Logan Square tiki lounge Lost Lake is having an objectively great year. Earlier this summer, the team behind the cocktail destination took home the grand prize of Bar of the Year at Time Out Chicago's 2018 Bar Awards. Over the weekend, Lost Lake was honored with another big-ticket accolade at Tales of the Cocktail's Annual Spirited Awards in New Orleans, where the Chicago crew took home Best American Cocktail Bar.
Helmed by Shelby Allison and Paul McGee, Lost Lake has been serving rum-soaked tiki drinks on Diversey Avenue since opening in 2015. In just three years, the bar has managed to reach institution status by pushing the boundaries on what umbrella-topped cocktails can and should taste like with each new menu. Don't let the colorful bendy straws and banana dolphins fool you: The bar team here is supremely talented.
Lost Lake staffers took to Instagram to share their appreciation: "We are a neighborhood bar owned, managed, and tended primarily by women, people of color, and queer folks," reads the caption. "We have a passionate, dedicated staff and the actual best guests in the world — and together we create community every night over tropical cocktails."