All 15 on the map
Every rooftop in The 15 best rooftop bars in Chicago, pinned where it actually is. Tap a marker to see which one it is.
Rooftops open in winter
Heated, glassed in or with fires going, so the view stays open all year.
Cindy's
The glass-topped rooftop of the Chicago Athletic Association hotel, looking over Millennium Park to the lake; in winter the terrace keeps fires going.
VU Rooftop Bar
Twenty-two floors above Cermak near McCormick Place, a big all-season rooftop with firepits, retractable windows and jazz bands late in the week. There's a dress code.
Sifr
Indienne's Sujan Sarkar and Sahil Sethi cook Middle Eastern dishes over a wood-fired hearth in River North, a Michelin Bib Gourmand with an all-season heated rooftop.
Cabra
Stephanie Izard's Peruvian cevicheria on the Hoxton's rooftop, 12 floors up, with a heated terrace and skyline views; order a few ceviches and her goat empanadas. Happy hour runs Monday to Wednesday 4 to 6, Thursday and Friday 3 to 6.
Midwest Coast Brewing
A West Coast-leaning brewery in the Chicago Brewing District with an all-season rooftop upstairs, rare among city taprooms. Dogs and kids welcome; closed Monday. Bring your own food; local spots pop up on weekends.
Rooftop cocktail bars with a view
Hotel rooftops for a drink over the skyline, the lake or Wicker Park.
Z Bar at The Peninsula
The Peninsula's rooftop lounge in Streeterville: skyline views, globally inspired small plates and live music many nights.
The J. Parker
The glass-walled rooftop on the 13th floor of Hotel Lincoln, with 360-degree views over the park and lake and DJs on weekends. Brunch is bottomless.
The Up Room at The Robey
The top-floor bar at The Robey, above Wicker Park's six-corner intersection, with seats inside and out and the widest skyline view on the Northwest Side.
Rooftop restaurants
Dinner up top: a tower-top dining room, a Mediterranean rooftop, a rooftop agave bar and a Greek roof garden.
Arla
The Adalina team's restaurant perched atop a Gold Coast luxury tower, mixing Mediterranean and Japanese flavors (white miso hummus, miso cod), with outdoor terraces facing the skyline.
Aba
CJ Jacobson's Fulton Market restaurant for Lettuce Entertain You: Mediterranean plates with a California accent (hummus, kebabs, seafood) under a canopy of plants, and a sprawling rooftop that fills up after work.
La Josie
A family-owned Mexican restaurant on Randolph's Restaurant Row with three agave bars, one on the rooftop, and mezcal from eight states.
Taxim
Regional Greek cooking in a Byzantine-style Wicker Park room: small plates to share, a gyro made with duck and rolled in Pontian bread, and a rooftop garden in warm months. Dinner from 5.
Beer and live music on the roof
A brewery's rooftop and two music venues with decks upstairs.
Guinness Open Gate Brewery
Guinness's second U.S. brewery, filling a huge former rail depot in the West Loop: small-batch experiments that only pour here, a restaurant and a rooftop. Weekend brunch runs 9 to 2.
Bottom Lounge
A 700-capacity venue under the Green Line on Lake Street from the Delilah's crew, with a bar and kitchen up front, pinball, and a rooftop deck facing the skyline.
Reggies
A former auto-bumper shop in the South Loop, open since 2007 as a rock club, a smaller stage, a record store and a rooftop deck, plus open-mic comedy and karaoke nights. Its own bus runs fans to games and concerts.
The best rooftop bars by neighborhood
Downtown: VU Rooftop Bar and Reggies in the South Loop; Z Bar at The Peninsula and Arla in the Gold Coast; Cindy's in the Loop; Sifr in River North.
West Loop and Fulton Market: Cabra, La Josie and Bottom Lounge in the West Loop; Aba and Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Fulton Market.
Wicker Park, West Town and nearby: The Up Room at The Robey and Taxim in Wicker Park.
Elsewhere in the city: Midwest Coast Brewing in the Near West Side; The J. Parker in Lincoln Park.
Want more?
For a drink below street level instead, see the 20 best speakeasies in Chicago, or the 25 best cocktail bars.
Common questions
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