The best bars to watch the Chicago Fire and Chicago Red Stars

An unpretentious and cozy Irish pub on the north end of Lincoln Square, The Atlantic is a favorite of Fire fans and Premier League-watching early risers. With hearty food, friendly staff and regular drink specials, you can’t go wrong (unless you’re an Arsenal supporter, in which case, try The Globe instead). 

This West Town neighborhood sports pub checks a lot of boxes, especially if you’re looking to extended matchday well into the night. Game on the TV? Check. Comforting pub grub? Check. Open until 4am with the kitchen serving well into the night? Check. After the match, you can celebrate or drown your sorrows on their sunny back patio, and keep the competitive spirit going on their bocce courts. 

Lincoln Park’s long-running Irish pub is a favorite of MLS and international soccer fans, who clamor in the cozy, nostalgia-evoking bar or on the spacious patio with pints of Harp and fish and chips. If you’re there on a Sunday and have the post-match stamina, stick around for the spirited live Irish music in the evening. 

You can catch every Fire and Red Stars match at this 30-year-old scarf-adorned footy pub in West Lakeview, but be prepared to get there early, as it gets packed with international soccer fans rising at the crack of dawn to cheer on their favorite clubs overseas. The wraparound sidewalk cafe has plenty of TVs, too, so you can sit outside and enjoy a pint in the sunshine and not miss a second of the match. 

The newest venue on our list, this regal Lincoln Park pub from the team behind A.J. Hudson's and The Dandy Crown provides a more elevated matchday vibe, complete with enticing bites like a Ploughman's Plate and black garlic chicken wings. Be sure to head upstairs afterwards to the colorful jewel box of a cocktail lounge, featuring a selection of historical and craft sippers. 

Creating a list of bars to watch soccer without adding The Globe Pub would be like serving fish and chips without the mushy peas. This popular gathering spot for soccer fans may have a new look since a 2018 renovation, but you’ll still find the same passion and matchday enthusiasm, and rotating soccer scarves from all over the world adorning the walls. While you cheer on your club, enjoy a classic selection from their updated pub fare to soak up your pint of choice from the more than 30 beers on tap. 

This beloved Logan Square “slashie” is a favorite of local soccer fans and full of character, from the art on the ceilings to the affable regulars. With a friendly, unpretentious matchday vibe and more than 200 craft beers for sale, there’s a reason Time Out readers named it Chicago’s most-loved bar in 2021. If you need some fresh air, the back patio is resplendent, down to the colorful murals. 

Named for the year the Chicago Fire were founded, this massive complex in North Center is home to an indoor/outdoor rec soccer facility and a pub helmed by the team at Fujimura Hospitality (Arami, Smallbar). In addition to the usual bar snacks and tacos, enjoy Hawaiian-inspired BBQ from DiamondHead BBQ and savory, saucy wings from Lucky Klucker. But if you’re here to watch the match, pick a nice, sunny day where you can catch it from the TVs on their welcoming patio, complete with fire pits. 

Location, location, location. Kroll’s benefits from being one of the closest bars to Soldier Field, less than a 15-minute walk if you’re looking for a place to go before a Chicago Fire home match. Fuel up for an afternoon of jumping and cheering with wood-fired pizzas and Wisconsin-style butter burgers. 

One of two anchor bars of Rogers Park’s Jarvis Square, this friendly, community-oriented neighborhood tavern and gastropub welcomes everybody for Red Stars and Fire matches. In the summer, you can gather around a TV that’s brought out for matches on their massive front patio while enjoying creative pub fare like kimchi fries and fried pickles served with a Chicago hot dog-inspired aioli. 

The South Loop’s genre-bending rock club has become a favorite of the Chicago soccer community, and you’ll see plenty of jersey and scarf-sporting fans on matchday “enjoying” Malört shots or starting a pickup pop-a-shot tournament on their roof deck. And if you’re looking for a way to safely pre-game a Fire or Red Stars match, they sometimes even offer one of their signature painted school buses to and from the stadium.