocce?). I asked one of the very able, friendly servers what was the name of the room in which we were drinking? «The Drawing Room.»
Colonel Mustard, you won’t have to hit me over the head with a candlestick to get me back to the Drawing Room. This might become my new living room for all seasons.