Image via Complex Original
Unlike New York City or Las Vegas, Chicago has very few bars that remain open after 2 a.m. But, like New York City and Las Vegas, Chicago has a populace of reckless, borderline psychotic people who like to party. A lot. While “last call” comes relatively early in this city, Saturday night can extend well into Sunday morning—so long as you know where to look. So, today we travel through an imaginary, insanely eventful night in the Windy City. From the most viscerally satisfying late-night eats to the spots that never close, these are The 10 Best Places To Go After Midnight in Chicago.
The Barrelhouse Flat
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Address: 2624 N. Lincoln Ave.
Website: barrelhouseflat.com
Typically, drinking until 4 a.m. in Lincoln Park involves navigating through a trail of discarded plastic cups, but The Barrelhouse Flat radiates the energy of a late-night poker game rather than a beer pong tournament gone awry. If you own a tweed blazer and can discern the difference between a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned, then this is your post “wristband special” Xanadu.
But, if live music is more your thing, then there’s a famous joint right down the street.
Kingston Mines
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
Address: 2548 N. Halsted St.
Website: kingstonmines.com
Kingston Mines is a multi-stage venue that offers live blues music seven nights a week. It’s also located in the thick of a late-night eats paradise. When choosing a bar to go to after midnight, the atmosphere is just as important as the joint’s proximity to hastily prepared steak burritos—and Kingston Mines is surrounded by a veritable food court of late night cuisine. Not to be outdone, however, the atmosphere—which includes the city’s top blues acts, a vivacious crowd, and crab cake Po’ boys—is similarly rewarding.
That said, the preferred midnight snack for locals involves sea salt and a bun, so let’s get in a cab and follow the smell of a diced onions to the nearest wraparound line.
Phil's Last Stand
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
Address: 2258 W. Chicago Ave.
Website: philslaststand.com
If you’re going to make questionable life choices at 3 a.m., make them count. And, while taking down 1,100 calorie’s worth of char dog and fried shrimp will cripple your shirtless selfie game, the food at Phil’s Last Stand is worth the extra miles on the treadmill. Don’t let the impending beach season stop you from YOLO-ing to your full potential.
Related to our next stop: Did you know that the human body burns more than 500 calories-per-hour while dancing?
Smart Bar
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Address: 3730 N. Clark St.
Website: smartbarchicago.com
Located in a subterranean bunker across from Wrigley Field (in the basement of the Metro, specifically), Smart Bar is a house music haven that’s been around long before fur booties and sparkler-adorned magnums of Grey Goose. If you’re hanging around Clark Street at 1 a.m., you can call it an early night or you can flail about to Smart Bar’s Funktion One sound system. It’s a pretty easy choice, really.
And, if getting weird on the dance floor is something you enjoy, Smart Bar isn’t the only place on the north side to show out.
Green Mill
Neighborhood: Uptown
Address: 4802 N. Broadway St.
Website: greenmilljazz.com
The Green Mill became one of the country’s leading jazz venues in the wake of Prohibition, and—almost a century later—not much has changed. Besides hosting live music nightly, the haunt’s maintained its ’20s era allure with art nouveau décor to match the 18-piece swing bands and bebop groups that grace the stage. Unless you can build a flux capacitor in your garage, the Green Mill is the easiest way to travel back in time.
But, after all this dancing (and gin), you’re probably ready for another snack.
Chi Café
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Address: 2160 S. Archer Ave.
Website: chicafeonline.com
When you’re up late, there are few things that hit the spot quite like deep fried dough fritters and garlic chicken wings, which is why Chi Café is a vital cog in the Saturday night-Sunday morning machine. A full evening of partying requires fuel, so this meal in the Chinatown neighborhood is like stopping at a gas station in the middle of a road trip. Eat up, because we have a few more stops to go. You good?
Anyway, back to the party.
Maria's Packaged Goods
Neighborhood: Bridgeport
Address: 960 W. 31st St.
Website: community-bar.com
Maria’s Packaged Goods is a liquor store that doubles as a bar and it’s open until 3 a.m. on Saturday. As you’d expect from a bar that literally functions as a liquor store during the day, the selection of bottled beer is expansive, and—less obviously—the music programming is similarly on point. In sum, you’ll be able to sip a rare Belgian ale without having to endure a dubstep remix of Justin Bieber’s “As Long as You Love Me,” which is reason enough to visit this joint.
Of course, 3 a.m. closing doesn’t have to mean “last call” on your night. So, let’s keep it moving.
The Hangge Uppe
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Address: 14 W. Elm St.
Website: rushanddivision.com
Raging until 4 a.m. means never having to apologize for partying too hard, and The Hangge Uppe is a very accepting place to celebrate. When other downtown bars hit the lights on last call, The Hangge Uppe becomes the area’s drinking oasis. The bar, which is multi-leveled, features a handful of dance floors with a different vibe at each one. So, if Top 40 isn’t your thing, you can venture downstairs for ’80s ballads. At 3:30 a.m., this place is weird, sweaty and should probably come with a disclaimer (just like you).
It’s been a long night, but you can keep up. After this Duran Duran joint, we’re hitting another spot.
The Underground
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Address: 56 W. Illinois St.
Website: theundergroundchicago.com
Look, you need at least one late-night spot that’s nearly impossible for a group of 20-something males to get into without the promise of bottle service. Why? Because places that have barriers to entry and exaggerated lines are also places that draw an attractive crowd. Duh. Follow the trail of bachelorette party paraphernalia down Illinois St., project a sense of self-confidence and always be polite to the doormen.
Cheesie's Pub & Grub
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Address: 958 W. Belmont Ave.
Website: cheesieschicago.com
Well, all late nights lead to cheese, eventually.
There are certain things—like “dishwasher” and “orange juice”—that are names and, simultaneously, definitions. Similarly, Cheesie’s Pub & Grub is exactly what it sounds like: a quasi bar that specializes in grilled cheese, mac ‘n cheese, and cheese curds. After an evening of draft beer and dizzying, cringe-worthy attempts at the Nae Nae, The Mac (a grilled cheese sandwich made with Texas Toast and homemade mac ‘n cheese) is a fitting end to the evening.
