Underground Wonder Bar, Chicago

Amid Chicago's capricious and ever-changing bar scene, Lonie Walker's Underground Wonder Bar has remained a downtown fixture for more than 20 years, and it's no wonder why. Whether it's the live blues, jazz, world, and funk music that echoes through the bar each night, the 4 a.m. closing hour, or the fact that the owner herself regularly takes the stage to sing with her band, the bar seems to embody the Chicago nightlife. An eclectic set of live acts plays to an equally eclectic crowd every night of the week at the spot's two-level, three-stage River North location.