Charles Joly | Chicago ink

Charles Joly Everyone knows an Austin, Texas, transplant or Columbia, Missouri, migrant who proudly parades a Chicago flag tattoo around town as if he were a native. Less common, it seems: a guy raised in a true blue Bridgeport clan sporting the city’s stars and stripes. “My mom tells stories of her playing with the Daleys as a kid,” says Joly, who can be seen flexing the forearm tat while shaking craft cocktails as head mixologist at the Drawing Room, the lounge/restaurant connected to nightclub Privet (937 N Rush St, 312-266-2694). The 35-year-old De La Salle Institute grad still goes back to the old neighborhood to visit Grandma. On the inside of his left arm is a more personal piece: a to-scale bar spoon and the word “balance.” “In cocktails, as in life, balance is always something you’re trying to achieve,” Joly says, “and probably never will.”