Drinking

Bloody Marys and Menudo: Hangover Cures From Our Favorite Dive Bartenders

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As we stare down what is sure to be a very revelry- and booze-filled final week of 2009 (gotta send that decade off in style, folks), our celebratory excitement is mitigated just a smidge by the promise of the next morning’s foggy brain, pounding head, and intermittent excruciating photosensitivity. Who better to advise us on how to handle the morning after than some of Chicago’s hardiest barkeeps — no floofy mixologists here, we asked the bartenders at some of our favorite dives for their surefire hangover cures. Read on to see what folks from The Sovereign, June Inn, Bernice’s, and Ten Cat pour for their own headaches.

Bill Conway, The Sovereign
“Jump right back into the soup again. You can quote me on that word for word. I go with Magner’s Irish Cider, and Jameson Irish Whiskey.”

Clayton Stamper, June’s Inn
“Don’t drink! But if you have to, I suggest tomato juice and beer with celery salt and a little pepper in it.”

Steve, Bernice’s Tavern
“What I jokingly tell everyone is a gallon of water and 12 hours of sleep, but that’s not good for business. I always get people ice water if they seem like they’re hurting. Then a bloody mary, a beer, and then two hours later they’re going for a shot. But my biggest recommendation to avoid a hangover is to eat before, during, and after, and if you’re going to drink, drink something that’s quality.”

Connie Vonachen, Ten Cat Tavern
“My favorite hangover cure is rather ethnic — it’s menudo, which is tripe soup. I go to a Mexican restaurant and I order it the next day. And a lot of water and potassium - usually I just do a potassium supplement. And it works, it really does! Well … it helps.”

For ourselves, Grub Street has always found that the best way to shake off the fuzzies is with a piping-hot Jamaican beef patty, an ice-cold Coca-Cola, and a fistful of ibuprofen. And with that, we’re off to have a nice little vacation. We’ll see you again right here — healthy, hale, and ready to roll — on January 4. Here’s wishing you a hangover-free holiday season.

Bloody Marys and Menudo: Hangover Cures From Our Favorite Dive Bartenders