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In my hour of need, SushiSamba Rio comes through with its bento-box bargain.

Monday Apr 16, 2007.     By Dana Kavan

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Drink of the week: A Samba Juice at SushiSamba Rio, 504 N. Wells Street, on a Tuesday night.

The damage: $11; it's pricey, but when you read what they put in it, you'll understand.

Thousands of bars in Chicago, why this one? Living in a city with one perpetually "cursed" baseball team, a winter that persists well into spring and highway construction projects that seem to never end, Chicagoans have plenty of excuses to feel glum. Still it seems that as a whole, we're a city of optimists. We believe the Cubs will have their day; we get through the winter by dreaming of North Avenue beach; and we take Ashland instead of the Dan Ryan. But as if our plight wasn't grave enough, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission eliminated one of the most pleasing pastimes: happy hour. The state's Happy Hour Law places strict restrictions on bars (like forbidding two-for one drinks and deals that only last a couple of hours), which means you'll have to move to Milwaukee if you want to sip cheap libations on weekdays from 5-7 p.m.

What they can't offer in drink deals, some city spots make up for with food specials. I went to SushiSamba Rio to sample its post-work $10 Happy Boxes filled with trios of flavors from Japan, Brazil and Peru.

How it went down: Like its food menu, SushiSamba's drink menu reads like an around-the-world tour with stops in the Amazon, Andes and Tokyo. Offerings range from Peru's signature Pisco Sour to cultural hybrids like the Spicy Ginger with Japanese shochu, raspberry-flavored rum, muddled ginger and fresh guava and lime juices. I had a hard time choosing, but with the server's help, I finally settled on Samba Juice.

A mix of Bacardi Island Breeze Wild Berry rum, acai puree with guarana, passion fruit puree, creme de banana liquor and guava juice, the thick, plum-color cocktail packed a big, fruity flavor. The medley tasted like a sweet punch with an aftertaste that reminded me of the banana Runts candy I relished as a kid. I didn't know it at the time (thank you, Google) but the rum in my Juice was low-calorie, and the health benefits of my drink didn't end there. Apparently, the acai berry (from Brazil) fights the signs of aging and contains anti-oxidants.

Would I want to become a regular? Before now, I would only go to this place when I needed to impress out-of-town guests. My friends from Omaha find its over-the-top, Carnivale-meets-Zen-Master ambience and well-dressed crowd fascinating, but it's not the kind of place where you would expect the bartenders to learn your name. But I'm an optimist, right? That means I can see the good in SushiSamba—and I see it in the glazed edamame in my Happy Box and my Samba Juice buzz.

Dana Kavan scours the city for drink deals so good you'll offer to buy a round and creative libations that outshine your average on-the-rocks concoctions. Want to give Dana tips on where to rack up a bar tab? Share your finds before her next night out.