The 6 worst-kept secrets in Chicago

Though its muraled, unmarked doors provide a veneer of secrecy, the award-winning bar program at this Wicker Park cocktail lounge doesn't exactly fly under the radar (nor do the lines that still pile up out front more than a decade after the bar's debut). But it's unfair to pick on The Violet Hour alone—Prohibition is long over, after all, and most contemporary Chicago speakeasies favor online reservations over secret passwords.

To be fair, it's easy to not think about the Chicago Pedway very much at all unless a.) it's winter or b.) you spend a lot of time in the Loop. Even so, the city's sprawling, often confusing network of pedestrian tunnels—which connect buildings across a total of more than 40 blocks—are only hidden inasmuch as they're underground. One aspect of the Pedway that can be kind of secretive? Which entrances and passages are open at any given time.

Some out-of-towners might throw barbs at deep dish pizza, but anyone who's ever spent even a little bit of time with a Chicagoan knows that tavern-style is king around here—that's why local square slice institutions like Vito and Nick's get featured in everthing from Bon Appetit to Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Time Out Market Chicago even boasts a location of tavern-style purveyors Candlelite, because pies cut into squares are worth sharing.

Whether you stumbled upon it while walking around Jackson Park or scrolling through your Instagram feed, odds are you're already acquainted with the stunning Japanese-style Garden of the Phoenix, which sits on a small island between two lagoons. Case in point: Visit the garden come late April or early May and you'll find hundreds of people lined up to see the 160 cherry trees that erupt into pale pink, highly photographable blossoms every spring.

This Near South Side beach on Northerly Island might seem like a tucked-away gem given its proximity to Museum Campus and all the bustling sights of downtown, and we still hear people advertise it that way. Still, swing by on any nice summer day and you're bound to join a crowd of nearly as many sunbathers as you would find at stretches of sand near North Avenue or Oak Street.

Just kidding! It was never a secret at all. But we'll always cherish that one viral TikTok that called the Walgreens at Damen and Milwaukee a "hidden gem" (same goes for you, Goth Target).