Best Happy Hours in Chicago (2026)
The Chicago happy hours worth planning around: $1 oysters, half-price bars, $8 cocktails and deals that double as dinner.
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These are the Chicago happy hours worth planning a weeknight around: $1 oysters downtown, half-price bars in Logan Square and Avondale, $8 cocktails at a serious cocktail bar, and a handful of deals good enough to replace dinner.
There are 38 spots here, from River North and the West Loop to Andersonville, Pilsen and Hyde Park, each with the days, hours and prices it posts. Deals were checked in October 2026. Prices move, so if one deal is the whole reason you're going, give the menu a quick look first.
Where to Start: Quick Picks
| If you want | Start here | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The best all-around deal | Mother's Ruin | $7 cocktails and $5 sliders, 4–7pm every day of the year |
| Half off everything | Remedy | Every drink half price, Mon–Fri 4–7pm |
| A real cocktail bar | Scofflaw | $8 happy hour cocktails, with a weekend window too |
| Cheap oysters | Venteux | $1 East Coast oysters, Mon–Fri 4–6pm |
| Cheap food to share | Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! | $1.50 pintxos and $3–5 tapas, daily 4–6pm |
| A burger deal | Summer House Santa Monica | $5 wagyu cheeseburger at the bar, Mon–Fri 3–6pm |
| Steak for less | Hawksmoor | Dry-aged steak and fries for $25, daily 4–6pm |
| A Monday plan | Bar Parisette | All night Monday: $9 martinis, $2 oysters, $15 burger and frites |
| A weekend afternoon | Uvae | $2 oysters and $5 cava, Sat–Sun 3–6:30pm |
| The latest window | R.J. Grunts | $5 cocktails, beer and wine, Thu–Sat 8–10pm |
| The earliest start | Joe's Seafood | Half-price oysters from 2pm on weekdays |
| The South Side | Virtue | $10 cocktails and Southern plates at the bar, Tue–Fri |
Happy Hours in Logan Square, Bucktown and Wicker Park
The northwest side does happy hour the way most people want it: long windows, real discounts and nothing to plan around. Remedy and Central Park Bar take half off, Mother's Ruin runs every single day, and Scofflaw is the cocktail bar that still does a weekend deal. The Clipper starts at 6, so it works when you can't get out of work early.
Mother's Ruin
2943 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60618, USA
Daily 4–7pm, every day of the year: $7 classics like a Bee's Knees, daiquiri and espresso martini, plus $5 spicy chicken or falafel sliders. Order at the bar; no table service or reservations.
Remedy
1910 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
Mon–Fri 4–7pm, every drink on the menu is half price. About as simple as a happy hour gets, and it runs late enough to make after work.
Central Park Bar
2924 N Central Park Ave, Chicago, IL 60618, USA
Mon–Fri 4–7pm, half-price drinks (shots and beer-and-shot combos excluded), with a big backyard patio for the warmer months.
Scofflaw
3201 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
Mon–Thu 5–7pm and Fri–Sun 3–5pm, happy hour cocktails are $8. One of the few serious cocktail bars with a weekend happy hour.
Daisies
2375 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
Tue–Sat 3–5pm aperitivo hour: $7 cocktails like the house spritz and Logan Sour, $5 spirit-free drinks, $5 gnocco fritto and $7 onion dip.
Bar Parisette
2829 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
All night Monday, plus Tue–Sat 5–6:30pm: $9 martinis, $8 house wine, $2 East Coast oysters and a $15 burger with frites. The patio counts too.
Bungalow by Middle Brow
2840 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
Wed–Fri 4–6pm and Sat–Sun 3–4pm, with discounted pizzas, house beers and wine at Middle Brow's Logan Square brewery.
Chef’s Special Cocktail Bar
2165 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, USA
Daily 5–6pm: cheap drafts, discounted cocktails and a Hamm's, shot and egg roll combo. It's only an hour, so show up on time.
Queen Mary
2125 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622, USA
Raw bar happy hour Sun 3–7pm and Mon 5–7pm, year-round: $10 classic martinis and discounted oysters. No reservations, and the oysters can sell out.
The California Clipper
1002 N California Ave, Chicago, IL 60622, USA
Tue–Sun 6–8pm, later than most: $8 margaritas, martinis and wine, $5 Chicago Handshakes and $3 PBR in a 1937 tavern.
Happy Hours in Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is where happy hour turns into dinner without much effort. Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Summer House are two of the best food deals in the city, Blue Sushi runs all day Sunday, and R.J. Grunts has the latest window on this list.
Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!
2024 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
Daily 4–6pm in the bar area: $1.50 pintxos, $3–5 tapas, $6 sangria and $23 pitchers. First come, first served.
Summer House Santa Monica
1954 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
Martini Hour, Mon–Fri 3–6pm at the bar: $10 martinis, $5 wine, $4 beer and a $5 wagyu cheeseburger ($12 with a draft and a brownie).
Blue Sushi Sake Grill
2351 N Lincoln Ave Ste A1-120, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
Mon–Sat from open to 6:30pm and all day Sunday: $7.50 rolls, $7 house wine and an $8.25 margarita, with plenty of vegan rolls.
R.J. Grunts
2056 N Lincoln Park W, Chicago, IL 60614, USA
Thu–Sat 8–10pm, the latest happy hour on this list: $5 classic cocktails, draft beer and wine (bottles and cans excluded).
Happy Hours in Lakeview, Lincoln Square and Andersonville
Farther north, the deals get quieter and cheaper. Uvae is the standout for weekend oysters and cava, The Getaway takes half off in Lincoln Square, and Fireside's $3 pints are about as cheap as it gets.
Figo Wine Bar
3207 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL 60657, USA
Tue–Thu 5–6pm and Fri 4–5pm, at the bar only: $9 select wines, $10 cocktails and plates, and a $25 pick-six charcuterie board.
The Getaway
4530 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625, USA
Half-price happy hour Mon–Thu 4–6pm and Fri 3–6pm. The easy after-work pick in Lincoln Square.
Uvae Kitchen and Wine Bar
5553 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640, USA
Tue–Fri 5–6:30pm and Sat–Sun 3–6:30pm: $2 oysters, $2 shrimp and $5 cava (limit four). One of the best weekend happy hours in the city.
Fireside Restaurant & Lounge
5739 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60660, USA
Mon–Fri 4–6pm, holidays excluded: $3 Miller Lite pints and $7 house wine, sangria and well drinks.
Happy Hours in River North, the Gold Coast and the Loop
Downtown has the most options and the widest range of prices. Oysters are the theme: $1 at Venteux, $1.50 at Prime & Provisions, about $2 at Shaw's and half price at Hugo's and Joe's. For dinner, Hawksmoor's $25 steak and fries is hard to beat, and Sifr and Sunda are the picks for food that isn't a burger.
SIFR
660 N Orleans St, Chicago, IL 60654, USA
Mon–Fri 5–6pm at the bar: $8 cocktails, $5 beer, $10 wine and $6 hummus, falafel and manoushe. Half-off bottles on Mondays.
Shaw's Crab House
21 E Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Mon–Fri 3–5pm in the Oyster Bar only: oysters at $12 a half dozen, $5 Guinness, $10 martinis and spritzes, and a $15 lobster roll trio.
Gilt Bar
230 W Kinzie St, Chicago, IL 60654, USA
Daily until 5pm: $7 teeny martinis and highballs, $8 old fashioneds, $6 wine and draft beer, $6.99 sliders and $11.99 mussels.
Hawksmoor Chicago
500 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654, USA
Every day 4–6pm: dry-aged steak and beef-fat fries for $25, a $21 burger and cocktails $13 or less.
Beatrix
519 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654, USA
Mon–Fri 3–6pm: $8 cocktails, $7 wine, $6 beer, $9 snacks and a $12 burger.
Venteux Brasserie, Cafe & Oyster Bar
224 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60601, USA
Mon–Fri 4–6pm in the dining room or lounge: $1 East Coast oysters, with a half-dozen minimum.
Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House
1024 N Rush St, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Sun–Thu 3–6pm in the bar: half-price oysters and half-price bottles of wine.
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
60 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Mon–Fri 2–5pm, dine-in: half-price oysters, discounted wine and classic cocktails, and $10 bites. The earliest start on the list.
Prime & Provisions Steakhouse
222 N LaSalle St, Chicago, IL 60601, USA
Mon–Fri 4–6pm and Sunday from 4pm: $1.50 oysters and half off all bar selections.
Sunda New Asian - River North
110 W Illinois St, Chicago, IL 60654, USA
Mon–Fri 4–6pm: $6 bar bites and hand rolls, $8 wine, beer and sake, and cocktails from $10.
Tallboy Taco
676 N St Clair St, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Daily 3–5pm: $5 margaritas and $5 nachitos, a block off the Mag Mile.
Happy Hours in the West Loop and Fulton Market
Most West Loop happy hours are short windows at restaurants that cost a lot more at dinner, so they're the cheap way in. The Publican's $2 oysters and $6 snacks are the headliner; Trivoli runs just an hour, so get there by 4.
The Publican
837 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Mon–Fri 4–6pm: $2 oysters, $6 snacks (or all five for $25), a $12 burger, $10 wine and $12 martinis.
The Press Room
1134 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Tue–Thu 4–6pm in a basement wine bar, with discounted wine, cocktails and oysters.
Trivoli Tavern
114 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Mon–Fri 4–5pm: $7 highballs, $8 teeny martinis, $9 old fashioneds, $6 wine and draft, $6.99 sliders and two oysters for $7.99.
Estereo FM
1001 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Mon–Fri 3–6pm: $10 palomas, frozens and Breezys, and a $10 Medalla with a mezcal or tequila shot.
Happy Hours on the South Side
South of the Loop, the picks lean toward food: Nine Bar's Fortune Hour in Chinatown, HaiSous's $10 plates in Pilsen, $5 bites at the Chicago Firehouse's Bar104 and Virtue's Southern plates in Hyde Park. Bronzeville Winery is the wine pick.
Nine Bar
216 W Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60616, USA
Fortune Hour, Sun–Thu 5–6pm: $9 classic cocktails, $5 sake bombs and Tsingtao, $5 crab rangoon and $7 mapo hot fries.
HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen
1800 S Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60608, USA
Wed–Sun 4–5:30pm in the bar or dining room: $10 cocktails, $10 plates like wings and papaya salad, and $5 beer.
The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
1401 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
Mon–Thu 4–5pm and Fri 3–5pm at Bar104, bar only: $5 wine and beer, half-off cocktails and spirits, and $5 bites including two oysters.
Bronzeville Winery
4420 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60653, USA
Wed–Thu 4–6pm, with a rotating happy hour menu of wine, cocktails and small plates. A DJ starts at 4 on Thursdays.
Virtue Restaurant
1462 E 53rd St, Chicago, IL 60615, USA
Tue–Fri 4–5:30pm at the bar only: $10 cocktails and wine, $8 gumbo, $10 catfish sliders and $13 wings with a biscuit.
Happy Hours That Double as Dinner
If you want happy hour to be dinner, start with Summer House (a $5 wagyu cheeseburger, or $12 with a draft and a brownie), Bar Parisette (a $15 burger with frites), Hawksmoor (dry-aged steak and fries for $25) and The Publican ($2 oysters, a $12 burger and five snacks for $25). For something other than a burger, HaiSous has $10 Vietnamese plates, Virtue has gumbo and catfish sliders, and Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! lets you build a meal out of $1.50 pintxos and $3–5 tapas.
Weekend and Later Happy Hours
Every day: Mother's Ruin, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba!, Gilt Bar, Hawksmoor, Chef's Special and Tallboy Taco. Weekends: Uvae (Sat–Sun 3–6:30pm), Scofflaw (Fri–Sun 3–5pm), Queen Mary (Sunday 3–7pm), Blue Sushi (all day Sunday), Middle Brow (Sat–Sun 3–4pm), Daisies (Saturday) and HaiSous (through Sunday).
After 6pm: Mother's Ruin, Remedy and Central Park Bar run to 7, The California Clipper runs 6–8pm Tuesday to Sunday, R.J. Grunts goes 8–10pm Thursday to Saturday, and Bar Parisette's deal lasts all night on Mondays.
Chicago Happy Hour Tips
Sit at the bar. A lot of these deals only apply in the bar area, including Sifr, Shaw's Oyster Bar, Summer House, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba!, Figo, Virtue and Bar104. A dinner reservation doesn't get you the happy hour menu.
Watch the clock. Several of the best windows are an hour or less: Gilt Bar, Trivoli, Sifr, Nine Bar and Chef's Special. Arrive at the start, not at 5:45.
Check the bill. A few restaurants add a 3.5% surcharge, which Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Summer House say you can ask to remove.
Prices move. We checked every deal in October 2026, but happy hour menus change. If a specific price is the reason you're going, check the menu that day.
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