Creative Date Ideas in Chicago

eATLAS has dozens of self-guided Adventures throughout Chicago—from architecture, history, and cocktail tours to scavenger hunts—that provide great opportunities for people to get to know each other. You can get started by downloading the app at the App Store or Google Play. 

By Dave Lifton (@daveeatschicago)

An interactive class can help you bond while getting basic instruction in a skill. In Uptown, Studio W.I.P. has a pair of classes where you create your own piece of street art using spray paint and stencils. One craft beer is included in the Neon Street Art Workshop, but the Spray Paint and Sip is BYOB. Other themed paint-and-sips across the city can be found at Eventbrite. 

For candle-making, there’s Embers + Apothecary (Printer’s Row),  Edgewater Candles (Edgewater), Black Luxe Candle Co. (Wicker Park), Chicago Candle Co. (Pilsen), Aura Candle Bar (Southport), Above Average Candle Studio (North Park), and Candle Castle & Co. (Wicker Park). Learn to work with glass at the Chicago Mosaic School (Edgewater), Flan’s Glass (Bucktown), and the Chicago Glass Collective (Lakeview). 

On the culinary front, cooking classes can be taken at Sur la Table (River North), Eataly (River North), The Chopping Block (Lincoln Square), and The Wooden Spoon (Andersonville). All except Eataly, which focuses exclusively on Italian food, have a diverse array of cuisines, including Asian and Mediterranean. Puerto Rican food is the specialty at Chicago Mama’s Kitchen (West Town), which also has a cocktail-making class. More mixology lessons are available from Hollow Leg (at The Reveler in Roscoe Village), Class Bento (West Loop and River North), unMuddled Bartending Co. (Wicker Park), and Koval Distillery (Ravenswood).

Rather than go to a random bar or pub, consider a gaming bar to discover your date’s competitive side while enjoying elevated bar food, craft beer, and signature cocktails. Go retro with classic arcade games and pinball at Emporium (Wicker Park, Logan Square, or Fulton Market) or Replay (Lincoln Park, Andersonville). Play indoor miniature golf at Puttery (West Loop) or Big Mini Putt Club (Northalsted and Wicker Park), high-tech darts at Flight Club (Loop), ping-pong at Ace Bounce (Loop) or Spin (River North), bocce at Park + Field (Logan Square), and shuffleboard of the tabletop (Electric Shuffle in River North) or cruise ship variety (Royal Palms in Wicker Park), or find a host of classic bar games at the Game Room in the Chicago Athletic Association hotel (Loop). You can also knock some pins down at 10pin (River North) or Diversey River Bowl (Bucktown).

For less-physical competitions, there are many bars with large selections of board games, with the Milwaukee Ave. corridor having the greatest concentration. In Logan Square alone, there’s Snakes & Lattes, Navigator Taproom, Green Eye, and Hopewell Brewing Co.; and Wicker Park has the retro Blue Line Lounge & Grill. Elsewhere in the city, Lakeview is the home of Bonus Round Game Café and Guthrie’s Tavern, Irving Park has Stay & Play, and Athena and Rogers Park Social are in Rogers Park. Or the two of you can work together by playing pub trivia.  

There’s also Chicago’s much-vaunted performing arts scene. Forgo the touring musicals in the downtown palaces in favor of a local company playing in a storefront. Visit Theatre in Chicago to see what’s playing on any given night. Or take in a night of comedy, from sketch and improv at The Second City (Old Town), iO Theater (Goose Island), and The Annoyance (Lakeview) to local and national standups appearing at Laugh Factory (Lakeview), The Den (Wicker Park), and Zanie’s (Old Town). Lastly, the city has a surprisingly deep history with magic, and you can see the next generation of illusionists at Dennis Watkins’ Magic Parlour (The Loop), Trickery (Northalsted), and the hidden-behind-a-laundromat Chicago Magic Lounge (Andersonville).