The single, unthinkable thing that could salve our wounds from McGee's departure from The Whistler has actually happened - a brand new tiki bar in Chicago. more ›

This evening marks bartender Paul McGee's last shift behind the stick at the Whistler. more ›

Chicagoist reached out to RJ Melman for comment. Melman would only say that he and his brother are excited to work with him. "He is super talented, and we think we have a very exciting concept that we are going to do together." The Whistler, likewise, was sad but excited to see McGee leave. more ›

And what a year it's been. A raft of exciting openings (and not just the Aviary), a sad closing or two and a ton of great drinks. more ›

For last night's installment of the Whistler's monthly Book Club series, head bartender Paul McGee selected 10 recipes from renowned cocktail expert and historian David Wondrich's latest tome, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl. While the evening's libations almost without exception registered as delightful, the age-old perils of punch-drinking were nonetheless made manifest by what we understood to be a first (and probably last) for the Logan Square cocktail bar: a Jell-O shot on the menu - and a muscular one even by the standards of the category. Which is certainly not to say we didn't excavate every last crumb of the thing. Dangers indeed. more ›

Home bartenders, "You can do a lot with a little." That's a taste of the sage advice of the Whistler's Paul McGee, who this week held the second session of Cocktails 101, the new Sunday-afternoon series of bartending classes he's teaching at the Logan Square cocktail bar. Always in earnest pursuit of mixing wisdom, we attended this week's class to learn from one of Chicago's best. more ›

In the weeks leading up to our anniversary party Saturday night, Whistler mixologist Paul McGee was in touch with Sonja and Derek Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery to work on the cocktail that many of us downed in large numbers. McGee came through with flying colors with an eponymous, deceptively potent concoction with North Shore No. 6 gin as the base spirit. "I like the botanicals in No. 6, which is one of North Shore's lighter gins," McGee said. more ›