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A swank little something for everyone.

Thursday Sep 29, 2005.     By Jennifer Berg

Bars + Clubs Feed

Dress: A striped-shirt standard seems to be in effect: If you're a dude wanting to fit in the Mix, take your pick of dressy or casual, horizontal or vertical and pair it with jeans. Girls are mostly dressed down in basic tees and denim, though fancier femmes do jazz it up with a silk halter or a sequin-encrusted shrug.

Best way to get there: Take the Brown Line to Diversey and head east toward the Halsted/Diversey intersection. Turn left onto Halsted and look for Mix (on your right) after about a block.

Vibe: Flashy meets chill lounge-cum-club and live music venue, designed by buzz-worthy architect Jeremiah Johnson. Tip: Although the plethora of plush seating in the front bar makes the space seem ideal for chitchat, blaring videos on several flat-screen TVs easily turn intimate conversation into a shouting match.

Quick tour: Sliding glass doors open right onto Halsted and the side courtyard, so take your pick and enter via the front or the side. Grab a drink at the wood-topped bar or settle into one of the comfy leather chairs that cluster around dark wood tables dotted with candles. In the back of the space and past a short hallway, a larger area full of exposed brick, drapes and private seating areas serves as a nightclub and performance venue. If liquor lines are long in the front lounge, head to the back's bigger bar.

Crowd: Mix hosts a fittingly diverse roost of guys and gals. While most of the crowd is of the 25-ish, grab-a-beer-after-work variety, on a Friday night I spotted one or two couples of a certain age (over 50) and a whole host of barely-out-of-college cigarette wavers. The place remains relatively calm until about 11 p.m. when the party people start rushing in in droves.

Night to go: Live entertainment ranging from comedy to local bands livens up the back space most nights of the week; call the club for details. Weekends draw larger crowds and the nightclub area (free during the week) charges a $5 cover.

Claim to fame: The name says it all. There's a little bit of everything at Mix: a bar, a lounge, a restaurant, a club, a performance space and a soundtrack that reps everyone from Diddy to Earth Wind and Fire.

Music genre: In the front lounge, videos from the the past few decades flicker in plasma paradise, while the dance floor is souped up with songs from The Killers, Gwen Stefani, Paul Oakenfold and Depeche Mode.

You'll feel like you're in: A slick urban living room, thanks to the exposed brick, wood paneling and giant sliding doors.

Beyond the barstool: Chef Bob Zrenner (famous for his finger lickin' contributions to Tru, North Pond Cafe and X/O) serves up a menu of "global bar food." Trot around the culinary world with spring rolls ($4) or antipasta ($9) and grab some baja fish tacos ($7) as an entree. More traditional fare includes fries ($3) and mini burgers ($8), but even these barstool staples are peppered with gourmet touches; the fries come with truffle mayonnaise and burgers are served with bleu cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.

On the shelves: The full bar boasts a slew of top shelf liquors and about 13 beers on tap. On a typical night, a domestic beer goes for about $4 and cocktails cost about $6. Ongoing drink specials (call for specifics) include $7 Bud and Bud Light pitchers and $12 pitchers of Svedka raspberry cosmos.

Mix at 2843 N. Halsted; (773)528-7569. Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday-Friday; 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday for the 21+ crowd. Occasional cover for special events.

Age: 21+

Cover: Occasional, for events