Wondering where to find the best late-night restaurants in Chicago, IL? From great breakfast-brunch spots to a heavy metal burger house, they’re everywhere, as the city offers a variety of awesome venues and eats that perfect for late night and early morning diners. Old-school hot dog spots pull in locals and tourists alike, forming long lines with hungry stomachs. Alternatively, you can enjoy crepes or hangover food, and breakfast all day here. The following list, featuring some of Chicago, IL’s best late-night restaurants and early morning staples, forms just a small mosaic of what’s on offer for hungry stomachs.
During the day, the Weiner’s Circle looks like an average hot dog joint along Clark Street on Chicago’s North Side neighborhood of Lincoln Park. At night, however, it becomes a wild and raucous scene filled with foul-mouthed, sassy employees and sloppy drunk patrons trading insults with one another while placing and filling take-out orders. Sometimes the back and forth gets out of hand, but it hasn’t stopped curious out-of-towners from flocking to this after-hours go-to destination. Open till around 4AM daily (and later on Friday and Saturday), the Weiner’s Circle serves up some of the best char-dogs and char-burgers in the city. The cheese fries will clog your arteries and soothe your soul.
The original Jim’s Original is at 1250 South Union Street, but there’s another on East 95th Street, and it is a landmark spot for good eats (hey, a bag of free fries with your sandwich – we’ll take that deal!). Here you get a nice run of hot dogs, burgers and sausages done the old-fashioned way, and served up pronto. The best pick is the Polish Sausage — with just the right resistance as you bite into it — covered with peppers, a lot of onions and mustard… because in Chitown, hot dogs don’t get slathered in ketchup.
Eleven offers a fresh take on the old-school American diner and a Lower East Side Jewish delicatessen rolled into one. File under “comfort food.” Just north of Roosevelt Road in South Loop, the restaurant takes its “breakfast all day” policy seriously: Those hung over are directed to the “Tom Waits 2 A.M. Breakfast 1987”: 2 eggs, 2 flapjacks, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, house potatoes, and toast. Or, if you really want to soak up the sauce you drank the night before, try an overstuffed sandwich: “The Woody Allen” — a double-decker corned beef and pastrami — takes the prize.
Brunch has become big in Chicago, and Toast delivers, especially with its crepes — the Nutella and crushed pecans crepes are amazing — plus its French Toast, preferably stuffed and topped with yogurt, freshly made granola with honey. But Toast (there is one in Bucktown and Lincoln Park) also does breakfast really well, too. An array of sandwiches can grace your plate: An especially tasty one is the neighborhood namesake, “El Bucktowno,” a spicy take that spices up grilled chicken breast on a French bolo, with mustard and thyme. Salads here are also exceptional.
Support your community. Eat beef. Bang your head. These are the guiding ideas behind Kuma’s Corner, where the burgers are big, juicy and tasty. The tattooed service team only adds to the flavor. The original is at West Belmont, but at a few other city locations, including West Loop, they also offer up monster burgers, which are truly wild selections mostly named after metal gods like Black Sabbath and Mastodon, as they support the thriving local metal scene. Naturally, special selections also make their way onto patrons’ palates in the form of the BOTM (Burger of the Month).
David Podgurski has written about travel, books, fashion + entertainment for digital and print media. He’s hunted down vintage finds in crumbling attics, published poetry, worked for the New York MTA, and likes to haunt museums, cafés and shops. When he isn’t traveling or writing, he’s thinking about his next trip — and what to enjoy when he gets there.
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