New Bar / Nightlife Businesses in Chicago

35 new bar / nightlife businesses were licensed in Chicago in the past year. Sourced from City of Chicago license records, updated daily.

Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued.

0
New this week
1
Last 30 days
4
Last 90 days
35
Past year

In the past year, 35 new bar / nightlife businesses were licensed in Chicago — 1 in the last 30 days, below the past year’s average pace. Recent licenses cluster in Near West Side, Lake View, and West Town.

Most recent license on file: August 26, 2026. Data refreshed daily from the City of Chicago open data portal.

How to read this data

"New businesses" = accounts receiving their first-ever Chicago business license, excluding pop-up/transient permits. Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued. Every count on this page comes from that same daily City of Chicago license feed.

Recently licensed

Where bar / nightlife businesses are opening

Neighborhoods ranked by their share of the 81 newest bar / nightlife licenses, issued since July 16, 2024.

New bar / nightlife businesses by neighborhood

Every Chicago neighborhood with a dedicated page for new bar / nightlife businesses. Numbers show businesses first licensed in the past year.

Sell to new bar / nightlife businesses?

Bar / Nightlife is a target category on these lead pages.

Reach Chicago’s newest bar / nightlife businesses first.

BizPulse turns the daily Chicago license feed into a filterable, exportable lead list — the moment a business opens. Get the Monday digest of the week’s newest businesses, no account needed.

Search every new Chicago business →All new-business categories →

Common questions

How many new bar / nightlife businesses are there in Chicago?

BizPulse has 81 bar / nightlife businesses on file that were newly licensed in Chicago, including 35 in the past year and 1 in the last 30 days. Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued.

Where are new bar / nightlife businesses licensed most often in Chicago?

Among the 81 most recently licensed bar / nightlife businesses BizPulse has on file, licenses cluster in Near West Side, Lake View, West Town, Lower West Side, and Loop.

What share of new Chicago businesses are bar / nightlife?

Bar / Nightlife businesses made up about 0.9% of all new business licenses issued in Chicago in the past year (35 of 4,040).

What counts as a "new" bar / nightlife business?

"New businesses" = accounts receiving their first-ever Chicago business license, excluding pop-up/transient permits. Counts are based on first-ever Chicago business licenses. A license is not an opening date — some businesses open weeks later, and some are already operating when the license is issued.

How often is this data updated?

BizPulse re-ingests the City of Chicago business-license feed every day. A newly issued license is typically searchable here within a week of being licensed.