Almost Home Alone at the Almost Home Tavern and Grill may be the most exciting Christmas Pop-Up Bar. Food includes Wet Bandit French Dip, Micro Machine Mini Dogs, and Kenosha Kickers - Hot honey cheese stuffed pretzel bites. Drinks include The Southbend Shovel Slayer and The Buzz Bomb. 3801 N Clark St, Chicago, IL
Located at the Stolen Saddle in Wrigleyville, you will feel Christmas Spirit and celebratory energy at The Santa Baby Christmas Bar. Featuring Christmas classics like Jingle Juice, the Elf Fashioned, the Merry Manhattan, and Colossal Cocoa. Santa will see you drinking! 3505 N Clark St, Chicago, IL
Experience one luxurious Christmas Pop-Up in the heart of downtown Chicago at The London House Hotel. You will be sipping holiday-inspired cocktails while taking in unbelievable panoramic city views on the 22nd floor. The rooftop also features cozy heated igloos. 85 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL
Located at 809 W. Evergreen Ave, Frosty’s Christmas Bar is bound to give you a great buzz and glowing winter feeling. This ultimate Christmas Bar experience features three floors, two dance floors, four bars, endless Christmas Fun, holiday music, and full-size nutcrackers. 809 W. Evergreen Ave, Chicago, IL
Jingle Junkie is one extremely fun X-mas Pop-Up Party! Featuring a Ski-Lodge, seasonal ski drinks, a fireplace and chairlift, festive food, seasonal cocktails, and festive décor. Chicago is one X-mas town and this is one of the city’s top Pop-Ups! 3478 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL
For over sixty years, Butch McGuire’s bar has been celebrating Christmas! Featuring a looping train, wall to wall lights, and decorations that rotate above you. Try the Christmas In Your Mouth Martini or Christmas In Your Mouth Shot. This is Chicago Living Christmas history! 20 W Division St, Chicago, IL
Celebrate this holiday at Gallagher Way! The very festive Wintrust Winterland features decorations, carnival rides, an ice rink, international beverage and food, and plenty of games to go around. You will definitely feel Christmas vibes through the air at Gallagher Way Chicago. 3635 N Clark St, Chicago, IL
The Jack Frost Christmas Outdoor Pop-Up located in Chicago’s Fulton Market will create holiday festive feelings. The multi-sensory event features holiday Pop-Up shops, ice skating, holiday cocktails, axe throwing, bumper cars, striking Christmas lights, and photo ops. 170 N Green St, Chicago, IL
At Zoolights Chicago throughout The Lincoln Park Zoo, you will have a holly jolly Christmas. Zoolights features 2.5 million LED Christmas Lights, a 65-foot Ferris Wheel, exciting displays, carolers, ice sculptures, and hot chocolate. The family will love this event. 2400 N Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL
All Pop-Ups lead to Christkindlmarket in the heart of downtown Chicago. Your VIP pass gives you access to the following Pop-Ups: Santa Baby, Elf’d Up, Santa’s Workshop, Almost Home Alone, and many more. Give yourself at least three hours for this awesome bar crawl. 50 W Washington St, Chicago, IL
Welcome to the Winter Wonderland X-mas Pop-Up at JoJo’s Shake Bar in River North. Featuring festive décor, Christmas shakes, seasonal Santa approved cocktails, Holly Jolly Mixology classes, and Gingerbread decorating classes. 23 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL
Located at River North’s Headquarters Beercade, Reindeer Games is bound to create sweet holiday memories for you and your crew. Featuring photo ops in a full-sized sleigh, Christmas movie trivia, naughty or nice thrones, Christmas decorations, and themed drinks. 213 W Institute Pl, Chicago, IL
Welcome to Happy’s Holiday Bar at The Chicago Athletic Association. Featuring the wall of wreaths, over the top decorations, twinkling lights, seasonal tunes, special holiday cocktails, and bar bites. This Christmas Pop-Up is free and will fill you with Christmas cheer! 12 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Holy Cow! A lakefront lodge at Harry Caray’s Tavern on Navy Pier overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan. Featuring a fireplace, tasty bites, a private curling rink, specialty drinks, outdoor fire pits, and a heated igloo. Get festive on Navy Pier! 600 E Grand Ave, Chicago IL
Mordecai’s Mistletoe Pop Up Party boasts over the top decorations and has an exclusive holiday inspired drink menu. Featuring Gingerbread Milk Punch, The Winter Old Fashioned, and The Saturnalia. You will imbibe in style, class, and elegance this holiday season at Mordecai. 3632 N Clark St, Chicago, IL
Welcome to Brando’s X-mas Pop-Up at Brando’s Lincoln Park. Featuring Christmas karaoke, a Winters Warmers menu, seasonal cocktails, Christmas trees, a Santa’s chair and sleigh for photos, and ugly sweater contests. This is awesome! 2265 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL
This is Happy Camper’s X-mas Pizza Party. Out of all Chicago Christmas Pop-Ups, Kevin McCallister would love this one the most! Featuring your very own Cheese Pizza! Both locations are lavishly decorated for the holidays. 1209 N. Wells St. in Old Town and 3458 N. Clark St Chicago, IL
Brother pizza joint to Happy Camper is Homeslice. Welcome to another all Pizza based Christmas Pop- Up Experience. Again, Macaulay Culkin is going to love this place! Featuring holiday decorations, bursting Christmas lights, and a full bar. 938 W. Webster Ave, Chicago, IL
Welcome to the very exciting Christmas Club X-mas Pop Up. It is known as the original Wrigleyville Christmas Pop-Up. It features three bars on two floors and three-party rooms. This is a top X-mas party in Chicago! Santa may make an appearance! 3460 N. Clark St, Chicago, IL
Welcome to the Grinch Stole Christmas at Moe’s Cantina Wrigleyville. This Grinch like X-mas Pop Up features Christmas lights, trees, and incredible festive drinks. Also, featuring festive bites. Wrigleyville is Chicago’s hottest spot for X-mas! 3518 N. Clark St, Chicago, IL
Welcome to the Nutcracker Christmas Bar Pop-Up! Featuring charcuterie boards, X-mas cocktails, twinkling Christmas lights, festive decorations, a cozy/warm fireplace, and delicious shareable plates. You are really going to feel the vibes here! Location T.B.A.
Light of Christmas is a drive-thru Xmas light show experience at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Featuring synchronized fun holiday classics, 1 million LED lights, and wonderland light displays. 1 ticket needed per car. 3326 S Wentworth Ave, Chicago, IL
The Holly Jolly Bar at Puttery is an over-the-top holiday experience. Featuring holiday themed bites, ornaments, holiday magic, and very festive cocktails. This is bound to be the best time of your year! 932 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL
Santa's Workshop at Old Crow Smokehouse is one unique X-mas Party Pop-Up! Featuring festive drinks, photo opportunities, and seasonal food. Try the ham sandwich or the Old Crow Pot Pie. Drinks include the polar espresso martini and butterbeer. 3506 N. Clark St, Chicago, IL
Elf’d Up Christmas Pop-Up at the Stretch Bar & Grille in Wrigleyville is all about the Will Ferrell movie Elf. The dream-like Pop-Up features over a thousand elves of all shapes and sizes, Christmas themed cocktails, a holiday menu, wreath chandeliers, and wall quotes. 3485 N Clark St, Chicago, IL
Welcome to Rudolph’s Bar Xmas Pop-Up at Lost Never Found. Festive cocktails are going to lift your spirits here! Featuring wall to ceiling Xmas décor, delicious eats, and endless Insta-worthy photo ops. This will be a great experience for you and your crew! 3660 N Clark St, Chicago, IL
Welcome to Swan's Quality Christmas Trees; the best trees in the Chicagoland area. Opening 11/21/25. They sell wreaths, Fraser and Balsam Firs, and some trees exceed 12 feet. A Fox Valley tradition for over 50 years, they have 4 Locations: 790 Royal St. George Dr., Naperville, IL & 3800 E Main Street, St Charles, IL & 2036 Rt. 38, St Charles, IL & 622 Randall Road, South Elgin, IL
Welcome to the Home Alone X-Mas Pop-Up Party at Cortland's Garage in Arlington Heights. This is one awesome party featuring holiday drinks and a seasonal menu. Food includes Wet Bandits Wraps, Salads, and Uncle Frank’s Finger Foods. 1 N Vail Ave, Arlington Heights, IL
Welcome to Little Nero's Pizza X-mas Pop-Up at Easy Street Pizza in Park Ridge! Indugle in Home Alone based dishes. Featuring Little Nero’s pizza boxes, Kevin’s homemade sundaes, and Kevin's Fried Chicken Mac and Cheese. This is incredible! 711 Devon Ave, Park Ridge, IL
Welcome to Sippin’ Santa at Hala Kahiki Lounge. This is a tropical, tiki themed Christmas adventure. Think along the lines of Jimmy Buffett meets Jack Johnson. Festive drinks include Frosty the Merman, the Sugar Plum Mai Tai, and the Merry Spritzmas. 2834 N River Rd, River Grove, IL
Welcome to the Home Alone X-mas Pop-Up at Towne & Oak. The movie was filmed here in Winnetka! Featuring the iconic entryway staircase, a map of Kevin’s battle plan, and wanted posters of The Wet Bandits. Also, Kevin’s Mac N’ Cheese is on the menu. 921 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL
This is Allegory’s X-mas Pop-Up in downtown Naperville, Illinois. This holiday extravaganza is decorated to the rafters. Featuring tons of Christmas lights, a seasonal menu, and even a menu for kids. You will feel some seasonal cheer and spirit here! 224 South Main Street, Naperville, IL
Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum may be one of the greatest lights displays in the entire country. Featuring 17 displays of lights with music highlighting the Midwest’s wintertime tree beauty. Seasonal snacks and drinks can be purchased before or after your walk. 4100 IL-53, Lisle, IL
You will feel some holiday cheer and see a lot of beauty at Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lightscape. Featuring lights flickering inside of lanterns hanging on trees, luminous objects with colors that constantly change in a hypnotic rhythm, and many lighted gardens! 1000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL
Reserve 22 in Glen Ellyn has some great X-mas options. Featuring holiday cocktails, holiday buffets for lunch/dinner, and holiday plated foods for lunch/dinner. The whole dining room will be decked out for Christmas. Also, featuring holiday cookies and dessert bars. 485 Winchell Way, Glen Ellyn, IL
Jojo’s Shake Bar in Naperville, Illinois is a lot of fun! Featuring hot chocolate, over the top holiday shakes, ornament painting, gingerbread house decorating, and a lot more. Both the upstairs and downstairs spaces will be decorated to the nines. 5 Jackson Ave, Naperville, IL
The North Shore Distillery turns into The North Pole this holiday season! This is one magical Xmas Pop-Up. Featuring delicious signature holiday cocktails, entertaining Christmas activities, and incredible spirits. Try the Hot Buttered Rum or the Colorful Holiday G & T. 13990 W Rockland Rd, Libertyville, IL
Brant Buckley, the creator of Xmas Pop-Up Bars, is a songwriter, guitarist, author and Berklee College of Music graduate.
"Wedding Love" is Brant Buckley's newest acoustic ballad - a heartfelt, intimate song, featuring fingerstyle guitar, warm vocals, and a live string quartet. Written as a deeply personal gift for his cousin's wedding, Brant performed the song live during her ceremony at the Boulder Country Club in Colorado, where it became a defining emotional moment. Recorded in 432hz, a tuning that resonates deeply with the heart and soul, "Wedding Love" carries a calming, connective energy that listeners instantly feel. The song has received national attention, earning airplay on 34 radio stations across the U.S. and becoming Brant's debut entry on the Americana Music Association (AMA) charts. The song is ideal for wedding ceremonies, first dances, bridal showers, and romantic playlists. If you are an artist interested in covering this song, please contact Brant below.
In addition, Brant has over 16 years of experience teaching guitar to students aged 7-84. His lessons focus on real musical application, creativity, and personalized instruction. Specializing in Blues, Folk, Jazz, Pop, and Songwriting, Brant offers engaging online guitar lessons via Zoom for students at any skill level.
Brant is also the author of Chicago Blues History: Preserving The Past, a book dedicated to honoring the greatest Blues musicians. His work celebrates music, storytelling, and cultural heritage - the same passion that drives the creation of Xmas Pop-Up Bars.
If you'd like to connect about music, lessons, performances, or writing, Brant would love to hear from you.
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Website By: Brant Buckley