The Ultimate Guide to Having Fun in Chicago Without Any Booze

Still reeling from eggnog-induced holiday hangovers? You’re not alone. Following a season of merry excess, the new year brings new opportunities for a reset—and a more balanced approach to mulled wine, perhaps. Dry January or not, it’s an apt time of year to reassess one’s relationship with alcohol, whether that means cutting it out entirely, simply cutting back, or taking more of a Damp January approach.

Across the US, the non-alcoholic landscape has evolved substantially in recent years. Nowadays, non-alcoholic wines and beers are a booming business, major airlines are offering more booze-free alternatives, and the condescending term “mocktail” is a thing of the past, reserved for cloying Shirly Temples, while zero-proof cocktails have become as impressive and innovative as their boozy counterparts. They even come in canned form now.

All over the country, from Denver to Boston, sobriety isn’t just a buzz word or a fleeting flirt with Dry January, it’s a way of life—and an enriching, fulfilling one at that. Chicago is no exception. While much has been made of the city’s myriad craft breweries and award-winning cocktail bars, this is a world-class city with a proven penchant for hospitality, and truly something for everyone.

No matter how wet or dry your January may be, or where you land on the “new year, new me” mood board, there’s plenty to do, see, and drink in Chicago—without a drop of alcohol. In bars and beyond, from indoor pickle ball courts to outdoor slopes, there are endless entertainment options to be had beyond a boozy bar crawl. Here is the ultimate guide to having fun in Chicago while sober.

Non-alcoholic cocktails have come a long way from soda water and juice. Lately, bartenders and mixologists have been pouring as much diligent effort and thought into zero-proof cocktails as they do their alcoholic offerings, enabling customers to savor the same craft without the hangover—and often at a lower price point.

This means that some of Chicago’s most revered cocktail bars, like Billy Sunday and Kumiko, offer elaborate mixed drinks that are well-balanced, flavorful, and Insta-ready, without an ounce of alcohol. At the former, spirit-free options include the Lupine Lady, a floral tipple made with lavender- and thyme-infused verjus, mint and basil syrup, sparkling water, and black lime salt, and the Cassandra Onda, a garden-to-glass medley of Chinese rhubarb, sage, Chinotto, juniper, and cane sugar. Kumiko, meanwhile, is the “Japanese dining bar” known for Julia Momosé’s potable tasting flights. In addition to delicate martinis, daiquiris, and sakes, this includes artful spirit-free options like the Umeboshi Swizzle, a tart mix of shiso-pickled umé (Japanese plum blossom), brown rice vinegar, lemon, and Japanese seven spice, and the Time to Shine, a nourishing blend of Jasmine green tea, coriander, green cardamom, lemon, and sparkling grapefruit tonic.

Another Japanese hot spot emphasizing spirit-free cocktails is Miru, a newcomer in the St. Regis Chicago. Here, diners can sample N/A drinks that are just as pretty as the maki—like the Cranberry Mule with cranberry cordial, mint, and ginger beer, or the Shiso Fresh with matcha-shiso cordial, lime, and Lyre’s Clasico (a non-alcoholic sparkling wine). For more booze-free sparkle, Sushi-san sports an N.W.A. (Nothin’ With Alcohol) menu that features some of the most colorful beverages in town, like The Last Gift, a strawberry-adorned highball with cardamom, mint, and non-alcoholic Chardonnay vinegar. The Glitter Bomb, meanwhile, puts an N/A spin on a sake bomb, but instead of dropping a shot of sake into Japanese beer, it’s a shot of edible glitter-infused coconut water suspended over a mug of banana soda.

In Lincoln Park, fine dining stalwart Esmè offers one of the boldest non-alcoholic cocktail menus in town, available both a la carte or as pairings with tasting menus. Courtesy of bar lead Stevan Miller, who doesn’t drink outside of work, the singular selection employs entirely housemade syrups, shrubs, and juices for exciting originals like the Squash Sour with candied butternut squash, citrus, egg white, and N/A Seedlip Spice liquor. The Cherry Chile Jam is another stunner—a lustrous juxtaposition of sweet, savory and tart flavors, via Michigan cherries, ancho and guajillo chilies, Seedlip Grove, and hibiscus ice.

Heading north, stop off at Andersonville’s Nobody’s Darling, one of the city’s foremost queer bars, for spirit-free spritzes and CBD-infused bubbly, or head to Bokeh for sips and snacks in Albany Park. Home to some of the most stunning cocktails on the northwest side, customers have plenty of seasonal zero-proof options to mull over, like the Beet Connection with mango puree, beet juice, and lime, or the Velvet Turtle, a striking mix of orange juice, balsamic reduction, lemon, strawberry, egg white, and raspberry dust.

The spirit-free renaissance has not only rippled through cocktail bars and breweries, but it begets the rise of entirely alcohol-free bars and bottle shops. Like In Fine Spirits, a recent sober entry in West Town that’s as cool and hip as any of its boozy brethren. Here, the emphasis is on inclusivity, community, and connection—in ways that undo the stigma that you need to be buzzed to socialize. After running some successful sober pop-ups, Adriana Gaspar and Hector Diaz launched their own brick and mortar to provide a space for sober customers to mingle, and be able to enjoy craft drinks without the alcohol. Beer, wine, and spirits are all available for consumption on-site or in to-go bottles, as are spirit-free cocktails.

In Humboldt Park, Bendición Dry Bar is another booze-free option. More than a mere bar or bottle shop, though, this is another sanctuary where community is at its core—designed to offer safe social respite for everything from date nights and events to recovery meetings. The result is an eclectic, inviting space that’s both stocked with all manner of non-alcoholic spirits, wines, beers, bottled cocktails, and seltzers, but also fun events like sober book clubs, journaling classes, and acoustic music nights.

If there’s one alcohol-free beverage that sports a similar dexterity and creativity to cocktails, it’s tea. And in Chicago, there’s a lot of it. A newer option, Eli Tea Bar is a rainbow-clad tea shop and sober bar in Andersonville that offers more than 100 loose-leaf options, plus tea lattes, kombucha, and bubble tea. Doubling as a sober social hub, the shop hosts regular community events, like open mic nights, trivia, book clubs, and queer meet-ups. With an emphasis on Nepalese and Indian offerings, Chiya Chai—with locations in Logan Square and on the downtown Riverwalk—offers a wide world of chai, fruity lassis, and all manner of hot and iced teas. The chais, in particular, are the way to go, from traditional masala chai to more esoteric flavors like eucalyptus, ginger-fennel, and pink salt with almond butter.

Another chic option is Bar Pendry, where savory and sweet tea towers come filled with truffled egg tartlets, Koji beef carpaccio, and s’more macarons, along with teas from Rare Tea Cellar, like Wild Blueberry Noir and Autumn Harvest Cranberry Apple.

If you’re looking to really treat yourself, in a multi-sensory kinda way, spend some time at

Park Hyatt Chicago. It’s an idyllic way to while away an afternoon, by viewing the “Not Your Mother’s Dining Room” exhibit at NoMI Gallery, drinking a non-alcoholic cocktail at NoMI Garden overlooking Michigan Avenue, and enjoying a hydrafacial at the NoMI Spa.

Retail therapy counts as wellness, right? Right. Chicago is teeming with antiquated ephemera, found in mismatched shops all over town. Some of the best and brightest, rife with everything from second-hand threads to Narnia-level wardrobes, include Lost Girls Vintage, Knee Deep Vintage, Kokorokoko, and Ragstock’s multiple locations.

Nature, in all its healing serenity, isn’t as inaccessible in Chicago as you might think. In addition to a wide array of parks and green spaces, the always-soothing Morton Arboretum offers forest bathing—the practice of “bathing” your senses in the all-natural calm of the forest. Guided forest therapy walks are hosted by certified guides, who take guests to different areas of the arboretum and help them to fully immerse themselves in their quiet environment. It culminates with a ceremony that features tea made from plants foraged throughout the arboretum.

There’s no better way to melt your stresses away than with a soothing soak in a bath inspired by traditional Roman, Greek, and Ottoman wellness rituals. Aire Ancient Baths, housed within a restored factory in River West, offers a wealth of bathing options, from enormous pools to intimate tubs for couples, all within an ornate space lined with bricks and beams. Massages, steam rooms, and aromatherapy are also available. For the Valentine’s Day season, the baths are bedecked with berry-toned floral installations and offering special couple’s treatments, like the Ultimate Blossom Ritual with floral body masks on warm marble beds.

Pickle ball is all the rage these days, but you needn’t wait until sunnier spring days to partake in the (mostly) outdoor sport. In Algonquin, Pickle Haüs is a new state-of-the-art pickle ball venue and restaurant that boasts 41,000-sq.-ft. of entertainment, including 12 indoor courts, two golf simulators, and all-day menus that emphasize shareable snacks like hummus, pizza, pretzel bites, and meatballs.

The best kinds of sports are those that combine four different sports in one, like the one-of-a-kind spectacle that is WhirlyBall. Basically a mix of lacrosse, basketball, hockey, and bumper cars, it’s a fun team activity that involves players scooping up wiffle balls and hurling them into nets, all while dodging each others’ slow-moving vehicles on a court. The massive Bucktown facility also offers a bowling alley and laser tag, plus things like ping-pong, giant Jenga, and cornhole.

Mini golf is always a fun Americana activity, for couples and groups alike, but since Chicago winters are less kind to retro outdoor courses, like Bunny Hutch, it’s not typically a year-round endeavor. That’s where Big Mini Putt Club comes in, a new indoor mini golf concept with locations in Wicker Park and Lakeview. Each nine-hole course is quirky and fun, and full bars offer alcohol-free drinks like the Somewhere in the Sand with orange juice, grenadine, coconut, and pineapple juice

For some folks, bowling might be an opportunity to engage in a leisurely social sport while drinking beer (or, umm, White Russians), and while you can certainly do that at retro-chic Avondale Bowl (they even have a vegan frozen White Russian), the vintage-inspired business also offers an expansive selection of N/A drinks to match with your strike. This includes spirit-free Negronis, N/A beers, and CBD sodas.

At Shot of Art in West Town, attendees can roll up their sleeves and get a little more hands-on with their creations. The unique studio space invites participants to design their own paintings, using all manner of supplies and resources on-site. One example is the Shooting + Spinning class, wherein guests shoot paint-filled balloons with airsoft guns, and then use a wheel to spin their splattered paint into a one-of-a-kind canvas.

Across two acres of indoor greenhouse space and 10 acres of outdoor gardens, the Garfield Park Conservatory is among the most impressive and expansive of its kind. Its numerous soaring rooms are filled with flora from all over the world, from gnarly cacti and towering palm trees to fragrant ferns and lustrous flowers. In addition to simply exploring the grounds and soaking it all in, the conservatory hosts periodic events, from kids’ classes and cooking demos to live music nights.

If your preferred method of recreation entails probing your brain for some level of mystery or intrigue, then Chicago surely has the outlet for you. For something immersive and thematic, there’s a real-life game of ‘Clue’ that you can play downtown, while The Chicago Murder Mystery Tour is equal parts historical walking tour, outdoor escape room, and murder mystery party. While navigating Chicago landmarks, the tour explores the city’s notorious criminal past while simultaneously implementing a murder mystery game where attendees become detectives and suspects.

It’s a different kind of mystery at the Chicago Magic Lounge, a speakeasy-style parlor in Andersonville, where the whodunnit is less about murder and more about sleight of hand trickery. The adults-only space, comprised of a cabaret theater, performance bar, and stage, is as fun and funny as it is mind-blowing. There’s also a full menu of food and drinks, including some spirit-free elixirs, like the Hocus Pocus with passion fruit cordial, non-alcoholic bitters, and soda water.

In River North, The Escape Game is really the gold standard for escape rooms in Chicago. Always a prime idea for a night out with friends, sober or otherwise, each game entails sleuthing your way through multiple elaborate rooms, with intricate themes like Prison Break, The Heist, Gold Rush, and Mission: Mars. Each one can have up to eight guests, and the difficulty ranges from challenging to downright impossible (but don’t worry, clues are always available if you need any).

Sometimes, the simplest pastime can be the best. Like something as pure as a stroll by the lake or a ride on an urban trail. Fortunately, Chicago is teeming with all of it, from the 18.5-mile Lakefront Path trail that runs north and south of downtown, and The 606, an elevated rail line-turned-trail that stretches nearly three miles from Bucktown to Humboldt Park, offering plenty of landscaped turf for walking, biking, rollerblading, and jogging. Parks and nature reserves, like LaBagh Woods and the North Park Village Nature Center, provide plenty of solace and DIY forest bathing, while places like Northerly Island in the South Loop, or the Japanese Garden in Hyde Park, are ripe for their own outdoor zen.

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