Where To Eat and Drink Near the United Center

This playful French bistro and wine bar by Bonhomme Group (Porto, Beatnik) is just a 15-minute walk from the United Center, with bright salmon-colored walls, curving banquettes and bold retrofuturist design. You’ll fit in however you might be dressed, and the daily happy hour from 5-7 p.m. is a great idea before a game or concert for deals on fire-roasted roasted oysters with smoked bacon, Parisian gnocchi, duck fat potato mille feuille, and colorful cocktails. Or swing by post-event for dainty patisserie treats and natural and biodynamic wines from Alsace and the Languedoc, because Coquette is open until midnight or later.

Chef Paul Virant cheekily named his okonomiyaki restaurant Gaijin – the Japanese word for “foreigner” – poking fun at his own menu of savory Japanese pancakes and kakigori. Virant serves both Hiroshima and Osaka styles of okonomiyaki – the former layering ingredients like a cake while the latter mixes everything up on the griddle – along with negiyaki pancakes, yakisoba stir-fries, mochi donuts, and kakigori shaved ice. Monday through Thursday happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. is an excellent pre-game move, paired with a Japanese whiskey highball or espresso martini

A cheery red and brick facade and warm atmosphere lure guests to this retro-styled tavern, where sumptuous booths and friendly servers make you feel immediately at home. The menu leans toward all-American classics, including steaks, skillet cornbread, and prime rib, all served in generous portions. Snag pigs in a blanket, oysters, and meatball sliders during happy hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 5 p.m., along with wine, beer, and Old Fashioned deals. (Bottles of wine are half off all night on Wednesdays, too.) Within the Tavern, the walk-in only Lobster Bar serves shellfish, sushi, and slushies.

Top Chef runner-up and James Beard Award-winning chef Sarah Grueneberg is the star power behind Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio, where you can spot cooks making fresh pasta daily – the cacio whey pepe with ricotta whey is simple but sublime, and you can’t go wrong with any of the agnolotti and ravioli. There’s even a dedicated gluten-free menu with plenty of pasta, salads, crudo, and more. Aperitivo hour is served in the Italian tradition with stuzzichini snacks and spritzes before dinner service begins, or you can swing by for a nightcap (vin santo and biscotti, anyone?) and butterscotch budino or tiramisù after the event.

Can’t get a reservation? Here’s how to snag one.

Guinness Open Gate Brewery Chicago is a new brewery, taproom, restaurant, and bakery housed in a former rail depot in the West Loop. As its name implies, the focus here is on Guinness beers, with experimental draughts exclusive to the taproom alongside signatures straight from Dublin. The food menu combines elements of the brewery’s Irish roots with Midwestern ingredients, like Guinness barbecue chicken wings, stout-infused Irish brown bread, grilled sausages from Paulina Meat Market.

Chef-owner José “Pepe” Barajas named his upscale-casual Mexican restaurant and agave bar after his late aunt Josefina, a hard-working street taco entrepreneur who inspired Barajas to go into the restaurant business. The restaurant has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its impressive mezcal program and Mexican cuisine, from al pastor and barbacoa tacos to refreshing ceviches and the best enchiladas in the city. There’s daily happy hour before 6 p.m., with new food and drink specials each week, making it a great idea for a margarita, elotes, and tacos before a game.

This elegant Italian restaurant is a bit of a hidden gem in the bustling West Loop, with a menu of Italian classics like Apulian burrata, pillowy gnocchi, grilled branzino with Sicilian caponata, and a grissini-breaded veal chop Milanese. The large dining room can often accommodate walk-ins, and there’s a chic sidewalk patio for when the weather is nice. Paccheri tossed tableside with fresh tomato sauce and 22-month aged Parmigiano cheese is an excellent order, and the frozen tiramisù soufflé is one of the most whimsical and delicious desserts in town.

There’s always something going on at this urban winery, restaurant, and concert venue, whether it’s a live performance or a wine tasting. The large dining room can usually accommodate walk-ins, and there are more than a dozen wines on tap, with wine flights and pairing suggestions for crowd pleasers like wagyu sliders, duck tacos, truffle fries, kung pao cauliflower, and saffron lobster risotto. Weekday happy hour means half-off wine and pizza between 4 and 6 p.m. for a pre-event meal.