***Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, visiting any of the following places may be limited. Please click the names to visit the links to their websites that I've provided to see more info if they're open or not.***
Here's a list of some of my favorite places here in Chicagoland. If you're looking for generic tourist trap places, look elsewhere, these are the real deal hidden gems in the city & suburbs! Some categories only have a few listings, because these are the best of the best Chicagoland has to offer. List is always being updated so bookmark this page to get more wonderful places to visit.
Classic Chicagoland neighborhood sports bar. Great place to watch a game. Pizza & nachos grande are excellent. Tends to get loud so don't expect to have quality conversations.
Very spacious bar with an excellent rooftop. Great place to get your night started. In Edison Park, which is statistically safest neighborhood in Chicago.
My most favorite bar in the city. They have an entire wall of board games you can play for the price of $FREE.99, haha. Great date place or to hang out with friends/family. Fun Fact: 5th most haunted establishment in Chicago.
Classic Chicago Irish bar with an extensive spirits list. The live music featuring local musicians is always fantastic. Only negative is that the staff is usually rude.
Great place to grab a drink & play the fun Italian game bocce. The Chicago location has an incredible outdoor patio with a great view of the Chicago River; and during the Fall/Winter they have a quaint bonfire.
Fun adult arcade where majority of the games are pinball. They also have a creepy emo goth version of the Chuck E Cheese Band in the front which is hilarious.
Fun adult arcade where 90%+ of the games are FREE to play! Every month they also decorate the bar in different themes (Ex: The Office, Friends, Shrek, Game of Thrones, etc).
So much Chicago history in this establishment with 98 years in business as a speak easy during Prohibition before being converted into it's current tavern incarnation with bowling, billiards, and darts. Great place to unwind with friends or for a relaxed first date.
Excellent place for a date or to hangout/watch a game. You can play bags/cornhole on the outdoor patio, or chess & giant size Jenga inside, all for free. They also have billiards & darts inside, but for those are a charge.
One of the best hidden gem rooftops in the city. They have quite a bit of plants on the rooftop; so it feels like you're having a drink in a pretty garden.
Legendary Sunday night poetry slam. One of Al Capone's old hangouts. The booth where he used to sit & watch shows has been preserved, and you can still sit in it. Fun Fact: There's still a trap door by the bar that leads to tunnels where Capone would escape police.
With how cold Chicagoland can get for nine months out of the year, this tiki bar near O'Hare airport is the premiere tropical escape. Tacky decor but the drinks are STRONG & plentiful.
One of the best patios in the burbs. Great drinks, great food, great ambiance for date night, hanging out with friends/family, watching the game, etc. Located just down the road from the largest mall in Illinois, Woodfield Mall.
A multi floor complex. First floor has a concert venue, indoor soccer field, a breakfast & lunch cafe, and a sports bar. Second floor has an upscale whiskey lounge. Third floor has a nightclub. Sports bar & whiskey lounge close relatively early, even on weekends; so it's more of where you start your night venue instead of where you end it.
Arguably best brunch place in the city. Service, decor (they feature the artwork of local artists), and deliciousness of food (not to mention health: most options, if not all, are organic), are second to none.
The most authentic pizza Italiana you'll get in Chicago. The owner spent 13yrs working in pizzerie in Napoli, then came to Chicago to open Spacca Napoli. Don't forget your free cannoli on the way out.
Two sisters from Basilicata, Italia, who opened their establishment in 1989. Authentic Italian cooking that'll make you feel like you're in "Mamma's"/"Nonna's" kitchen even if you didn't grow up in an Italian household.
Arguably best sub sandwich place in Chicagoland. My favorite order: imported prosciutto, imported salami, provolone, ricotta, tomato, EVOO. They tend to have long lines, so you may want to order ahead.
EVERYONE needs to experience Wieners Circle at least once in their life. If you're going to go late night be forewarned that it gets ROWDY. To get a sneak peek of what you're in store for, click the link & watch the clip of when the Conan O'Brien Show visited.
Only recommend Andersonville location. Sit at the bar so you can be served by Sushi Chef Mike, BUT be forewarned, if he serves you complimentary rolls, you must eat them immediately! Also, do NOT use any sauces in his presence! You've been warned! Haha
Almost 50yrs in business. They're so old school they don't have a website or social media; so check out the WGN Chicago's Best review done on them by clicking the link. The buttercream coconut is my favorite.
The scene is so serene & peaceful, and it feels like you're no where near the third largest city in the country. They have kayaks, sail boats, paddle boards, etc for rent.
125 limestone staircase (that will kick your butt even just walking them because the staircase is nearly vertical) that leads to several trails. Such a peaceful area that's just outside the city.
The Chicago Public Library offers aprogram where if you have a Chicago Public Library card you can check out passes to19 museums in Chicagoland. FYI, just like popular books, these passes get checked out quickly, so call ahead to the library location you plan on visiting to see which passes that library branch has available.
Public Art:
Chicago is home to some of the most creative & innovative artists that have created incredibly beautiful murals. For lists of where to see their public works of art click here& here.
***From Summer 2020 to Fall 2025 over 1,000 Chicago Uber & Lyft drivers have been carjacked & 12 have been murdered (12th was murdered 7/31/25). Countless other drivers have been: beaten, shot (several were shot intentionally in the spine to paralyze them), stabbed, robbed, female drivers have been raped, etc.***
Uber & Lyft drivers in Chicago are being targeted more than ever by criminals. They are either committing the crimes by luring drivers into the trap through the app by requesting rides & pretending to be passengers or by surprise attacking drivers while they wait for their passengers. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE READY FOR YOUR TRIP BEFORE REQUESTING A RIDE & BE OUTSIDE WHEN YOUR DRIVER ARRIVES!Making your driver wait is now putting their life in jeopardy in this city; because they are sitting ducks.
I, myself, have had ELEVEN carjacking attempts made against me from July 2020 to December 2023 while doing Uber. The first one on July 6th 2020, was committed by a female passenger I picked up in Lincoln Park & two males once we arrived near her destination Halsted & Marquette Rd. The second one on July 13th 2020, 10-12 people tried swarming the car after dropping off a passenger at Kedzie & Division. The third one on September 22nd 2020, a car tried to pin my car to the curb on the SW corner of Paulina & Superior, and two assailants started pulling at both driver side doors. The fourth one on March 13th 2021, on the NW corner of Randolph & Peoria in front of NOBU hotel an assailant from the SE corner ran at me in my parked car while aiming a gun at me with his right arm extended. The other seven attempt locations: Ogden & Hubbard, Carpenter between Randolph & Lake, Randolph & Peoria, Randolph & Peoria, Randolph between Carpenter & Aberdeen (the last three were all in August 2021), Randolph & Peoria, Monroe & Clinton.
Here's the video of my third attempt on September 22, 2020 so you can see how fast these violent criminals will try to ambush you if you're not being aware of who & what is around you:
Watch these news clips & read the CWB Chicago articles for just some of the instances that have occurred from Summer 2020 to present day (I update this post often so the top links are the more recent incidents). Follow Spot News or Chicago Scanner on Twitter for daily minute by minute updates on the escalating violence & crime in our city, so you can keep yourself & others safe.
