drinks · chicago
drinks events in chicago
tastings, mixology classes, and social hours where the host actually introduces you to the room. find a drinks event in chicago this week.
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last call lectures: rogue cells, real hope: why we haven’t cured cancer (yet)
Swift Tavern - Wrigleyville
3600 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60613, USA
cancer isn’t one enemy. it’s hundreds of them, and they cheat. we’re breaking down why “cancer” isn’t one disease but hundreds, each with its own rules, how tumors evolve to outsmart the very drugs designed to kill them, and how scientists are teaching the immune system to fight back. we’ll look at a real case where a once-deadly cancer became something people manage with a daily pill, explore where the next breakthroughs are actually coming from, and close with what “cured” will really look like. leading the talk is dr. manead khin. dr. khin holds a phd in pharmaceutical sciences with a focus on analytical chemistry and cancer biology. she is the founder and host of petri dish perspectives, a biotech and pharma podcast built on turning dense molecular science into stories a general audience actually wants to hear. here is how the night runs: enjoy drinks and food from swift while dr. khin opens with a 45 minute lecture, followed by 15 minutes of live q&a. then we break into small groups for 45 minutes of guided discussion, closing with a quick debrief to bring it all back together. stick around after for mingling, this crowd always has more to say.
1 mile radius: uptown
Uptown
Uptown, Chicago, IL, USA
do you live in uptown? no? you're not invited. 1 mile radius is all about making friends with people who live nearby for the sitcom life you deserve. take our together quiz, and get matched into groups of people you click with around your age, gender balanced, and who are in similar stages of life as you. we're getting dinner, drinks, and getting to know our neighbors. location dropped via email day-of. see you there, uptown. ticket includes event entry. does not include food or drink items.
1 mile radius: pilsen
Pilsen
Pilsen, Chicago, IL, USA
do you live in pilsen? no? you're not invited. 1 mile radius is all about making friends with people who live nearby for the sitcom life you deserve. take the together quiz and get matched into groups of people you click with around your age, gender balanced, and who are in similar stages of life as you. we're getting dinner, drinks, and getting to know our neighbors. location dropped via email day-of. see you there, pilsen. cost only covers entry to event and group matchmaking. does not include food or drink.
last call lectures: night shift: how to lucid dream and alter memories in your sleep
Mary Jo McGuire's
2251 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
Did you watch Inception and leave the theater certain that dream control is a fun plot idea but not possible? What if we told you that you actually could control your dreams? Learn about the relationship between sleep and memory, how we study sleep in the lab, and how we're starting to investigate lucid dreaming. Sadie Witkowski, PhD will cover the history of scientific research on sleep, how it relates to memory, and how lucid dreaming is studied today. Plus, we'll spend some time on how it all relates to sleep disorders and our understanding of consciousness. Come for the science, stay to learn how to lucid dream! here is how the night runs: dr. Witkowski opens with a 45 minute lecture, followed by 15 minutes of live q&a. then we break into small groups for 45 minutes of guided discussion, closing with a debrief to bring it all back together. stick around after for mingling, this crowd always has more to say.
1 mile radius: logan square
Logan Square
Logan Square, Chicago, IL, USA
do you live in logan square? no? you're not invited. 1 mile radius is all about making friends with people who live nearby for the sitcom life you deserve. take our together quiz, and get matched into groups of people you click with around your age, gender balanced, and who are in similar stages of life as you. we're getting dinner, drinks, and getting to know our neighbors. location dropped via email day-of. see you there, logan square. ticket includes event entry. does not include food or drink items.
1 mile radius: west loop
West Loop
West Loop, Chicago, IL, USA
do you live in west loop? no? you're not invited. 1 mile radius is all about making friends with people who live nearby for the sitcom life you deserve. take our together quiz, and get matched into groups of people you click with around your age, gender balanced, and who are in similar stages of life as you. we're getting dinner, drinks, and getting to know our neighbors. location dropped via email day-of. see you there, west loop. ticket includes event entry. does not include food or drink items.
arguing with strangers: chicago
Mary Jo McGuire's
2251 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
arguing with strangers, thursday, november 12 at mary jo mcguire's in lincoln park. arguing with strangers is our viral monthly bar debate club series where strangers go head to head to debate. we start things easy. get paired with a stranger, get handed a side, and argue something ridiculous. like is a hot dog a sandwich? defend it with everything you've got and practice disagreeing with a laugh. then the best matchups go up front, with the crowd picking the winner. send us your hot takes and get the chance to defend them up front and spark debates for the whole crowd. once everyone's loose, the topics get real and you talk about the stuff you don't usually say out loud to a stranger. things may get serious, but they stay civil. and at the end of the night, you walk away knowing you can completely disagree with someone and still walk out respecting a new friend. we forgot how to do that. this is practice.
last call lectures: the frozen frontier: glory, disaster, and the race for the north pole
The Scout Waterhouse + Kitchen
1419 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610, USA
before astronauts raced to the moon, another kind of adventurer captured the world's imagination: the explorer. during the golden age of exploration, these daring, ambitious, and occasionally unhinged individuals became international celebrities, chasing fame and national glory into the most dangerous corners of the planet. but one prize stood above all others: the north pole. why were men willing to risk starvation, frostbite, shipwreck, and almost certain death just to be the first to stand on an invisible point in a frozen ocean? from vanished expeditions and extraordinary feats of survival to bitter rivalries, accusations of fraud, and some of history's most spectacular disasters, historian dr. john j. murphy explores the personalities and obsessions behind humanity's race to the top of the world. along the way, we'll discover how exploration became a spectator sport, how nations turned adventurers into heroes, and why the greatest prize in exploration may have been less about discovery than the desperate desire to be remembered. from the frozen arctic to the modern space race, it's a story of courage, ego, ambition, and the question that has driven explorers for centuries: how far would you go to be first? here's how the night runs: dr. murphy opens with a 45 minute lecture, followed by 15 minutes of live q&a. then we break into small groups for 45 minutes of guided discussion. stick around after for mingling, this crowd always has more to say.
1 mile radius: south loop
South Loop
South Loop, Chicago, IL, USA
do you live in south loop? no? you're not invited. 1 mile radius is all about making friends with people who live nearby for the sitcom life you deserve. take our together quiz, and get matched into groups of people you click with around your age, gender balanced, and who are in similar stages of life as you. we're getting dinner, drinks, and getting to know our neighbors. location dropped via email day-of. see you there, south loop. ticket includes event entry. does not include food or drink items.
1 mile radius: river north
River North
River North, Chicago, IL, USA
do you live in river north? no? you're not invited. 1 mile radius is all about making friends with people who live nearby for the sitcom life you deserve. take our together quiz, and get matched into groups of people you click with around your age, gender balanced, and who are in similar stages of life as you. we're getting dinner, drinks, and getting to know our neighbors. location dropped via email day-of. see you there, river north. ticket includes event entry. does not include food or drink items.
last call lectures: the wild west was woke: how hollywood erased the radical history of the american west
Barcocina West Town
1814 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622, USA
The American West Was Gay, Non-White, and Anti-Billionaire and hollywood propagandized it. We’ve all heard the tales of the American Wild West, but what if there was a side that was lost to history? Or perhaps, intentionally obscured? Seventh-generation Kansas farmer and rancher Chloe Burns walks us through some of the true history of the west, covering issues from gender to race to working-class solidarity, and why these stories were rarely shown on the silver screen. Chloe burns is a comedian, filmmaker, and writer of the upcoming one-woman show, Virago! , a western about the most notorious female outlaw you’ve never heard of. She holds a degree in Film & Media Studies from the University of Kansas. Her film work includes the 2025 documentary about a regenerative agriculture project in Western Kansas, titled The Wallace Project: Year Four, which has won awards at film festivals centered around climate and water security. Her comedy often centers around her split life as both a rancher and city-dweller. how the night runs: 45 minutes of chloe burns walking us through the untold history of the Wild West, 15 minutes of q&a, then 45 minutes of small group discussion with other people just as curious as you are.
common questions
- are these just bar nights?
- no. every event on this list has a host, an arc, or a structure that makes it easy to actually meet the room — not just stand at a bar.
- is there a non-alcoholic option?
- most events offer na options. check the event description for specifics.