photo by Brogen Jessup
Gatherings
Corporate Party Spots in Chicago That’ll Make This Holiday Party Your Best Yet
With an abundance of loft spaces, warehouses, boutique hotels and access to some of the country’s best restaurants, Chicago is one epic city to host a holiday party in. Gather your company’s top performing employees for...
photo by Brogen Jessup
With an abundance of loft spaces, warehouses, boutique hotels and access to some of the country’s best restaurants, Chicago is one epic city to host a holiday party in. Gather your company’s top performing employees for an intimate dinner in the city or rally the troops from every branch of the organization and hit the town for a posh night of celebrating the season. Pop champagne around a fireplace or have your very own award show in a local theater. We’ve got all the ideas, you just need to bring the team along for a good time.
Reporter: Alyssa Brown
Treat your team to a night in Paris without leaving the Windy City at this French-inspired venue located in the heart of Lincoln Park. The whimsical decor at Paris312 creates plenty of photo-worthy backdrops for you and up to 50 guests to enjoy including a 12-foot pink floral wall and two full-bloom cherry blossom trees.
If you’re thinking about hosting a beautiful dinner party for your dynamite crew, head on up to Cindy’s Rooftop Bar and Restaurant for a private dining experience. If you prefer something more casual, the vintagey game room on the second floor of the Chicago Athletic Association has craft cocktails and a smattering of games that include bocce ball, shuffleboard and billiards.
If you’re looking for a holiday party venue with awe-inspiring design and unmatched culinary offerings, Marchesa is the spot for you. Located in River North, this glamourous, sophisticated eatery offers French and classic Continental cuisine, wine pairings, and four unique private dining areas including the boho-chic, travel-inspired Champagne Cave.
Overlooking the West Loop, this rooftop farmstead restaurant is perfect for a holiday fête of 40 to 75 guests. Sit and dine with a smaller group, or opt for cocktails and canapés if you’re rolling a little deeper.
Parties at Park Hyatt Chicago are filled with good views, food and company. Events take place amongst understated glamour with elegant finishes and award-winning cuisine. Dine on custom creations from NoMI Kitchen while guests take in the largest hotel art collection in the Gold Coast (including pieces from Matisse and Chihuly). Choose The Grand Salon Ballroom for large receptions of up to 250, The Drawing Room for more intimate cocktail parties of 50, or the NoMI Private Dining spaces, overlooking historic Water Tower Square.
Creative corporate teams will love this artsy, stylish loft spot in the heart of the West Loop. Deck the halls and fill them with the glee of your hardworking crew for a workshop or cocktail party to get everyone into the holiday spirit.
Set in the heart of Lincoln Park, this boutique hotel makes every guest feel right at home, which is exactly how you want your team to feel during the holiday season. Head on up to the rooftop bar for cocktails, beers and bites with your colleagues and take over the comfy space for a night of celebration.
Teams with a keen design eye will be at ease as soon as they walk into Loews Chicago Hotel. Sleek leather chairs, artistic light fixtures and modern design installations fill the hotel. As for celebration spaces, the Wright Ballroom boasts over 8,500 square feet while the Sullivan Ballroom comes in at around 4,500 square feet. Both spaces can be divided into smaller sections to accommodate teams of all sizes.
If your company is focused on efforts to be eco-conscious, Greenhouse Loft is an absolute must for your holiday party this year. Not only is the glass-walled space gorgeous and easy to take over for a private event, but the venue works hard to keep each event’s carbon footprint minimal.
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The Gold Coast neighborhood sets the scene for this traditional Italian restaurant in a beautiful brownstone. Invite your work team to don their holiday best and dine together upstairs or down. Oh, and be sure to order a round of the house made limoncello after dinner!
This industrial space has tons of windows, enough space for up to 1,700 revelers and really good Chicago vibes. Morgan Manufacturing is the kind of expansive spot your work squad can take over for an annual awards show, wild dance party or sophisticated winemaker’s dinner.
Gather your team, order a round of steaks and keep the red wine flowing at this glamorous steakhouse in Chicago’s old meat packing district. Swift & Sons is equal parts retro and futuristic in style, making it the kind of spot that easily spells out holiday celebration without those stuffy corporate vibes of yesteryear.
The historic space at Revel Motor Row dates back to the 1930s and still flashes all its original grandeur on folks who walk its halls. If you’re considering a big holiday blowout bash of epic proportion, this is the Cadillac of options.
This funky bar is perfect for fun-loving teams who want to show a bit of their competitive side during a friendly game of ping-pong. SPiN Chicago features 20 ping-pong tables, two VIP lounges, and full-service catering of shareable, snackable and delicious offerings that teams of up to 700 can enjoy between matches.
A bright, welcoming setting is exactly what your work holiday party calls for. This loft space sits just near Magnificent Mile and is one of those spots your guests will never stop chatting about. Seventeen-foot tall ceilings, white walls and polished concrete floors set the scene for a sophisticated dinner party. Just add a collection of spruce trees to make it feel festive.
Get together with your fellow worker bees and gather round the fireplace for champagne tastings and to share toasts for the year to come. RM Champagne Salon is a cozy, inviting space with a darling courtyard and an impressively long list of bubbly.
Celebrating the holiday season with the small crew from your coworking space? We’ve got you covered. Belly Q is a great Korean barbecue joint where you can sit at a table and grill your own three-course meal while chatting over local brews and Japanese whisky.
This industrial warehouse would make an awesome space to treat your hardworking team to a fun, festive workshop like hand-making gift wrap or botanical body scrubs. Brique is available by day or night, so go with whatever suits your team’s party style.
Work with a team of diehard scientists, nature lovers or historians? This year’s holiday party at The Field Museum can impress them all in different ways. Wander the halls filled with artifacts, drink craft cocktails beside a massive T-Rex and settle in for a private dining experience in Stanley Field Hall.
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Get your work party started right with drinks on the rooftop at London House before heading indoors for dinner in the glass-walled rooftop bar. If there are a few in your work crew that’ll be traveling into town for the celebration, be sure to snag a couple of the stunning suites.
Treat your team to a feast cooked by James Beard Award winning chef Tony Mantuano at this riverfront restaurant. Start with cocktails on the patio before heading into your own private dining space for the night.
This Italian-American restaurant has a couple of private dining options so you can bring along your work crew and all get your red sauce fix. The second story of Formento’s is a loft space that overlooks West Loop’s Restaurant Row, glimmering with chandeliers that dangle from vaulted ceilings and offering seating for up to 200.
There’s a hidden theater in this fabulous loft space that seats up to 77 guests. Know what that means? Talent show! C’mon, how fun would it be to gather your colleagues and have everyone show off whatever it is they do best for an afternoon of laughter and leaving the office behind.
At Kitchen, you can bring in your favorite local catering team or inquire with that local celebrity chef your staff are always going on about. Treat them to a holiday dinner party at this cool industrial style space and host a mini awards show for your top performers.
Lounging is the name of the game at ACME, so it’s totally okay if your employees want to kick back and relax here. This River North boutique hotel offers tons of space for a high tech meeting or low key hangout session, so you can probably pull off a bit of both with your corporate holiday party this year.
For an intimate holiday soiree, The Guesthouse Hotel’s library can accommodate a group of up to a dozen in a setting that’s moody and inspired. The club room has all the vibe of a tiny neighborhood art gallery and can be taken over with a group of 30 for dinner or 50 for a cocktail party. Be sure to book a couple of the luxurious home-like suites for your upper management peeps.
This prop house would be a killer space to take over for a festive holiday carnival, open only to your hardworking team and their guests. Work with a local caterer to offer delicious fancified carnival eats like truffle popcorn, grass fed beef burgers, polenta fries, caramel apple hand pies and more. And bring in a gaming pro to set up zones of carnival games and arcades throughout Salvage One.
This cozy, sun-filled loft space makes a stunner of a venue for a holiday brunch or luncheon overlooking the urban expanse of Chicago. Rally your whole work gang on a casual Friday and head on over to City View Loft for a one-of-a-kind party.
A Wicker Park and Bucktown favorite, The Bristol is known locally for its delicious handmade pastas and huge wine list. You can rent out the entire space for a huge holiday party gathering, or settle in with a smaller crew by reserving just the upper level.
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This San Francisco style restaurant has all the feels of a sleek Bay Area lounge and restaurant, right here in the Windy City. Take over the whole beaut of a space and celebrate the holidays with your solid work squad.
Set in the heart of Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, this towering former factory space is fit for a holiday fête of up to 600 guests and has its very own rooftop space. Lacuna Events has an in-house catering team that makes it easy to have a corporate off-site in the city center that feels totally unique.
Everyone’s favorite Chitown taco joint, Big Star doubles as an awesome party spot. Let the margaritas flow as you toast to your company’s best year yet with the best team yet.
Head to Chicago Q for Southern style barbecue served in a cozy, down-home setting. There are a few options here for your holiday party people, ranging from the lounge for a small team to the wine room or the entire upstairs with your very own bar.
This historic local firehouse can be rented out for all your corporate holiday party needs. On a sunny day, enjoy welcome drinks outside in the gardens before heading inside for a gift exchange and evening of good tunes and even better conversations.
Lofty, historic and easy to set up any which way you like, Revel Fulton Market offers a wide-open industrial space that you can take over with your whole work team. Situated along Restaurant Row in West Loop, this stunner of a spot is one your crew will be raving about on Monday.
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