Chicago's hospitality scene is spending the week toasting its cocktail history as the second-ever Martini Expo brings tastings, dinners and a bus tour to River North, the South Loop and beyond. The convention runs through Sunday, and organizers say tickets are still available for a lineup featuring new martini creations from master bartenders, food pairings, and discussions of gin and vermouth.
The Chicago edition follows last year's two-day debut in Brooklyn at Industry City, which included a kick-off dinner, seminars, a lunch and a main cocktail mixer, according to Men's Journal. The event was launched in New York in 2025 by liquor writer Robert Simonson and Mary Kate Murray, his co-writer on the Mix newsletter, as Axios reported.
Why Chicago Got the Nod
Simonson told Axios that the second Martini Expo was intended to land in a city different from New York, and he called Chicago a great drinking city with a longtime love of martinis. He also noted that martinis belong to the world, not just one city, even as he acknowledged the drink may be more popular today than at any point in its history, per the same account.
Chicago's connection to the martini is part of the expo's historical backdrop. Cocktail historians point to Harry Johnson's 1888 New and Improved Bartender's Manual as containing the oldest printed martini recipe, according to the Internet Archive. Axios notes that the recipe first appeared in a book published in Chicago in 1888. The city also has a more recent, and stranger, claim to fame: Bucktown restaurant Club Lucky is associated with the blue-cheese-stuffed olive martini garnish, according to the Daily Meal.
A Bus Tour Ending at Billy Goat Tavern
The expo's Martini Tour Through Time, a bus ride to Chicago landmarks integral to martini history, rolls out Thursday and ends at Billy Goat Tavern, the article notes. Burger historian George Motz is set to serve his Oklahoma fried onion cheeseburger from Hamburger America at the tavern that same day, pairing the city's cocktail lore with one of its diner classics.
Programming carries through the weekend with talks on gin and vermouth as well as sessions on how espresso martinis and cosmopolitans have joined the broader martini family. The expo's main event, the Martini Mixer, takes place Saturday and brings together some of the country's best bartenders for interpretations of martinis paired with matching bites. Organizers have also mapped out 50 great places for a martini across Chicago as part of the week's programming.
Names Behind the Bar
The talent roster reaches beyond Chicago. High-profile mixologists featured in the expo's lineup include Toby Maloney, a partner at Chicago's influential The Violet Hour, and Meaghan Dorman, beverage director behind New York cocktail lounges Raines Law Room and Dear Irving, according to BARTENDER.com. Major spirits producers and importers, including Fords Gin, Grey Goose, Altamura Distilleries, Haus Alpenz, Bluecoat Gin, Hayman's Gin, Bombay Sapphire and Quincy Olives, are sponsoring tastings and back-bar activations across the week.
South Loop's New Martini Address
The expo lands amid a broader local investment in martini culture. Former Chicago Bears player Israel Idonije, now a restaurateur, opened Martini Lounge in Chicago's South Loop, part of his push to build out hospitality in the neighborhood alongside his other concepts. Axios describes him simply as a former Chicago Bears player and restaurateur behind the new spot.
That kind of neighborhood investment isn't new to Chicago's martini scene. In July 2024, 2Bears Tavern Group acquired Andersonville mainstay Marty's Martini Bar, relocating it to a larger venue on Winnemac Avenue while raising non-tipped staff base wages by 47%, as Hoodline previously reported. Whether a citywide convention can translate into lasting foot traffic for independent neighborhood bars once the marquee events wrap remains an open question, but for now, tickets to the Martini Expo are still available for anyone looking to raise a glass to Chicago's cocktail history before Sunday's close.
The regulatory and economic backdrop
For readers wondering what rules apply to alcohol-focused events, the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection says businesses selling liquor must hold a city liquor license, with the required class depending on the activity. Its guidance says applicants must provide detailed ownership and financial information and undergo inspections by city departments including Health, Fire and Buildings. The guidance establishes the licensing framework but does not, by itself, specify which event-specific approvals apply to every temporary tasting or ticketed mixer. The expo also arrives in a sizable hospitality market. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED data sourced to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 275.2 thousand employees in food services and drinking places across the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights metropolitan area in December 2024. That single data point does not establish how employment has changed since 2020, but it provides a snapshot of the workforce supporting the region's restaurants and bars.
