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A barn full of bourbon.

Saturday Sep 10, 2005.     By Jessica Herman

Bars + Clubs Feed

Dress: Girls are seen sporting mini jean skirts and sexy tanks bearing their tatted lower backs, or slightly more relaxed Seven jeans and a basic tee. Guys keep it casual, with cargo shorts and baseball caps or step it up with denims and a dress shirt.

Best way to get there: Take the Blue Line to Division and head west. If you're coming from the Red Line, get off at Clark/Division and take the Clark bus No. 70 heading west to Wood.

Vibe: Somewhere between a lounge and low-key bar scene, it doesn't feel like a see and be seen kind of place, though the nonstop, thumping music makes it hard to have a cohesive conversation. If you're looking to have a heart-to-heart, you're better off settling at one of the tables outside underneath the trees.

Quick tour: A low wooden fence spruced up with potted plants and flowers encircles the sidewalk patio, where patrons puffing on cigarettes greet pug-toting passersby. Head under the red awning, past a few American flags, into the main room and find the stone-floored and high ceiling interior decked with wood stripped from a dilapidated Wisconsin barn. The barn's glass garage doors compose one wall and slide open for full-house occasions. Fire red backlighting highlights the two bars along the remaining walls, and a few TVs play the big games in the background. There are plenty of tables, and a lounge tucked in the front corner features suede curving couches where couples cozy up to a decorative fire place filled with flickering candles.

Crowd: During the day families stop in for lunchtime grub. After dinner the clientele evolves into coed groups of twenty- and thirtysomethings who look more like Lincoln Park transplants than the dive bar-seeking Ukie Villagers. Among them you'll find buddies lounging at tables for two over a late-night steak dinner, enjoying the mobs of eye-candy for dessert.

Night to go: Several nights a week Moonshine plays host to promotion-based activities for the bourbon-boozing crowd, so check the website to find the latest schedule. For now you can get schooled by professional poker players every other Tuesday night, or join the "interactive tastings" hosted by various drink companies that send an in-house expert to sample out its tasty range of drinks at either no charge or a minimal cover.

Claim to fame: Hands down, it's the bourbon and scotch selection, with more than twenty 12-year-old or older scotches and at least an equal number of bourbons.

Music genre: Live DJs spin nightly, with specific evenings dedicated to reggae, Chicago house, downtempo lounge grooves and plenty of old school dance favs. It's a rotating roster of residents spiced up with appearances by the likes of Derrick Carter.

You'll feel like you're in: A souped-up barn. Fun touches playing off the Prohibition theme include mason jars for cups and a mural on the back wall depicting cops busting a few moonshiners.

Beyond the barstool: Described as down-home cooking with a Southwestern flair, the extensive lunch and dinner menu includes favorites from each of the managing partners' home towns: Maryland crab cakes, Southern-style ribs and the New Mexican green chile that garnishes many of the dishes. (It got a write up in Maxim for the green chili and pepperoni pizza.) Throw in a tostada salad, blackened catfish and a Saturdays and Sunday morning brunch, and you're browsing though one hefty list of $8-$20 entrees and appetizers.

On the shelves: Besides the bevy of bourbons and scotches, moonshine boasts a selection of high quality liquors of all kinds, from cognac to $40 Patron tequila shots. There are constant drink specials, like Wednesdays $3 Blue Moon pints and $10 pitchers.

Moonshine at 1824 W. Division; (773) 862-8686. Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday-Thursday; noon-2 a.m. Friday; noon-3a.m. Saturday. Occasional cover for events. Find more info at www.moonshinechicago.com.