O'Hare (ORD) is one of the largest airports in the United States and one of the few American airports with a properly serious chef-driven food-and-drink programme. Tortas Frontera — the Rick Bayless airside outposts in Terminals 1, 3, and 5 — pours proper Margaritas with fresh lime and 100% agave tequila, alongside Mexican craft beer (Bohemia, Pacífico, Modelo Negra) at airport-but-not-extortionate pricing. The Berghoff Café in T1 is the historic German-tradition outpost with proper Berghoff lager on tap.
The Centurion Lounge ORD in Terminal 3 is the Amex Platinum play and is one of the busier ones in the network — wait times can spike during peak hours. The cheat code at ORD is the Hilton Chicago O'Hare Airport, connected to the central terminals by underground tunnel — its bar pours proper Old Fashioneds and Manhattans (this is Chicago, after all) at non-airport prices. If you've got 90 minutes pre-airport, the Blue Line CTA from ORD to Clark/Lake takes 45 minutes; The Aviary or Three Dots and a Dash are the cocktail-bar destinations from there.
By terminal, ranked
Plays for Chicago Airport: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Better drinking in Chicago proper
Skip the airport entirely. These rooms are worth the cab, even with luggage.
The Friday Pour
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 200+ cities. Friday mornings, no filler.