Overview
Paul McGee is one of few bartenders to maintain equal footing in both a classical and tiki approach to drink-making. As the beverage director for Land and Sea Dept., McGee helms the cocktail programs at the Chicago Athletic Association’s Milk Room, Cherry Circle Room and Game Room—bars renowned for their classic-leaning lists—as well as at Lost Lake, one of the country’s best tiki bars.
MCGEE IN THREE
McGee has been posted behind the bar since the age of 19—first in Houston and then in Las Vegas, as part of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group—but it wasn’t until he moved to Chicago, in 2008, that the larger bartending community took notice. Since 2010, McGee has been named Chicago’s best bartender nearly every year by a variety of publications including the Chicago Tribune and Eater.
With the 2013 opening of his much-lauded Three Dots and a Dash, McGee brought tiki into the 21st century and back to a city with a longstanding affinity for tropical drinks. But despite opening two of the nation’s top tiki bars, McGee manages to bring a less-is-more approach to a genre that typically hinges on extravagance.
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