How to Plan the Perfect Summer Picnic in Chicago

A picnic is the cheapest good meal you'll have in Chicago, and in summer it's how half the city eats dinner. From June to early September you can grab a sandwich, walk to the lake or the lawn at Millennium Park, and eat it with the skyline in front of you and, a lot of nights, a free concert thrown in. It also saves a lot of money on a trip where restaurant bills add up fast. Here's where to shop, where to spread out the blanket, and what the rules say about that bottle of wine.

What to eat

Chicago has every sandwich chain you can think of, and one of them is local. Potbelly started in 1977 as a sandwich counter in an antique shop on Lincoln Avenue, according to Wikipedia, and it still has shops all over downtown. If you want something with more character, here's where I'd go. Several of the places this page used to recommend have closed. Fox & Obel, the River North gourmet grocer, shut in 2013 after filing for bankruptcy, and Pastoral, the cheese and sandwich shop, closed all its locations in 2019.

Chicago French Market
We had this one in the wrong station. The Chicago French Market is at Ogilvie Transportation Center, 131 N. Clinton St. between Washington and Randolph, not Union Station. It bills itself as the city's only year-round indoor marketplace, a food hall of local vendors with enough variety to build a picnic from several counters, and it's a handy stop if you're catching a Metra train, including the Union Pacific North to Ravinia. It's open 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday and 9am to 4pm on Saturday, and it's closed on Sunday.

Hannah's Bretzel
Hannah's makes sandwiches to order with organic, local and free-range ingredients, and the German owners take that seriously. Get a bretzel roll on the side. It has a few downtown locations, including 66 W. Randolph St., at Clark, and one in the Merchandise Mart. The catch is timing. They're lunch spots for office workers, open weekday mornings until mid-afternoon and closed on weekends, so plan a Saturday picnic somewhere else.

Xoco
Rick Bayless's Xoco, on Clark Street in River North, serves Mexican street food, including tortas, and churros for dessert. You can order carryout online and pick it up on your way to the lake.

Eataly
The Italian food hall at Eataly Chicago, 43 E. Ohio St. in River North, sells bread, cheese, salumi and prepared food, and it's open from 7am to 10pm Sunday through Thursday and until 11pm on Friday and Saturday. That makes it one of the easier places to put together a picnic dinner late in the day. Ohio Street Beach is about a 20-minute walk east.

Green City Market
Green City Market is still the city's best farmers market. Its main market is at 1817 N. Clark St., at the south end of Lincoln Park, every Wednesday and Saturday from 7am to 1pm, and there's a Saturday market in the West Loop at 900 W. Monroe St. from 8am to 1pm. The outdoor season now runs into late November. Pick up fruit, bread, cheese and something hot from the prepared-food stands, then walk into the park. Our Green City Market page and our list of farmers markets in Chicago have more.

For more places to grab food on the cheap, see Chicago's best cheap eats and dining on a budget in Chicago. A Chicago-style hot dog doesn't travel that well, but nobody's stopping you.

Where to eat

Now that you've got your food, it's time to stake out a little corner of Chicago. Here are some of my favorite spots for eating outdoors.

Lincoln Park
At 1,208 acres, Lincoln Park is the city's largest public park. It runs along the lake on the North Side, with a harbor, miles of paths, the Green City Market at its south end, and Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free every day of the year. There's plenty of grass, and you can find shade under the trees when the lakefront is baking.

The beach
On a warm summer day, there's no better place to be in Chicago than on the beach. Some beaches have a restaurant or a concession stand, while others have nothing but sand, so bring what you need. Leave the beer at home, though, because alcohol isn't allowed on the beaches. Our guide to beaches in Chicago has the details.

Millennium Park and Grant Park
Grant Park, called "Chicago's front yard," sits between the Loop and the lake, and Millennium Park is its northwest corner. In summer, the Great Lawn in front of the Pritzker Pavilion is the best picnic spot in the city, with free classical concerts from the Grant Park Music Festival, the city's summer music and film series, and the big free festivals. A summer night on the lawn with a picnic and an orchestra is about as Chicago as it gets. Bags and coolers have to be smaller than 26 by 15 by 15 inches, and there's no glass. See our list of free summer events in Millennium Park and Grant Park for what's on and how the lawn works.

The lawn at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, in Jackson Park near Hyde Park, is huge, and it has a big lawn out front. The museum has places to eat inside, and when the weather's good you can take your lunch out to the lawn. A picnic before a day of exhibits is a good way to save money. Our guide to where to eat near the museum has more options.

Ravinia
Picnicking is an art form at Ravinia, the outdoor music festival in Highland Park. You can get there on Metra, and people go all out, with tables, chairs, real dinners and plenty of wine, which Ravinia allows on the lawn for anyone 21 or over. Read more in picnicking to pop bands at Ravinia.

What about wine?

This page used to say you could usually get away with a discreet bottle in the parks. We'll stick to the rules this time. The Chicago Park District Code says no alcohol can be brought into, served or drunk on park property unless it's covered by a permit or a concession. That covers Lincoln Park, Grant Park and the beaches.

Millennium Park is the exception. It's run by the city rather than the Park District, and the city's event guidelines say you can bring your own food and alcoholic drinks to most public events there. There are exceptions, such as the Christmas tree lighting, so check the event page before you pack the wine. Ravinia allows it too. Elsewhere, have your wine with dinner at one of the city's BYOB restaurants instead.

A few more tips. Pack a bag for your trash in case the bins are full. A frozen water bottle works as an ice pack and gives you something cold to drink later. If it's a hot one, see ways to beat the heat in Chicago, and for more ideas see what to do in Chicago in summer and the best outdoor dining spots in Chicago.

Photos by: schopie1, methyl_lives