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Bars in Chicago

Today Aug 21

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The Violet Hour

30s / 40s / Ambient / Bar / Blouses

Party Earth Review Camouflaged behind a colorful plank façade adorned with an ever-changing display of graffiti art, The Violet Hour offers an unexpected touch of upscale luxury to a neighborhood better known for dive bars and hipster hangouts. A series of dark blue floor-to-ceiling curtains part to reveal the various rooms of the venue ... more

1520 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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Sweetwater Tavern and Grille

20s / 30s / 40s / After Work / Beer / TVs

Party Earth Review Located at the south end of the city’s famously ritzy Magnificent Mile, Sweetwater Tavern and Grille is a cavernous sports bar and restaurant with an upscale, minimalist vibe. Floor-to-ceiling windows and dozens of plush white booths around the perimeter provide a cozy spot for tourists and local professionals to enjoy ... more

225 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60601

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Debonair Social Club

20s / 30s / 40s / Artists / Bands / Bar / DJ

Party Earth Review Situated inside the massive 88,000-square-foot Flat Iron Arts Building, Debonair Social Club features a roster of rotating theme nights and performances that aim to blend art, music, and fashion. Splashed in hot pink and electric blue lights, along with dizzying black and white stripes painted on most of the walls, the ... more

1575 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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Hopleaf Bar

30s / 50s Music / After Work / Bar

Party Earth Review Popular with an amiable bunch of grad students and young professionals bent on conversation, the modest Hopleaf Bar harbors an intense dedication to beer, and lots of it. Every night, the worn wooden tables and booths on the first floor quickly fill up with easygoing patrons pouring over the selection of more than two hundred ... more

5148 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640

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Paddy Long's

30s / 40s / After Work / Bar / Beer / TVs

Party Earth Review The city’s premier beer and bacon bar, Paddy Long’s is a popular hangout for a mixed crowd of young Lincoln Park hipsters and older regulars on a first-name basis with the owner – a Dublin native who is often also the bartender. Usually low-key and welcoming, this Irish-style pub features craft beers and a menu that would ... more

1028 West Diversey Parkway
Chicago, IL 60657

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Kit Kat Lounge & Supper Club

20s / Bachelorette Parties / Gay

Party Earth Review Located in Chicago’s famous Boystown neighborhood, The Kit Kat Lounge is a lively spot where stylish gay men and large groups of straight girls sip colorful drinks and enjoy over-the-top tableside drag performances. A throwback to the boisterous supper clubs of the 1940s and old Hollywood glamour, the classy bar and restaurant ... more

3700 North Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60613

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Blue Frog's Local 22

After Work / Alternative Rock

Party Earth Review Renovated in 2011 by Spike TV’s Bar Rescue, Blue Frog’s Local 22 is a sports and karaoke bar featuring a snazzy sports design and a menu of organic meats and locally brewed beer. Bright neon signs and twenty TVs tuned to sports cast a flickering light over the rowdy crowd of college kids playing drinking games with every ... more

22 East Hubbard Street
Chicago, IL 60611

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Lilly's Bar

20s / 30s / Balcony / Bar / Cash Only

Party Earth Review Located just a few blocks north of the busy Fullerton/Lincoln/Halsted intersection, Lilly’s Bar is regularly deluged by nearby DePaul students and casual hipsters eager for cheap all-you-can-drink deals and live music. Low green stucco archways, uneven brick floors, and scattered antique wrought iron furniture give the ... more

2515 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614

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Gingerman Tavern

20s / 30s / 90s Music / Actors / Beer

Party Earth Review Founded specifically for Wrigleyville heretics who don’t care a lick about the Cubs – or at least don’t care about rowdy sports bars – Gingerman Tavern attracts everyone from hardcore bikers to skinny-jeaned rockers who couldn’t tell a Hail Mary from a Bloody one. A true dive, the space features a dusty décor of old photographs ... more

3740 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60613

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Lincoln Hall

20s / 30s / Acoustic / After Work

Party Earth Review A combination bar, restaurant, and music venue developed by the same group behind Schubas Tavern, Lincoln Hall offers live alternative, indie, rock, or acoustic concerts every night, as well as laid-back dining and drinking. Located in the heart of thriving Lincoln Park, the 8,400-square-foot venue features a roster of ... more

2424 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614

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Billy Goat Tavern

20s / 30s / 40s / Anything goes / Beer

Party Earth Review Tucked away on the southern end of Michigan Avenue, Billy Goat Tavern – known for being not only the subject of several Saturday Night Live sketches but also the epicenter of the infamous Cubs curse – has been drawing in a diverse crowd for burgers and beer since 1934. Neon lights point patrons down to the subterranean ... more

430 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

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The Flat Iron

20s / 30s / ATM / Anything goes / Bar

Party Earth Review With a rich history in the arts and music scene, The Flat Iron, formerly the live music venue The Blue Note, draws a dedicated community of creative patrons. The giant face of a skull immediately greets guests upon entering – usually accompanied by the deafening sounds of Black Sabbath from the jukebox – while murals by ... more

1565 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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The Violet Hour

30s / 40s / Ambient / Bar / Blouses

1520 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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Sweetwater Tavern and Grille

20s / 30s / 40s / After Work / Beer / TVs

225 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60601

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Pippin's Tavern

30s / 40s / After Work / Bar / Casual

Party Earth Review Despite its proximity to the lavish shops and restaurants of the Magnificent Mile, Pippin’s Tavern has been drawing in one of the most eclectic and diverse crowds in Chicago since 1973 from wealthy shoppers and young businessmen to college students and foreign tourists. The weathered façade, which looks like a gingerbread ... more

806 North Rush Street
Chicago, IL 60611

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Double Door

20s / 30s / 40s / ATM / Balcony / Bar / Club

Party Earth Review Named for its two separate entrances – one for the fans and one for the bands – Double Door is a simple club where music undeniably takes center stage. With its single long bar the only element that takes away from the open wooden dance space and a standing room capacity of only five hundred, it seems incredible that the ... more

1572 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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The Empty Bottle

20s / 30s / ATM / Arcade Games / Dive

Party Earth Review The Empty Bottle has been serving up $5 drink combos and live music seven nights a week since it first opened in 1992, featuring a jam-packed calendar of events ranging from jazz and rock to experimental noise. The venue’s deceptively small exterior hides a spacious three-roomed space decked out in concert posters and packed ... more

1035 North Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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Angels & Kings

20s / 30s / Bar / Bottle Service / DJ

Party Earth Review Located on the ground floor of the Hard Rock Hotel, Fall Out Boy Pete Wentz’s Angels & Kings is an intimate, dark venue where, depending on the night, patrons might find rockers in skinny jeans or clubbers in high-end cocktail dresses. Although Wentz himself has been known to grace the small stage, entertainment is usually ... more

Hard Rock Hotel
230 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60601

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Hopleaf Bar

30s / 50s Music / After Work / Bar

5148 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640

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The Hangge-Uppe

30s / 40s / 50s Music / 80s Music

Party Earth Review Marked by a sign with the image of a happy man hugging records and a tagline promising “the most fun you won’t remember,” The Hangge Uppe has been a prime Gold Coast spot for drinking, dancing – and more drinking – since 1973. A few stumbling steps from the wild bar scene of Division Street, the mostly 80s-themed bi-level ... more

14 West Elm Street
Chicago, IL 60611

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minibar Ultra Lounge & Café

20s / 30s / Bottle Service / Brunch

Party Earth Review Situated in the epicenter of Lakeview’s gay scene, minibar Ultra Lounge & Café caters to a higher-end clientele with swanky décor, intricate drinks, and bartenders who could double as Abercrombie & Fitch models. A narrow, sexily-lit bar takes up part of the U-shaped front lounge, whose intimate low banquettes and VIP sections ... more

3341 North Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60657

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Elbo Room

20s / 30s / 40s / 80s Music / ATM / Bar / DJ

Party Earth Review Although named for its location at the corner nook of three intersecting streets, Elbo Room could just as easily refer to what is not available inside, considering the crowds that pack in for the venue’s live music offerings seven nights a week. Beat up booths line the industrial gray brick walls on the ground floor, including ... more

2871 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657

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Houndstooth Saloon

20s / Bar Food / Baseball Caps

Party Earth Review Named in homage to legendary University of Alabama coach Bear Bryant and his signature houndstooth hat, Houndstooth Saloon may be in the heart of Cubs country, but there’s no doubt it’s a pure Alabama bar and headquarters for homesick Southern transplants. A mournful basset hound on the sign now wears the checkered cap ... more

3369 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60657

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The Flat Iron

20s / 30s / ATM / Anything goes / Bar

1565 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

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Recommended Bars in Chicago

Top Sports Bars

BY: Lucas

Red Ivy

Lucas also likes: Beer Sports Rowdy Casual Anything goes Bar Flirty

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Super Chic Bars

BY: Adriana

D.O.C. Wine Bar

Adriana also likes: Exclusive Nightclub Fashion Forward Shopping Jetsetter

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Great Music Bars

BY: Jonah

Schubas Tavern

Jonah also likes: Live Music Eclectic Indie Alternative Non-mainstream

more recommended by Jonah

Fun Student Bars

BY: Emma

Rodan

Emma also likes: Happy Hour Culture Dancing Lively Budget-friendly

more recommended by Emma

Chicago Bars Overview

Vintage Lounge - Bar | Lounge | Restaurant in Chicago

Chicago’s social life invariably revolves around its denizen’s love of sports and beer, but there are still hundreds of bars in Chicago that cater to the highest of the high end and the dingiest of dives to fit into any resident’s social schedule.

There are actually thousands of Chicago bars – and they populate every street and are hidden away in the quaintest residential areas – so if the Cubs, White Sox, Bears, or Bulls are playing, it’s a lock that every bar in town will be playing the game on their TVs. But the biggest spots in town for sports fans are in Wrigleyville where sports bars are dime a dozen.

Meanwhile, many food-heavy bars dot the city and serve perfect beer and food pairings, though it’s just as easy to find the best deep dish pizza and a cold one at other local haunts, or just a wine bar to while away the hours in.

Though neighborhood bars, sports bars, and pubs are the most common nightlife destinations in Chicago, an array of higher-end venues in areas like River North and the Gold Coast draw in the social elite to live, work, and play.

The best part about all the bars in Chicago, whether high-end, sports crazy, or just the hole-in-the-wall variety, is that they stay open really late, with some spots keeping their doors open until 4 or 5am.

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