Well, it’s officially here - that time of year when we need to worry about how many layers we should put on before heading outside. And after spending the past months focusing on reopening for outdoor (and indoor) dining, Chicago restaurants are preparing their patios for cold weather.
This means finding ways to keep you warm, while still following Chicago’s guidelines for outdoor winter dining. Luckily, they’ve been making adjustments with things like tents, domes, and those greenhouse things so you can still eat outside. And we’re keeping track of them all, separated by neighborhood, in this guide.
Editor’s Note: As of 1/23 Chicago reopened indoor dining. Double-check before making a reservation at one of these spots
Jump to
- Avalon Park
- Andersonville
- Bridgeport
- Edgewater/Uptown
- Chinatown
- Fulton Market
- Gold Coast
- Grand Boulevard
- Greektown
- Hyde Park
- Lakeview/Roscoe Village
- Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Square/Ravenswood/Irving Park
- Little Village
- Logan Square
- Loop
- Old Town
- Pilsen
- River North
- River West/West Town
- West Loop
- Wicker Park/Bucktown
Avalon Park
The Woodlawn
The Woodlawn has heated domes so you can dine outside on their rooftop.
Andersonville
Fiya has domes on their back patio available for outdoor dining.
The all-day brunch spot has a heated back patio available for outdoor dining.
Bridgeport
The Duck Inn has a secluded back patio with a large, heated tent that’s partially enclosed.
Edgewater/Uptown
Fiesta Mexicana
This Mexican restaurant has heated tents out on their sidewalk patio.
Chinatown
Minghin’s Chinatown location now has a covered patio with multiple heaters.
Hing Kee in Chinatown Square has both heaters and those little outdoor houses.
BBQ King House has heaters and houses for outdoor dining.
The outdoor space at Joy Yee in Chinatown Square has heaters and houses.
Fulton Market
The twinkly-lit back patio at this Italian restaurant has a tent, and there’s a heater next to every table.
The Publican is part of Fulton Market’s “Dining Together, Apart” program, and you can reserve one of the domes for outdoor dining.
This Chinese restaurant has a combination of domes and greenhouses for people to reserve. It’s also part of the “Dining Together, Apart” program on Fulton Market.
Kuma's Corner
Kuma’s Corner is participating in the “Dining Together, Apart” Program, so groups of two to six people can reserve one of the domes to eat their burgers outside.
Beatrix
Beatrix has a combination of domes and little greenhouses, which will be available through Fulton Market’s “Dining Together, Apart” program from now through the end of November.
This steakhouse has multiple tents lined up on their sidewalk patio, which they also share with Cold Storage.
This wine bar has an enclosed tent on their sidewalk patio.
Marvin's Food & Fuel
This new American restaurant has a semi-permanent enclosed structure for outdoor dining.
Boqueria
This tapas spot has a heated and covered sidewalk patio.
Gold Coast
This upscale steakhouse has a large tent on its patio, complete with heaters and a chandelier.
Somerset has greenhouses available for outdoor dining, and lots of heaters on their patio.
This steakhouse has a new heated enclosed structure available for outdoor dining.
Hugo’s is right next door to Gibsons, and also has new enclosed structures for outdoor dining.
Luxbar has an enclosed patio that’s heated and available for outdoor dining.
Blue Door now has a heated tent covering its huge back patio.
This French restaurant has a heated and covered patio available for outdoor dining.
Tavern on Rush has several heated domes you can reserve for outdoor dining.
Grand Boulevard
Truth Italian Restaurant
The large, secluded patio of this Italian restaurant (which also serves brunch every day) is completely tented and partially enclosed.
Greektown
Athena Greek Restaurant
The enclosed, heated back patio at this Greek restaurant will help protect you from the cold.
Hyde Park
Ascione Bistro
This Italian restaurant has two heated and covered patio spaces.
Mesler Kitchen
This bar and restaurant has a heated patio and an igloo.
Lakeview/Roscoe Village
Le Sud
This Mediterranean spot has five partially-enclosed domes on their side patio. Each can sit up to six people.
Tuco & Blondie
Tuco & Blondie is a Tex-Mex restaurant, and right now they have a tent on their back patio.
Figo Wine Bar has several enclosed tents that are basically private “outside dining rooms” out on their sidewalk patio.
Volo Wine Bar
Volo has a heated outdoor patio with a retractable awning.
This Italian restaurant has an enclosed and covered patio.
El Mariachi has a tented back patio with space heaters.
This steakhouse has partially enclosed and heated outdoor dining. Bonus, it’s BYOB.
This weekday brunch spot has a covered sidewalk patio with multiple heaters.
This weekday brunch spot has a covered sidewalk patio with multiple heaters.
hutch
Hutch has heated and covered outdoor dining. As a bonus, they’re open for brunch all week long.
Lincoln Park
This French restaurant has a covered outdoor patio with a nice view of the park.
Summer House’s front patio is now completely tented. Also worth noting is that Stella Barra (the attached pizza restaurant next door) has an all-season back patio.
Tarantino's
This Italian restaurant has a small, partially enclosed tent on it’s outdoor patio.
This Italian restaurant has a tent on its patio.
Homeslice has a tented all-season patio to keep you warm and dry despite the weather.
Barcocina
This Mexican spot recently added clear domes to their outdoor dining setup.
Trattoria Gianni
Trattoria Gianni has two tents on their large patio and several heaters to keep everyone warm.
RJ Grunts now has private greenhouses available for outdoor dining.
Willow Room
Willow Room has little private greenhouses for outdoor dining.
Lincoln Square/Ravenswood/Irving Park
The Warbler has a covered patio with lots of heaters.
This Filipino and Cuban restaurant has partially-enclosed tents with heaters on its outdoor patio.
The Piggery
The Piggery has a covered rooftop with heaters, tents, and TV’s.
Little Village
Osito’s Tap
This bar has enclosed, cube-shaped pods for outdoor dining.
Logan Square
This brewery incubator has large, heated outdoor cabanas.
Pizza Lobo
Pizza Lobo has a heated and covered patio, along with a firepit.
The Moonlighter has tents and heaters so you can dine outside on their large patio.
Outside Voices
This bar has tents and heaters available for outdoor dining.
This Cuban restaurant has a heated all-season patio that’s heated and available for dine-in service.
Chef’s Special has heated and covered outdoor dining out on their sidewalk patio.
Park and Field has heated tents and multiple fire pits out on their large patio.
Loop
This steakhouse has heated tents available for outdoor dining.
The Gage has heated and covered outdoor dining.
This location of Beatnik’s outdoor dining space overlooks the Chicago River, and is heated and covered.
Old Town
Gallucci
This Neapolitan pizza spot has a large tent (it even has little plastic windows) for covered outdoor dining.
Happy Camper has covered, partially enclosed tents on their sidewalk patio.
Pilsen
Azul 18
Azul has an enclosed sidewalk patio.
Pilsen Yards
This restaurant has a very large, covered back patio with heated floors and space heaters.
River North
Osteria Via Stato
This Italian restaurant has a large tent (with plastic windows) covering its front patio.
This Italian restaurant now has a fully tented side patio, with plenty of heaters.
RPM Seafood
This seafood-focused restaurant is right by the river, and the patio overlooking the patio has both tents and heaters.
This Mexican restaurant has an all-season patio with heaters and a ventilated ceiling for air circulation.
Avli River North
This Greek restaurant has a completely enclosed patio with heated floors, and a large and enclosed heated tent out on the street.
Nonnina
Nonnina has a covered and tented outdoor space with heaters.
This steakhouse has multiple tents with heaters available for outdoor dining.
Etta - River North
This location of Etta has an enclosed patio with heaters available for outdoor dining.
Siena Tavern has a covered, partially enclosed outdoor dining with plenty of heaters.
This sushi restaurant has an enclosed, heated tent for outdoor dining.
The Smith has a heated, tented patio. They also have Happy Hour.
This Italian restaurant has a new enclosed and heated patio available for outdoor dining.
Club Lago
This Italian restaurant has six enclosed houses out on their sidewalk patio.
The Kerryman
This Irish pub has heated tents available for outdoor dining. Bonus: they also have TVs for watching sports.
RPM Steak now has heated outdoor seating as well as greenhouses that can seat up to four people.
This tiki bar has covered and heated outdoor dining.
River West/West Town
The fenced-in back patio of this Italian restaurant is now covered by a tent.
This Filipino spot has a large tent covering its cute outdoor patio.
Gibson’s Italia has new heated tents available for outdoor dining.
The Dawson has heated and covered outdoor dining.
The Dandy Crown
On Fridays and Saturdays, this bar has an outdoor space that’s covered and heated.
West Loop
The outdoor patio at this Indian restaurant is now covered by a large tent. It’s decorated with plants, which helps make it easier to forget how cold it is outside.
The Darling has 14 greenhouses on their patio that can sit up to four people each. They call it the “Rose Garden” and you can reserve one for drinks or light bites.
This Mexican spot has tents covering the tables out on their patio, and the sides are adjustable based on which way the wind is blowing.
Bar Siena has tents with both heaters and TVs outside.
Like Cruz Blanca, its sister restaurant next door, this Mexican spot also has adjustable tents covering the tables out on their patio.
Parlor is a popular pizza spot known for its giant patio, and this year it’s covered by a tent filled with heaters.
This fantastic Italian restaurant has a partially-enclosed tent filled with plenty of heaters.
This all-day cafe has partially-enclosed tents with heaters available for outdoor dining.
Aba now has domes on their rooftop that you can reserve for rooftop dining.
Bandit has partially enclosed tents with plenty of heaters.
This wine bar has a heated tent on its rooftop.
This Italian restaurant has heated tents and snow globes available for outdoor dining.
Perilla has a heated and tented back patio that’s open for outdoor dining.
Ramen-san
Ramen-san has private greenhouses you can rent for outdoor dining.
PB & J
PB & J has an enclosed patio and is available for outdoor dining.
Wicker Park/Bucktown
Smoke Daddy
The Wicker Park location of this BBQ spot has a covered outdoor patio.
Parlor Pizza Bar
This location of Parlor has a tented patio similar to the one in the West Loop.
The Perch
This brewpub has a tent and greenhouse set up for outdoor dining.
Frontier has a heated all-season patio.
Lottie's Pub
This bar has heated, private camping-themed tents available for outdoor dining complete with little TVs.
The Bristol has both a heated tent and private snow globes available for outdoor dining.
Kennedy Rooftop
The Kennedy has heated domes available for outdoor drinking and snacking. They also have winter activities like curling - reservations required.