Bloody heaven! Housemade mixes, hand-infused vodkas and new flavors generate a new era of Bloody Mary cocktails—and some cousins

Cheers, June, 2004 by Nancy Backas

Bloody Mary bars don't need to be fancy. At the Firehouse Restaurant, a neighborhood place in Chicago, the Bloody Mary bar is smaller and includes a wide collection of hot sauces, several bottled Bloody Mary mixes and various seasoning salts and additives. Servers give patrons a 16-oz. glass filled with ice, a shot of vodka and a celery stick garnish which they then take to the Bloody Mary bar to embellish.

And across town close to Chicago's Navy Pier, every Sunday is Mardi Gras redux complete with New Orleans-style music and food and do-it-yourself Bloody Bar at Dick's Last Resort where patrons are encouraged to be a bit crazy. Bloody Marys invite a little levity, and definitely creative license whether it's the chef, the resident mixologist or the patron creating the cocktail.