Downtown Naperville has about ten bars that count, packed into roughly three walkable blocks between Washington Street and the Riverwalk. The best of them is the oldest: the Lantern, pouring since 1966, open every night to 1 or 2 a.m. The most interesting is a speakeasy that only exists Thursday through Saturday. And the whole scene splits at 9 p.m. into two different downtowns — the wine-and-cocktail rooms that close early, and the four or five doors still open after midnight.
Hours below come from each bar's own site wherever one exists, checked August 2026.
On this page: The 9 O'Clock Split · The Rankings · Three More Doors, With Asterisks · Which Bar, Which Night · Questions People Ask About Naperville Bars
The 9 O'Clock Split
Every list of Naperville bars implies one continuous night. There are two.
The early downtown (SixtyFour, Barrel & Heritage, Santo Cielo on most nights) is done by 9 or 10 p.m. The late downtown — Lantern, Jackson Avenue Pub, Empire, Features, Two-Nine — runs to 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. If your night has two acts, order matters: wine first, tavern second. It does not work in reverse.
Two more structural facts before the list. Monday thins the field — the Northcott, Peanuts, Santo Cielo's bar, and Barrel & Heritage are all dark. And downtown currently has zero brewery taprooms: Two Brothers' Barrel House on Jefferson closed, nothing has replaced it, and the nearest real taproom crawl is the breweries guide's territory, not downtown's.
One thing this page deliberately doesn't do: kitchen hours. The bar staying open past midnight tells you nothing about the fryer — that trap has its own guide.
| Bar | What it is | Closes (bar) |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Tavern | The anchor | 1 a.m.; 2 a.m. Fri–Sat |
| The Northcott Liquorette | Speakeasy, Thu–Sat only | 1 a.m. Thu; 2 a.m. Fri–Sat |
| Jackson Avenue Pub | Craft-beer burger pub | 11 p.m. Mon–Tue; 1–2 a.m. rest |
| Empire Burgers + Brew | Rooftop with a whiskey list | ~1 a.m.; 2 a.m. Fri–Sat; 10 p.m. Sun |
| Santo Cielo | Fifth-floor cocktails, Bien Trucha | 9–11:30 p.m. by night; Mon closed |
| SixtyFour | Self-serve wine bar | 10 p.m.; 11 Fri–Sat; 9 Sun |
| Two-Nine | Martini lounge above Potter's | ~1 a.m.; 2 a.m. Fri–Sat |
| Quigley's Irish Pub | Irish pub, dog patio | 11 p.m.; 12 Thu; 1:30 a.m. Fri–Sat |
| Peanuts Bar & Grill | The local's local | midnight; Mon closed |
| Features Bar & Grill | Sports bar | ~1 a.m.; 2 a.m. Fri–Sat |
The Rankings
The order weighs three things: whether the room does something no other door downtown does, whether it's open when you'd want it, and whether the night costs what it should. "Best" here means the bar you'd defend to a visitor, not the loudest one.
1. Lantern Tavern
8 W Chicago Ave. The oldest bar in Naperville, and the only room on this list that works every night of the week at any hour a bar should be open — 1 a.m. weeknights, 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The popcorn is free, the draft list is long, karaoke is Tuesday, trivia is Wednesday, and it bills itself as Naperville's premier Bears bar, a title with no governing body and no other applicants.
Downtown keeps opening rooms with concepts. The Lantern's concept is being a bar, and after sixty years it has the execution down.
The case for it: Every night, late, cheap, no reservation, no concept.
The catch: The kitchen quits at 10, earlier Sunday and Monday. Drink here late; eat somewhere else first.
2. The Northcott Liquorette
50 W Chicago Ave. A Prohibition-styled speakeasy with absinthe fountains and cocktails that arrive in teapots, run by a "Liquor Chef," bookable on Tock. It is the most ambitious drinking room in the western suburbs — and it is open three nights a week. Thursday to 1 a.m., Friday and Saturday to 2, closed Sunday through Wednesday, 21 and over.
Those hours are the tell: this is an occasion room, staffed accordingly, and it would rather not exist Tuesday than be mediocre Tuesday. Respectable. Inconvenient, but respectable.
The case for it: Nothing else downtown — arguably nothing else in DuPage — is trying this hard.
The catch: Four nights a week, it's a locked door.
3. Jackson Avenue Pub
7 W Jackson Ave. Downtown's beer list lives here — rotating craft taps since July 2012, plus a posted late-night menu, which downtown otherwise treats as an exotic concept. One wrinkle from its own posted hours: Monday and Tuesday it closes at 11 p.m., which surprises people who remember it as an every-night-till-1 room. Wednesday through the weekend, it is exactly that.
The case for it: The best beer list downtown, and the kitchen keeps bar hours.
The catch: Early in the week it goes home before you do.
4. Empire Burgers + Brew
48 W Chicago Ave. The retractable roof is the argument — the bar claims it's the only one in the area, and it makes this the rooftop that works in more months than a bare deck would. Deep whiskey shelf, half-pound burgers, bar to around 1 a.m. and 2 on weekends, Sundays done by 10. Same ownership group as the Northcott, which means two of downtown's ten bars answer to one company — a fact the branding does not advertise.
The case for it: The only open-air drink downtown, most of the year.
The catch: It doesn't post its own hours anywhere official, so the close times above are aggregator-sourced — on an odd night, call.
5. Santo Cielo
123 Water St, fifth floor of the Hotel Indigo building. Bien Trucha Group's upstairs room — the same operators as Wheaton's Bien Trucha — with downtown's best cocktail program attached to a dining room with a view. The bar keeps its own posted hours, separate from dinner: 9 p.m. early in the week, 10 Thursday, roughly 11:30 Friday and Saturday, and it starts at 10:30 a.m. on weekends because of brunch. Closed Monday.
The case for it: The grown-up cocktail, the view, and weekend day-drinking with structure.
The catch: It's a restaurant bar on a restaurant's clock — this is act one of a night, never act three.
6. SixtyFour — Wine Bar & Kitchen
123 Water St, ground floor of the same complex. Sixty-four wines by the glass every day, poured yourself via a SmartCard in one-, three-, or six-ounce tastes, plus cocktail flights now on the board. The format is the point: nowhere else in the suburbs lets you cross-examine sixteen cabernets an ounce at a time.
The case for it: The most interesting wine format in the western suburbs.
The catch: Last pour comes early — 10 most nights, 11 on weekends. Plan it as the first stop.
7. Two-Nine
29 W Jefferson Ave, upstairs from Potter's Place. The second-floor balcony over Jefferson is the best people-watching perch downtown, and the martinis are the price of a seat on it. Runs late — around 1 a.m., 2 on weekends, per listings rather than its own posted schedule.
The case for it: A late cocktail room when the Northcott is closed, which is most nights.
The catch: Weekend nights get loud and young. Get there early or plan to stand.
8. Quigley's Irish Pub
43 E Jefferson Ave, in the Jefferson Hill shops. Quiz night runs the first Tuesday of most months, a live Irish session the third Wednesday, and the dog-friendly patio holds the space between. Its own posted hours are tamer than its reputation: 11 p.m. most nights, midnight Thursday, 1:30 a.m. — not 2 — Friday and Saturday.
The case for it: The patio, the session nights, and pints without a scene.
The catch: It's an 11 p.m. bar impersonating a 2 a.m. bar five nights out of seven.
9. Peanuts Bar & Grill
22 W Chicago Ave, Suite 206. The local's local — evenings only, opens at 5 (4 on weekends), closes at midnight, dark on Mondays, with a Riverwalk-side patio and daily beer specials. It's where downtown regulars go while the visitors queue on Jefferson.
The case for it: The un-scene. Cheap, calm, and the patio faces the river instead of the crowd.
The catch: The schedule is a suggestion of a bar — no lunch, no Mondays, no late-late.
10. Features Bar & Grill
10 W Chicago Ave. A downtown fixture with TVs for every game, and hours listed — by third parties — as roughly 1 a.m. weeknights, 2 on weekends. It ranks last on a technicality that doubles as a warning: its old website now redirects to a web-design company's homepage, so there is no first-party anything to verify against. The bar is open. The internet presence has been repossessed.
The case for it: The reliable game-day room in the center of everything.
The catch: A bar you can't fact-check is a bar you call before a special trip.
Three More Doors, With Asterisks
The George, 245 S Washington, took over the old Jimmy's Grill space — most recently Bev's, the one-year pop-up, which closed on schedule. New in 2026: American tavern, pergola-and-fire-pit patio, no reservations, closes 11 on weeknights. Too new to rank; promising enough to name.
Barrel & Heritage, 21 W Jefferson, is Lynfred Winery's tasting room, renamed from Tasting deVine after two decades on the block. Eighty-plus wines from Illinois' oldest family winery, but it closes at 8 or 9 — it's a tasting room keeping shop hours, not a bar.
Solemn Oath Brewery is the name people expect on this list, and it's a mile and a half from downtown on Quincy Avenue — a real taproom, wrong neighborhood. Since the Barrel House closed, no brewery pours downtown at all.
Which Bar, Which Night
A first date: SixtyFour, then the Lantern if it's going well.
The one impressive night: the Northcott — but it has to be Thursday through Saturday, and you should book.
Watching the game: Features, with a confirmation call, or the Lantern if the game involves the Bears.
A dog and a pint: Quigley's patio.
After midnight on a Tuesday: the Lantern or Jackson Avenue — wait, not Jackson Avenue, it closed at 11. The Lantern.
Avoiding everyone: Peanuts, any night but Monday.
Questions People Ask About Naperville Bars
What time do bars close in downtown Naperville? The late rooms — Lantern, Two-Nine, Empire, Features — run to about 1 a.m. on weeknights and 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The rest of downtown closes between 9 and midnight, and Quigley's weekend close is 1:30, whatever its reputation says.
Does Naperville have a speakeasy? Yes — the Northcott Liquorette, 50 W Chicago Ave: absinthe fountains, teapot cocktails, 21-plus, reservations on Tock. Open Thursday through Saturday only, which is either the brand or the business model, and probably both.
What's the best dive bar in Naperville? The Lantern, by decades — open every night to at least 1 a.m. Peanuts is the quieter runner-up for the regulars' version.
Are there breweries in downtown Naperville? Not anymore. Two Brothers' Barrel House on Jefferson closed and nothing has replaced it; the nearest taproom of consequence is Solemn Oath, a mile and a half southwest. For rooms that brew and cook, the breweries guide covers the whole suburbs.
Ten bars, three blocks, two downtowns — the one that ends at 9 and the one that ends at 2. Plan the night in that order, book the Northcott if it's a weekend, and remember that the best room on the list has been solving this problem since 1966 with a popcorn machine and a closing time.