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Sam Faye, Veda Kilaru & Nick Allen
Dancing is a way to tell the world how you’re feeling. And if you want to tell the world that you’re feeling like a less-sober version of those blow-up figures in front of car dealerships, you should be able to do that somewhere that isn’t a club. Here are 14 bars where you can (mostly) come as you are and flail your arms to your heart’s content. Get out there and let your best sprinkler move fly.
No rating: This is a restaurant we want to re-visit before rating, or it’s a coffee shop, bar, or dessert shop. We only rate spots where you can eat a full meal.
Missy Elliott once said, "If you a fly gal, get your nails done, get a pedicure, get your hair did." And if she knew you could do that at a bar, we’re pretty sure she’d be all in with Beauty Bar in Noble Square. Here, you can get your nails done in front, literally, grab a drink, and hit the dance floor in the back room. It gets packed, especially during themed nights featuring ‘80s music or throwback hits, but that’s part of the fun.
Blind Barber is an actual barbershop by day, but at night, one of the doors in the shop opens up to reveal a funky Fulton Market cocktail lounge. And though it’s not too big and there’s no official dance floor, the flashing lights, disco balls, and live DJ sets encourage everyone to let loose. There’s a wide selection of cocktails and highballs if you’re just stopping by for a couple of drinks, but you can reserve a table and order some bottles if you’re here with a larger group and want more of a club experience.
This Logan Square bar and eclectic music venue is a bit like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag—it may look small, but it somehow has enough room for plenty of people to dance during live DJ sets held all week. Be sure to check The Whistler’s calendar before heading over, because if you're expecting a rock scene and walk into a smooth jazz performance, your night might involve a lot more sitting than headbanging.
Despite its name, a night at The Giant Penny Whistle in Pilsen doesn’t involve Irish jigs and one-cent tin instruments. But the giant tavern is a great neighborhood spot to dance to cumbia and house music for hours. The dance floor can get packed on weekends, so if you want a bit more breathing room for talking to any new friends you meet there, head to the slightly brighter half of the bar. Expect live music most weeknights, and a 312 special on Mondays ($3 highballs, $1 Hamms, $2 shots of Malort) that warrants involuntary jigs on their own.
Where else can you play a bunch of skee ball and then dance your face off? Nowhere that we know of. Slippery Slope is a favorite when we’re looking to really get out and have some fun, and judging by the lines at this Logan Square bar, a lot of other people feel the same way.
Despite the tongue-in-cheek “no dancing” neon sign, Nights & Weekends in the West Loop is a great place to bop to everything from club bangers to ‘90s throwbacks to disco. This retro-styled bar has guest DJs and a dance floor that gets crowded after 11pm, but you’ll find plenty of small groups taking shots and having dance parties near the booths that line the room. Get here before 7pm for $5 tequila shots and draft margarita Happy Hour deals, and you might even save on cover.
We’re not great dancers by any stretch of the imagination. But we’re the best dancers around when alcohol is involved, and you probably are too. Our dance moves get even better if there’s a sing-along, which is why we like to break it down in Gold Coast’s Hangge-Uppe every now and then. The classic ‘80s and ‘90s music, coupled with a sweaty dance floor, is a guaranteed good time.
InnJoy is perfect if you’re too old and sophisticated to be partying it up at a college scene in Lincoln Park but secretly wish you still could. Head to Wicker Park on Saturday nights at 10pm for retro music video dance parties where DJs spin throwbacks from the ‘80s through the 2010s. It gets crowded, but there’s enough room to move around and dance, so you know it will be a good time. Do you believe in life after love? We do.
The Empty Bottle is known as a West Town music venue, but it feels like a dive bar that happens to have a stage for bands and DJs in the back. On any given night, you might catch people dancing to punk, metal, or soul performances. And from 5:30-7pm every Friday, you can practice your country two-step and swing moves during Empty Bottle’s Hard Country Honky Tonk happy hour.
The Vig in Old Town calls itself a “sports parlor,” which equates to vintage sports decor, lots of TVs, booze, and food that doesn’t typically exist on a bar menu. It also equates to a dance club once it gets late. Some of the tables are cleared out, a DJ shows up, the volume increases by 1,000,000 decibels, and a 20-something crowd takes over the space doing their best impressions of choreography they saw on TikTok.
This Ukrainian Village spot might be the most well-kept dive bar in the city, where you can get Chicago Handshakes but won’t be subjected to decades-old cigarette smells. But the back space also doubles as a dance floor with occasional DJ sets, so keep an eye on their event calendar. EZ Inn’s large wooden interior is like a winter cabin, with plenty of leather bar stools and couches that are perfect for hanging out when you need to rest your legs.
Good Night John Boy goes all-in trying to convince you the ‘70s are worth a revisit. And thanks to multiple disco balls, TVs playing clips of Happy Days, and the general feeling that you’re drinking in your grandparents’ wood-paneled basement, this West Loop bar and club does a surprisingly good job with the time warp. But skip the food and drinks and put your name on the list to head upstairs to the small, and likely jammed, dance floor where you can live out your dancing queen dreams against a soundtrack of everything from house music to funk to disco.
You don’t go to Bandit for the food, which is hit-or-miss. You end up at this smallish West Loop spot because it feels like a house party, the kind you used to go to that used Apple Pucker as a mixer. Come here for drinks, bar snacks, occasional live music, and a night of singing and dancing to pop hits from the ‘90s. The second floor turns into an all-encompassing dance floor, with people dancing wherever there’s room—including on tables.
The first floor of this Logan Square bar is like a tiny library, with shelves stocked top to bottom with bottles of everything from the Tolstoys to the John Grishams of wine. Doesn’t exactly inspire visions of sweaty, rowdy dance sessions, does it? Reserve judgment until you go upstairs, where you’ll find a spacious bar and live music. Weekdays are more relaxed with the occasional jazz session, but if dancing is your M.O., come for a late-night weekend DJ set under the disco ball. Saturday nights can get wild, but Easy Does It lives up to its name and is a little tamer than most of the spots on this guide.
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Veda joined The Infatuation in 2023. When she’s not eating, she’s poring over her meticulously maintained restaurant spreadsheet for fun.
Interactive Led Dance Floor Nick has been a critic since 2010. He's always on the hunt for a great slice of tiramisu, and is equally passionate about bad movies.