Fulton Market Chicago has been one of the most bustling neighborhoods in recent years, known for its long list of notable cocktail bars and brimming rooftop restaurants. The neighborhood’s abounding charm is the distinctive flavors of entertainment and menus, all within a five-minute walk from the other. You can make a day of it—starting underneath the chromatic-oscillating neon sign, which cascades into an array of coveted spots for frolicking around with a savory drink.
Creating an ideal itinerary can be taxing, so we’ve made one for you. Below is the perfect Saturday agenda compiling the best things to do in Fulton Market Chicago, starting with a Mediterranean breakfast and concluding with late-night dancing at a speakeasy.
1. Commence for a Mediterranean brunch
When you walk into Aba, you’re greeted with lush greenery—an assemblage of pothos lines along the bar’s backsplash and spirals up to the ceiling. It’s a blissful way to begin your morning. Grab a seat at the bar and order yourself a mimosa or Mediterranean-inspired drink, and gaze upon the mouth-watering breakfast menu, which includes a Spinach and Avocado Frittata, Peach biscuit, Kefta and eggs, and much more.
📍Address: 302 N Green St 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60607
2. Head straight to the sentimental games
After brunch, venture across the street straight to Emporium, where you’ll immediately revert to adolescence. This Fulton Market Chicago bar contains a plethora of nostalgic 1980s and ’90s arcade games, from Pac-Man and Frogger to pinball games like Caddyshack and Star Wars; you’ll be drawn in for hours, drinking one of the 25 beers they have on tap as your pointer fingers swing back and forth.
📍Address: 839 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
3. Unwind at this Fulton market bar with eccentric cocktails
This west loop bar is the quintessential place to collect yourself after laughing and moving around on your feet at Emporium. The cocktail creations at the Aviary are more of a science experiment that will captivate and delight you all in one swoop. You’ll find drinks you never heard of, like the Aviary’s Junglebird, which is an otherwordly concoction of rum, pineapple-lime syrup, Campari, and a string of pearls bobbing in the drink that pops in your mouth.
📍Address: 955 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
4. Travel to Mykonos for dinner
Head over to Lyra’s bar, which brings Greek gastronomical life through the coal and wood-burning grills lying back in the open kitchen paired with a hearty color palette and hanging lights throughout the restaurant. The oval bar highlights a communal atmosphere that compliments the shareable menu of slow-roasted lamb gyros, spanakopitakia, and more.
📍Address: 905 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
5. Grab a frozen treat
We hope you’ll save room for dessert because the Baobing Bar is one of the coolest cocktail shops on the block that coincides with delectable ice treats. From the Chili Crunch, an out-of-this-world concoction of vanilla, chili crunch, spiced wontons, strawberries, and cilantro—it’s the epitome of a single bite that combines savory and sweet. Pair that with one of their Killer Whale cocktails. This is one of the Fulton Market Chicago you don’t want to miss.
📍Address: 875 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
6. Swing to live music
This Fulton Market Chicago bar is where you gather after filling yourself up on frozen treats. Lazy Bird, the bar in the basement of the Hoxton Hotel, is dimly lit and decorated with comfy, velvet seating configured in a way that paints a secluded space. Once the clock strikes 9:30, a lively band will belt tunes and electrify the rowdy crowd.
📍Address: 200 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607
7. Close the night at a barbershop
Finish the night twisting and turning under the illuminating Pretty Please sign at the Blind Barber, one of Chicago’s numerous speakeasies. The Blind Barber is a barber shop by day and cocktail lounge by night, serving up some of the best cocktails and music in the Fulton Market neighborhood—solidifying a stellar Saturday.
📍Address: 948 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607