No matter what milestone you’re celebrating, there’s always a reason to clink glasses at becoming another year older. Whether you’re a homebody who enjoys a tranquil evening sipping effervescent champagnes or someone who revels in twirling to the tunes of blues music until sunrise, there are gobs of activities to choose from. This day of the year is designed to revolve around you, so Capricorns, make your day one to remember with this guide to fabulous birthday ideas in Chicago.
1. Relax with a spa day
If dancing all night and downing drinks doesn’t seem amusing because you’re left lying limp on the couch with a 48-hour raging headache, then take an alternative birthday route. Unwind at one of Chicago’s best soothing spas and let your muscles relax as you sequester and drift away with ease.
2. Tour Chicago’s food scene with your friends
First on our list is a Chicago delicacy. Deciding what restaurant you want to make a reservation at can take time and effort—and who wants that on a birthday? One way to appease everyone is to give them a little of everything on the Chicago Loop Secret Food Tour.
Listen to a local tour guide share hidden gems around the city and celebrate by galavanting around Chicago’s streets as you devour delicious Chicago food staples from a deep-dish slice to the classic Italian beef sandwich.
3. Get boozy at bottomless brunch
Are you looking for birthday ideas in Chicago that include a buzz? When you hear the word brunch, bottomless almost always comes to mind. Spend your morning munching on benedicts, waffles, breakfast burritos, and other mouth-watering treats while sipping an endless supply of mimosas and bellinis. Check out some of our favorite places to spend a morning in the city.
4. Belt out at a karaoke bar
It doesn’t matter if you’re celebrating your 30th birthday in Chicago or 50th, grabbing a microphone and echoing the lyrics, “B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets” is a pastime for all ages.
While many karaoke lounges are sprinkled across Chicago to commemorate, our favorites include Sakura, a trendy subterranean located in the heart of Chinatown, and Trader Tod’s, a tropical melody oasis plotted at the tip of Lakeview.
5. Plan an overnight getaway
Although we love the windy city, embarking on a camping trip is the perfect birthday escape. Whether you want to rent a home on the beachfront or have a glamping experience, there are numerous places in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, or southern Illinois to choose from.
6. Grab a putter for a round of indoor golf
Celebrate with some friendly competition at one of Chicago’s indoor mini-golf courses. These aren’t the run-of-the-mill courses you grew up playing, but at Puttery and the Big Mini Putt Club, every hole has a rigorous design with a minibar 15 feet away for celebratory cheers.
7. Become dazzled by a candlelight concert
Forget a cake with a couple of candles—how about a room filled with hundreds of candles while listening to covers of your favorite songs? This Candlelight concert series invites everyone to travel to historical and majestic venues across Chicago while a string quartet performs music by Adele, Fleetwood Mac, Mozart, and other notable artists. If you love the chorus of strings echoing your favorite pop tunes, this is one of the birthday ideas in Chicago that should be on your shortlist.
8. Pop Bottles in a Champagne Cave
Purchasing a ticket to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at sunset on your birthday takes strenuous planning and a large budget. However, that shouldn’t stop you from having the decadent and Parisian experience you’ve always dreamed about in Chicago.
In the basement of Marchesa lies a Champagne and wine cellar decorated with luxuriously velvet sofas and a limestone fireplace perfect for toasting to another year getting older and wiser.
9. Play free arcade games all night
What makes Replay so unique isn’t that from the moment you enter the arcade bar, you’re transported to a 70’s bar, a Tay Tay Partay (Swifties unite), or whatever the monthly decorated theme is—it’s that all of Replay’s arcade games are free. Yes, you heard right. If you’re on a budget but don’t want to relinquish the fun, head to this bar for a birthday spectacle.
10. A special movie night with cocktails and bites
What’s lovely about this city is an elevated version of every amusement you can conceptualize. If seeing a movie to mark a birthday is too monotonous for your taste, let us introduce you to the Alamo Drafthouse in Wrigleyville.
Sit back, relax, and configure your first-class seat into a sloping position as a waiter comes around to take your order and bring food throughout the movie. Watching a film with spirits, dinner, and eternal popcorn has never felt so refined and celebratory.
11. Experience a reimagined ballet classic at ‘We Call It Ballet’
On her 16th birthday, poor Princess Aurora was cursed by the spindle of a spinning wheel. But they’ll be no evil birthday magic at ‘We Call It Ballet’ in Chicago, just pure enchantment and wonder! Graceful ballerinas dressed in glow-in-the-dark costumes light up the stage as a narrator takes audiences through the tale of the iconic Sleeping Beauty ballet.
12. Channel your inner lumberjack with axe-throwing
Next is more like a birthday thrill. Looking for birthday ideas in Chicago with a little adrenaline? Nothing will create a buzz more than launching a steel blade with a flick of the wrist into the target ahead. If you want an unforgettable birthday party where everyone will release endorphins and undoubtedly have a zesty time, Bad Axe Throwing is the ideal place to celebrate. And don’t worry—there will be a throwing coach to guide you.
13. Invite your friends to winter rooftop drinks
There are birthday drinks at a crowded cellar bar—and then there are birthday drinks on top of a 20-story building with unobstructed city views. Whether it’s the middle of winter or amid summer, if you’re looking for a birthday idea in Chicago, rooftop season is perennial and always a jovial time for a celebration.
14. Frolic to music all night long
We might be biased, but Chicago’s live music scene is a chef’s kiss. Whether you’re looking to spend your birthday in Chicago with an evening of the blues by heading to Kingston Mines or Blue Chicago, or if you want to sing along to your favorite tunes, head to our favorite piano bars, Zebra Lounge and Howl at the Moon.
15. Paint outside the box
Located at Virgin Hotels, this one-of-a-kind experience will inspire you to get creative and brush up on your painting skills, but Neon Brush, is way more than a typical art workshop. Using fluorescent neon colors illuminated under UV lights, you’ll be able to paint to your own tune as you create your dazzling masterpiece with a drink in your other hand!
Perfect for couples seeking a romantic and immersive date night, friends looking for a fun outing, or individuals eager to unleash their artistic side, Neon Brush offers something for everyone. Plus, an expert guide will be on hand to provide personalized assistance and inspiration throughout your painting journey.
16. Pretend you’re at Portofino with a grand Italian dinner
This is one of our favorite birthday ideas in Chicago for our pasta gals. Don’t we all envision a vacation on the Italian Riviera? Sipping a glass of wine along the rugged cliffs of Cinque Terre or Portofino. Well, Mind-blowing pasta and pizza are spread out over this city, and these are the best Italian restaurants in Chicago you need to try. This is one of the best birthday ideas in Chicago that everyone is bound to love.
17. Cheer on the Bulls or Blackhawks with friends
Whether you’re a basketball or a hockey fan, the United Center is the place to be when the weather dips and baseball dissipates. The next time you need a quick birthday idea in Chicago, grab tickets in the nosebleed section or, if you’re feeling bougie, pull your money together and get a box. It’s one of the best birthday ideas in Chicago if you’re a sports fan—and if you’re not a sports fan, you’ll still feel elated.
18. Plan a Michelin-Starred dinner
Are you looking for birthday ideas in Chicago for your 21st, 30th, or maybe 50th? How about celebrating a birthday at a Michelin-starred restaurant? It is the perfect way to capture a monumental moment! With over 65 restaurants earning at least some merit, from a Michelin Bib to the highest regard of the coveted 3-star honor, it’s the perfect way to capture a monumental moment with friends and family.
19. Smash and laugh with your friends at a rage room
If you’re looking to release pent-up anger, why not smash everything on site? These rage rooms in Chicago are the perfect way to smash glass without paying for a new Crate & Barrel dish set. From TVs and radios to music systems and DVD players, be prepared to destroy pretty much anything.
20. Cake decorate with the girls
