Booze-less bar nights

As winter starts to set in, there will be fewer and fewer excuses to venture out into the freezing cold. So, if a night of punishing your liver is no longer reason enough, Decider considers these notable alternatives to boozing hosted by some bars around town.

The Interview Show at Hideout
Mixing This American Life-like storytelling with late-night-style interviewing, Mark Bazer and crew bring Chicago cultural heavyweights to the Hideout to chat about everything from their work to their views. Guests run the gamut from activists and artists to authors and comedians. In the past, Bazer, a Chicago Tribune columnist, has interviewed Rhymefest (as has Decider's sibling publication, The A.V. Club), Doug Sohn of Hot Doug’s, and writer/author/hip-hop poet Kevin Coval. Hosted the first Friday of every month—November’s show features writers Steve Conrad and Keith Huff, as well as sketch-comedy group Schadenfreude—The Interview Show is a paltry $5 for a night of entertaining, interesting people in one of the city’s most low-key bars.

Reading Under The Influence at Sheffield’s
Feeding the stereotype that all writers are drinkers, RUI is a night of high-minded boozing—its website bills it as a reading series “developed by a group of Chicago writers who happen to like drinking”—at Wrigleyville bar Sheffield’s. This monthly event features themes that span war and sex to suicidal authors and banned books; RUI is a writer’s utopia. The simple format—shots before and after a reading of original work or passages by other writers—includes trivia and prizes, as well as a chance to cavort with other like-minded writers (think AA plus liquor).

Nerds At Heart
For self-described nerds, geeks, and dorks, this group for “smart singles” is the ultimate in alternative bar nights. Sure, your local pub probably has a few board games on hand to feed your Connect Four fix, but when has your local pub been packed with earnestly awkward guys and gals jonesing for some trivia? This low-key, no pressure night out is perfect for anyone shy and lonely, or just wishing to play Trivial Pursuit, enjoy a beer, and avoid typical bar rowdiness. Though the events rotate from bar to bar, Nerds At Heart ensure a good time a la Revenge Of The Nerds (sans Booger). For the LGBT community, there is also Queer Nerds At Heart, which follows the same exact formula but for, yeah, with gay and lesbian geeks.