Every address this page pairs with a rooftop bar shows active city licenses as of August 6, 2026. We checked all nine buildings against Chicago’s business-license file: each address shows an unexpired liquor license — the class the file calls “Consumption on Premises – Incidental Activity,” for “Consumption of Liquor on Premises” — and an Outdoor Patio license, which the file describes as “Sale of Liquor Outdoors on Private Property.” Eight of the nine addresses also carry a Public Place of Amusement license. Below is each venue with what the file shows: who holds the licenses, at which address, and through when. A license means the city authorized the business and the term has not lapsed; it does not say the rooftop is open on any given night or in any given season — for that, check the venue’s posted hours.
The nine, with what the license file shows
The venues appear in the order this page has always listed them; the order carries no ranking. Addresses and license-holder names are printed exactly as the city’s file records them. The pairing of each bar with its building comes from this page’s earlier version — and at every address below, the holder name on the liquor license matches the paired hotel or the bar itself, which is the corroboration the file can offer. (Other license classes at an address can sit with a different holder; where one does, the entry says so.)
Cindy’s Rooftop
Cindy’s Rooftop, the rooftop bar at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel: at 12 S MICHIGAN AVE, the file shows active liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement licenses under “CHICAGO ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION,” with terms running to 2027.
LH Rooftop
LH Rooftop, the rooftop bar at LondonHouse Chicago: at 85 E WACKER DR, the file shows active liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement licenses under “LONDONHOUSE HOTEL,” with terms running to 2028.
Devereaux
Devereaux, the rooftop bar at the Viceroy Chicago hotel: at 1118 N STATE ST, the file shows an active liquor license under “VICEROY HOTEL” and an Outdoor Patio license under “SOMERSET/PANDAN,” a restaurant name the file records at the same address, with terms running to 2027. No Public Place of Amusement license appears at this address in the file.
Raised
Raised, the rooftop bar at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown hotel: at 1 W WACKER DR, the file shows active liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement licenses under “RENAISSANCE CHICAGO HOTEL,” with terms running to 2027.
The J. Parker
The J. Parker, the rooftop bar at Hotel Lincoln: at 1816 N CLARK ST, the file shows active liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement licenses under “HOTEL LINCOLN,” with terms running to 2028.
Z Bar
Z Bar, the rooftop bar at The Peninsula Chicago hotel: at 108 E SUPERIOR ST, the file shows active liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement licenses under “PENINSULA CHICAGO, LLC,” with terms running to 2027.
Nobu Rooftop
Nobu Rooftop, the rooftop bar of the Nobu Hotel building in the West Loop: the file records active liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement licenses under “NOBU” at 854 W RANDOLPH ST, the building’s Randolph Street address, with terms running to 2027.
Upstairs at The Gwen
Upstairs at The Gwen, the rooftop bar at The Gwen hotel off Michigan Avenue: the file records the hotel’s licenses at “520 N MICHIGAN AVE 5-17” — liquor, Outdoor Patio, and Public Place of Amusement under “THE GWEN,” with terms running to 2027. The hotel’s street entrance is on Rush Street; the Michigan Avenue address is how the license file records it.
VU Rooftop Bar
VU Rooftop Bar, the only bar on this list whose license sits under the bar’s own name: at 133 E CERMAK RD, the file shows active liquor and Outdoor Patio licenses under “VU ROOFTOP AND BAR” with terms running to 2028. The address’s Public Place of Amusement license shows an August 15, 2026 expiration in the file as of the pull date.
Questions these records can answer
Are these rooftop bars’ addresses still licensed? All nine addresses held active, unexpired licenses in the city’s file on August 6, 2026, under the holders each entry names — usually the hotel’s operator. An unexpired license does not establish that a venue is open or serving on a given night. For hours, check the venue.
Which of these bars have outdoor liquor licenses? All nine addresses held the city’s Outdoor Patio license on August 6, 2026 — “Sale of Liquor Outdoors on Private Property,” in the file’s own words.
How can you check whether a Chicago bar is licensed? The city publishes every business license in its Business Licenses dataset on the public data portal. Search the street address: a currently active license row carries status AAI and an expiration date still in the future. That is exactly the check this page ran on August 6, 2026.
What changed on this page
An earlier version of this page ranked these same bars on views, cocktails, and atmosphere. As of August 6, 2026 it lists the same nine venues with what Chicago’s license file shows for each. (The page’s web address says ten; the list has named nine venues since it was first published in 2024.)
Where these records come from
City of Chicago Business Licenses (r5kz-chrr), queried August 6, 2026: for each venue’s street address, every license with active status (“AAI”) and an expiration date after the pull date. Matching is on the address string as the file records it, including suite and floor variants of the same street number (Cindy’s building appears as “12 S MICHIGAN AVE BASEMENT-19,” for example); licenses at other street numbers never match. A street address can host several license holders — Shake Shack holds its own liquor license at Cindy’s street number — so each entry names the holder whose records it reports. License-holder names and addresses are printed as the file records them; a hotel’s bar usually appears under the hotel operator’s name. The bar-to-building pairings come from this page’s earlier version and are corroborated by the file only to this extent: at every address, the liquor license’s holder name matches the paired hotel or the bar itself; other license classes at the same address can sit with a different holder, as Devereaux’s entry shows. Where a license class does not appear for an address, that is its absence from this file on the pull date, not a finding that the venue closed.
Checked by KCM Desk against records current to August 6, 2026. If you spot an error, corrections come first.