Absolut Genius

Don’t hate MyOpenBar because it was started by two hipsters from Williamsburg. In fact, we should all be thanking these guys for coming up with an idea that was even more genius than, well, just about anything we can think of. As a matter of fact, we should all be slapping our collective heads over the fact that WE didn’t have this idea FIRST!

That idea? Create a listing of all the places offering cheap and/or free booze throughout the week, so cool cheapskates looking for a super-affordable buzz know where to party from day to day. Naturally the process isn’t quite so simple, since certain events needed to be weaned out (you’ll not find the equivalent of Quarter Pitcher nights in Wrigleyville, for instance) and a certain set of standards needed to be met. The result was a hugely successful website and a roving band of cool kids hitting up bars, clubs and parties every night. The best part, though, was that anyone could be a cool kid now, since all the great events were easy to find.

For once, we admit, we were a bit jealous that New York had access to such a great social tool, while we had to make do with nothing more than our quick wits and extensive contacts.

All that is about to change though; you no longer need to be a member of the elite (like us) in order to find out where the elite drinks are free (since we can’t afford to wouldn’t drink any other way). Today marks the dawning of a new era in cheapskate alcoholism with the introduction of Chi.MyOpenBar.com.

The listings are admittedly on the lean side, at the moment, but we’ve seen their catalog of events growing exponentially from day to day. The site also offers the option to sign up for their weekly email in case you are too lazy, or soused, to manually look up events online. Come to think of it, MyOpenBar almost makes it too easy for everyone to get their drink on, even with a pocketbook more full of torn ticket stubs than crumpled cash. Oh well, we’ll just have to make sure we show up early to get our full booze on each night.

Full disclosure: Chicagoist writer Sarah Dahnke is one of the editors for the Chi.MyOpenBar.com site. Don’t worry, we would’ve written about this anyway, since we’re pretty sure that access to affordable booze should be an amendment to the Constitution.