Restaurants Open Christmas Day in Chicago 2026
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The reliable Christmas-Day pick in Chicago for 2026 is MingHin Cuisine, the Chinatown dim sum hall open every day of the year. Also serving on the 25th: Sun Wah BBQ, Maple & Ash, Eataly Chicago and Lao Sze Chuan.
The best restaurant in Chicago is closed on Christmas Day, and so are the next ten. The 25th does not reward ambition; it rewards the rooms built never to close. The Chinatown institutions that treat the holiday as a peak day, the steakhouses that publish a winter menu, the food hall that keeps the counters lit. Six tables confirmed or scheduled to serve on Christmas Day, ranked by how sure the bet is.
Six Tables Serving on the 25th
The surest table in Chicago on the 25th, because it does not keep holiday hours. The Chinatown Square flagship at 2168 South Archer runs all-day dim sum 365 days a year, Christmas included, and takes walk-ins on a day when a table anywhere is the whole battle. Order the har gow and the siu mai off the trolley; a full dim sum spread lands around 25 to 45 dollars a head. There is no celebrity chef and no festive set menu, which is exactly the point. While the tasting rooms go dark, this family-run room keeps pouring tea.
The most decorated room that actually opens on Christmas Day. The Cheng family's Uptown roast-meat house at 5039 North Broadway won the James Beard America's Classics award in 2018, and it posts Christmas-Day hours every year: carry-out from the morning, the dining room from late morning to a mid-afternoon last seating. Book the off-menu Beijing duck dinner, carved tableside then turned into fried rice and broth, around 50 dollars for a bird that feeds the table. The reservation book sells out and the rest is walk-in, so come early or come patient.
The splurge that does not make you choose between Christmas and a great meal. Danny Grant, a chef who has held two Michelin stars, runs the wood fire at 8 West Maple in the Gold Coast, and on the 25th the kitchen serves its full a la carte plus a holiday brunch rather than dimming to a token set menu. The 45-day dry-aged tomahawk runs about 175 dollars; the I Don't Give a F*@k chef's tasting is the order if you want the kitchen to drive. A steakhouse open on Christmas fills fast, so book well ahead.
The reliable middle, and the easiest yes for a group that cannot agree. Eataly's River North hall at 43 East Ohio opens on Christmas Day with a three-course holiday menu around 55 dollars at the La Pizza & La Pasta and Vino rooms, closing on the house panettone. No single chef, no theatrics, just an all-day Italian hall that keeps the lights on when the neighborhood does not, with retail counters open alongside the sit-down menu. Confirm the day's exact hours closer to December, since the festive menu is finalized late.
Tony Hu built Chicago's Sichuan reputation here, and the room he opened in 1998 at 2172 South Archer is the Chinatown answer when the 25th leaves you with a craving and no reservation. The Chef's Special Dry Chili Chicken, diced chicken buried in dry chiles and Sichuan peppercorns at about 18 dollars, is the dish that made the name. One honest caveat: the room treats Christmas as a peak Chinese-restaurant day rather than publishing fixed holiday hours, so call the Chinatown location before you build the evening around it.
The fallback with a view. The riverfront Smith & Wollensky at 318 North State follows the chain's pattern of opening on Christmas Day with a winter menu, dry-aged USDA Prime steaks landing in the 50-to-75-dollar range. It is not the most interesting steakhouse in Chicago and it does not pretend to be; what it offers on the 25th is a reliable, well-run room on the river when the independents are shut. Phone the restaurant to confirm the day's hours, then book through OpenTable.
How to Book on Christmas Day
Reliability beats ambition on the 25th, so rank your bets accordingly. MingHin Cuisine and Sun Wah BBQ are open by tradition, no special booking needed, though Sun Wah's tables sell out and the overflow is walk-in. Maple & Ash and Eataly Chicago confirm holiday service on a full or set menu, so reserve a week or more ahead through OpenTable or eataly.com. Lao Sze Chuan and Smith & Wollensky should be phoned to confirm Christmas-Day hours before you commit.
The pattern to know: Chinatown institutions and the always-open halls are the safe bets, while Chicago's fine-dining tasting rooms close almost without exception. Confirm the specific date when you book, not just the week, because a festive menu listed for the season does not guarantee the 25th itself. If a confirmation is at all vague, treat it as a no and fall back to MingHin, the room that does not keep holiday hours at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
MingHin Cuisine in Chinatown is the most reliable, running all-day dim sum 365 days a year, and Sun Wah BBQ in Uptown publishes Christmas-Day hours every December. Maple & Ash serves its full menu plus a holiday brunch on the 25th, Eataly Chicago runs a three-course holiday menu, and Lao Sze Chuan and Smith & Wollensky typically open, though you should call each to confirm the day's hours.
Yes. Maple & Ash, the Gold Coast steakhouse from two-Michelin-star chef Danny Grant, serves its full a la carte plus a holiday brunch on the 25th, with a dry-aged tomahawk around 175 dollars. Smith & Wollensky on the river opens with a winter menu. Most of Chicago's fine-dining tasting rooms, including Alinea, Next and Smyth, close for the holidays, so the open upscale options are steakhouses rather than tasting counters.
For most of these, yes. Maple & Ash, Eataly and Smith & Wollensky run holiday menus on the 25th and should be booked a week or more ahead. Lao Sze Chuan should be confirmed by phone. The exceptions are MingHin Cuisine, which takes walk-ins as an open-365 dim sum hall, and Sun Wah BBQ, whose reservation book sells out early on Christmas Day and then runs walk-in only, so arriving early is wise.
It ranges widely. A dim sum spread at MingHin or a Sichuan plate at Lao Sze Chuan runs roughly 18 to 45 dollars a head, and Sun Wah's shared Beijing duck is around 50. Eataly's three-course holiday menu is about 55 dollars. At the top, Smith & Wollensky's steaks land between 50 and 75 dollars, and Maple & Ash's dry-aged tomahawk is around 175. Festive menus at the grander rooms can replace the regular card on the day.
Most independent restaurants close on the 25th to give staff the holiday, and the city's tasting rooms close almost without exception. The rooms that stay open are the ones structurally built not to: Chinatown institutions like MingHin and Sun Wah that treat Christmas as a peak day, all-day halls like Eataly, and steakhouses that publish a holiday winter menu. That is why this list leans on those three types rather than the marquee fine-dining names.