In Force · Chicago

A finding from Chicago’s cheap hours · 23 Oct 2026

What happens
at six.

Watch the city’s cheap hours thin out. The record changes minute by minute; the shape of the evening is visible in the windows that places publish.

51%fewer scheduled room-days at 18:00 than at 17:59, across the next 7 days.

Scheduled room-days23 Oct to 29 Oct
The evening, counted at every minute 841 scheduled room-days at 17:59, 413 at 18:00, and 213 at 19:00. A room counts once per service day. All categories are included. 18:00 22:00 12:0015:0018:0021:0023:00
One place with overlapping offers counts once on a day. The same place on another day counts again. This is the whole record’s evening, including food, free admission and listed prices. Feel the change on the clock ↗
Read every hour in the chart

The day, across a week

Each row samples the exact start of an hour across the next 7 days. It sums the distinct rooms on each day, so the unit is room-days. The minute-by-minute peak is 17:00. The rule at 22:00 marks the cutoff for happy-hour drink reductions, not for every kind of offer.

  1. 00:00 101
  2. 01:00 97
  3. 02:00 27
  4. 03:00 22
  5. 04:00 1
  6. 05:00 ·
  7. 06:00 ·
  8. 07:00 1
  9. 08:00 8
  10. 09:00 19
  11. 10:00 76
  12. 11:00 139
  13. 12:00 172
  14. 13:00 172
  15. 14:00 196
  16. 15:00 415
  17. 16:00 735
  18. 17:00 872
  19. 18:00 413
  20. 19:00 213
  21. 20:00 190
  22. 21:00 164
  23. 22:00 134
  24. 23:00 129

Where the fifteen hours go

Illinois permits happy-hour drink reductions for up to 4 hours a day and 15 a week, ending before 22:00 under 235 ILCS 5/6-28.5. That limit helps explain the concentration; this record cannot establish why an operator chose an hour.

15 discounted hours a week, 4 a day, is an allowance every licensee in Illinois holds. The published windows show how that allowance is used. Of the 148 rooms whose discounted hours we can read, 29 spend it to the hour and 71 spend twelve or more. Of 212 discounted-drink offers on file, 128 end by 18:00 and 171 by 19:00.

One strip per room, fifteen cells, filled with the discounted hours we can see. A room reading over the line is a claim to re-read, never an accusation: our window may be wider than the room runs.

  1. Edelweiss Tavern Avondale 84h · over
  2. Rebel & Rye West Town 71h · over
  3. Reed's Local Avondale 63h · over
  4. Green Eye Lounge Bucktown 58h · over
  5. Lemmings Tavern Bucktown 57h · over
  6. Uptown Lounge Uptown 48h · over
  7. Meeting House Tavern Andersonville 44h · over
  8. Fogo de Chão River North 28h · over
  9. Hopsmith Tavern River North 21h · over
  10. Ipsento 606 Bucktown 21h · over
  11. Siena Tavern River North 21h · over
  12. One North Kitchen The Loop 20h · over
  13. Boqueria Fulton Market Fulton Market 19h · over
  14. Lula Cafe Logan Square 17.5h · over
  15. Willow Room Lincoln Park 17.5h · over
  16. Bar La Rue Fulton Market 17h · over
  17. Small Bar Avondale 17h · over
  18. Gideon Welles Lincoln Square 16h · over
  19. AO Hawaiian Hideout South Loop 15h
  20. BLVD West Loop 15h
  21. Cafecito The Loop 15h
  22. Central Park Bar Avondale 15h
  23. City Winery Fulton Market 15h
  24. Clover Lincoln Park Lakeview 15h
  25. Dearly Beloved River North 15h
  26. Estereo Fulton Market Fulton Market 15h
  27. Francesca's on Chestnut River North 15h
  28. Fuller's Pub Irving Park 15h
  29. George Street Pub Lakeview 15h
  30. Gracie O'Malley's Portage Park Portage Park 15h
  31. Homeslice Lincoln Park 15h
  32. Jake Melnick's Corner Tap River North 15h
  33. Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab River North 15h
  34. New Line Tavern West Loop 15h
  35. Nonnina River North 15h
  36. Oggi Trattoria West Town 15h
  37. Pippin's Tavern River North 15h
  38. Pops for Champagne River North 15h
  39. Remedy Bucktown 15h
  40. Reunion River North 15h
  41. Somerset River North 15h
  42. Surge Billiards Logan Square Logan Square 15h
  43. The Butcher's Tap Wrigleyville 15h
  44. The Dandy Crown West Town 15h
  45. The Grillroom Chophouse & Wine Bar The Loop 15h
  46. The Ravenswood Tavern Lakeview 15h
  47. Wings and Rings Bridgeport 15h
  48. aliveOne Lincoln Park 14h
  49. Barrio River North 14h
  50. Beatrix Fulton Market Fulton Market 14h
  51. Big Wig Tacos River North River North 14h
  52. Boeufhaus Ukrainian Village 14h
  53. Easy Bar Wicker Park 14h
  54. ERIS Brewery and Cider House Irving Park 14h
  55. Forbidden Root Brewery Ukrainian Village 14h
  56. Scofflaw Logan Square 14h
  57. Big City Tap Lakeview 13h
  58. The Kerryman River North 13h
  59. Port & Park Bistro Wrigleyville 12.5h
  60. Proxi West Loop 12.5h
  61. Bar Roma Andersonville 12h
  62. BiXi Beer Logan Square 12h
  63. Daisy's Po-Boy and Tavern Hyde Park 12h
  64. FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar The Loop 12h
  65. Mr. Brown's Lounge West Town Ukrainian Village 12h
  66. O'Donovan's Lakeview 12h
  67. Old Irving Brewing Co. Irving Park 12h
  68. The California Clipper Humboldt Park 12h
  69. The Owl Logan Square 12h
  70. Theory River North 12h
  71. Valedor Wicker Park 12h
  72. Lincoln Tap Room Lakeview 11h
  73. Piece Brewery and Pizzeria Wicker Park 11h
  74. Swift & Sons Fulton Market 10.5h
  75. Bandit West Loop 10h
  76. Bisous Fulton Market 10h
  77. Cafe Cremerie River North 10h
  78. Copper Club The Loop 10h
  79. Cruz Blanca Fulton Market 10h
  80. El Mariachi Tequila Bar & Grill Wrigleyville 10h
  81. Headquarters Beercade River North River North 10h
  82. Il Porcellino River North 10h
  83. Kaiser Tiger Fulton Market 10h
  84. Manchamanteles Bucktown 10h
  85. Mordecai Wrigleyville 10h
  86. No Vacancy River North 10h
  87. Ocean Prime The Loop 10h
  88. Prime & Provisions The Loop 10h
  89. R Public House Rogers Park 10h
  90. Shaw's Crab House River North 10h
  91. The J. Parker Lincoln Park 10h
  92. The Publican Fulton Market 10h
  93. The Redhead Piano Bar River North 10h
  94. Tuco & Blondie Lakeview 10h
  95. Wilde Bar & Restaurant Lakeview 10h
  96. Woodie's Flat River North 10h
  97. Wurst Behavior Irving Park 10h
  98. Yuzu Sushi + Robata Grill Ukrainian Village 10h
  99. Zombie Taco River North 10h
  100. Industry Ales The Loop 9h
  101. La Parrilla Latin Food Edgewater 9h
  102. Madison Tavern West Loop 9h
  103. Tuscany on Taylor West Loop 9h
  104. River Roast River North 8.8h
  105. Beck's Chicago Lincoln Park 8h
  106. Broken Shaker River North 8h
  107. Carnivale West Loop 8h
  108. Demera Ethiopian Restaurant Uptown 8h
  109. Diego West Town 8h
  110. Esco West Loop 8h
  111. Labriola River North 8h
  112. Moneygun West Loop 8h
  113. Nobody's Darling Andersonville 8h
  114. The Moonlighter Logan Square 8h
  115. The Reveler Lakeview 8h
  116. VU Rooftop Bar South Loop 8h
  117. Weather Mark Tavern South Loop 8h
  118. avec West Loop 7.5h
  119. Mon Ami Gabi Lincoln Park 7.5h
  120. Chef's Special Cocktail Bar Bucktown 7h
  121. Dorothy Wicker Park 7h
  122. Ludlow Liquors Avondale 7h
  123. Old Pueblo Cantina Lincoln Park 7h
  124. Osteria Via Stato River North 7h
  125. Basant Lakeview 6h
  126. Beatnik On The River The Loop 6h
  127. Burke's Public House Edgewater 6h
  128. Centennial Crafted Beer & Eatery River North 6h
  129. Clover Sports & Leisure West Town 6h
  130. Pleasant House Pub Pilsen 6h
  131. Pochos Pilsen 6h
  132. Recess Fulton Market 6h
  133. SIFR River North 5h
  134. A Tavola Ukrainian Village 4h
  135. Cantina Rosa Hyde Park 4h
  136. Figo Wine Bar Lakeview 4h
  137. Fireside Restaurant & Lounge Edgewater 4h
  138. Giant Logan Square 4h
  139. Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining Rogers Park 4h
  140. Legal Sea Foods River North 4h
  141. Nia West Loop 4h
  142. Nia Restaurant and Wine Bar West Loop 4h
  143. The Press Room West Loop 4h
  144. Untitled Supper Club River North 4h
  145. Eden Avondale 3h
  146. Gaijin Fulton Market 3h
  147. Federales Logan Square Logan Square 2h
  148. The Dearborn The Loop 2h

What that leaves for the evening

After 22:00 the law leaves three things: food at any price, anything free, and a drink at its ordinary listed price. That is what the late hours on the night are made of. An ordinary listed price can be cheap after that hour; a happy-hour reduction is the restriction here.

Read from 479 offers at 02:57 on Friday 23 October. The record changes; this page is computed on every read. How a deal earns a light.