Here Comes The Bar

We want to drink together, we want to eat pizza together, and we all want to do this in one good place. In the spirit of this, our Lincoln Square location has revamped its bar! And it is more than cold cans of Bud Light, though we do believe in the power of a cheap beer and good slice.

The best way we know how to sell you on this is through our people. For Lincoln Square, Danny is key. He has a playfulness about him that is both controlled and intriguing. Like he’s about to let you in on a secret. One you’re already sure you’ll enjoy. He has worked in sales, been bitten by a brown recluse, bartended in Boston, been a cultural attaché for Pakistan, and now he flies planes during the week. He is our cocktail auteur. He is our atmospheric charm. He is your favorite bartender. 

Danny’s bartending expertise mostly originates out of personal passion, building beautiful cocktails for friends at home. One of the Lincoln Square standout cocktails is the Slimeade Spritz, with vodka, mint, cucumber, lime, jalapenos, simple syrup, and prosecco. It’s even more refreshing than it sounds. And it carries some of Danny with it. It was born in 2023. Danny was in flight school, and he and his boyfriend were melting under the Arizona summer’s heat. The slime-green ultra-cooling drink loaded into squirt guns, cucumber in liquid form. Then later, as the Lincoln Square bar program was in the works, some of Danny's  industry friends floated the concept of turning the Slimeade into a spritz, which brings us to the drink’s current form. Something we've heard referred to as a “Patio Pounder.” A name that is perhaps inappropriately violent, but captures our carnal desire to leave a Chicago winter and fall headfirst into patio season.  

Even the Pizzarina Martini, a drink destined to be on a Dimo’s menu, is a drink based on a cocktail of Danny’s dreams, one he found somewhere in Little Rock, Arkansas. It’s a drink of sweet vermouth, tomato infused fat washed vodka, balsamic vinegar, mozzerella, cherry tomato, and basil leaf. It takes three days to make, and it’s worth the work. A drink indescribable. We can only say, ‘Wow, it does taste like pizza.’ So trust us. These drinks are born of joy!

The bar as an object is inviting, and central without an overbearing presence. Walking in, the bar acts as a guiding force, it’s tucked to the right side of the store, creating a sense of intimacy without feeling exclusive. It’s all intentional. We want to be a part of the neighborhood’s fabric, a place you associate with your home, your habits, your friends, sweethearts, solo nights, the whole of it. 

So as we sat at the bar, testing each and every cocktail, (with great intention we swear!! All work, no play) through the bar’s atmosphere, and the bartender’s charm, the conversation livened and confessions began to leak out. Someone admitted a dislike for bagels, another a distaste for rootbeer (shocking!!), which led to recountings of plane-jumping accidents, driving embarrassments, and someone’s first-time trying of the wonderful (and expensive) Luxardo Maraschino Cherries. And at the end of it all, when the night grows colder, and perhaps you have confessed too much, there is always a slice to sober you up. We hope to see you there. 

- Riley from Dimo’s