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  1. Photograph: Dave Rentauskas
    Photograph: Dave Rentauskas

    Duke of Perth

  2. Blackbird

  3. Photograph: Max Herman
    Photograph: Max Herman

    Twisted Spoke

  4. In Fine Spirits

How to skip the wait at Kuma’s Corner

We find six spots that also wheel and deal in burgers, whiskey and rock and roll.

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You want rock & roll
Three Aces
(1321 W Taylor St, 312-243-1577)
The side-lot patio at this surprisingly hard-partying Little Italy spot will debut any day now, allowing for tattooed-elbow–rubbing with about 100 others while old-school Italian films screen, a live band revs up the crowd or Slayer lights up the stereo.

You want killer burgers
The Bad Apple
(4300 N Lincoln Ave, 773-360-8406)
On its best nights, the Bad Apple nails the inch-thick, salty-crusted, medium-rare trifecta Kuma’s owns, but to get the full effect, request it on a pretzel bun, with blue cheese and the beef damn near bloody. (The breezy, tree-lined and plant-rimmed sidewalk patio doesn’t hurt, either.
Try the: Black n’ Blue, a spice-crusted burger slathered with creamy Belgian-ale–blue-cheese sauce ($9); Slow Burn, topped with bacon, white cheddar and a heartburn-inducing pile of milk stout–sautéed chiles and onions ($9); and Left Coast Reuben, a play on the classic sandwich, complete with slaw, Swiss and Thousand Island dressing ($9).

Blackbird (619 W Randolph St, 312-715-0708)
What better place to enjoy a weekday sidewalk patio lunch than at sleek, white-on-white Blackbird? Especially when you order the burger ($15). A blend of chuck and short rib topped with red wine-shallot jam and mimolette, served with a spring bean salad, it’s elegant summer indulgence on a plate.

You want whiskey
Duke of Perth
(2913 N Clark St, 773-477-1741)
With trees, beat-up picnic tables and signs of a family living just over the fence, you could be in a pal’s backyard—only we challenge you to find a friend who always has 75 types of single-malt whiskey on hand.

Twisted Spoke (501 N Ogden Ave, 312-666-1500)
Rivaling Kuma’s with Jim Beam on tap, this West Town rooftop also offers a sophisticated list of bottled whiskeys, Scotches and bourbons that’s half-price on Wednesdays. As the menu says, “the money you save can go towards a liver transplant.”

In Fine Spirits (5420 N Clark St, 773-334-9463)
With a liquor store of the same name next door, this Andersonville spot has the hookup with boutique whiskeys you’ve never heard of—and the know-how to mix them into cocktails like the Last Word, a blend of apple whiskey, IFS Barrel Buffalo Trace, walnut liqueur and bitters ($11). Knock a few back on the roomy back patio.

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