The house sake bomb pairs Asahi Super Dry with Sho Chiku Bai junmai sake.
• The bar food is top-notch, including items like the General Jones’ Wings, which are wok-fried with General Tso’s sauce, and Mapo Hot Fries—waffle fries topped with spicy mayo, pickled Fresno chiles, scallions and spicy ground pork sauce.
NICE TO KNOW
If you want to sample some of the best soup dumplings in Chinatown, check out Qing Xiang Yuan, a four-minute walk away. For a night of karaoke, nearly next door to Qing Xiang Yuan is King Karaoke, a glitzy take on the genre, which opened in 2023.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
Among the bar's tropical-leaning cocktails is the Neon City (left), combining shochu, baijiu and sake with Calpico, aperitivo liqueur and fresh citrus.
For more than 50 years, Moon Palace was a staple of Chicago’s Chinatown, where locals gathered over xiao long bao, mapo tofu and Mai Tais from owners Zhong Pei and Jennifer Wang. In 2022, the Wangs turned the restaurant over to their daughter, Lily, and her partner in life and business, Joe Briglio. Both longtime Chicago bartenders, Wang (Estereo) and Briglio (Blind Barber) revamped the space, turning the front into a takeout-only operation offering Moon Palace favorites, and opening Nine Bar in the back. Described by the duo as an “Asian-ish cocktail bar,” Nine Bar pushes beyond Chinese influences. Bartenders there sling highballs, junmai sake on draft and a variety of tropical-leaning cocktails. On every visit, you’ll see one or both of the elder Wangs; Nine Bar retains its family heart even as Wang and Briglio launch it into the future.
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Among the bar's tropical-leaning cocktails is the Neon City, combining shochu, baijiu and sake with Calpico, aperitivo liqueur and fresh citrus.
The house sake bomb pairs Asahi Super Dry with Sho Chiku Bai junmai sake.