Chicago event venues: a directory by size

This guide is for anyone booking a room for a group in Chicago or the suburbs: a rehearsal dinner, an office party, a wedding, a fundraiser or a company meeting. The venues are sorted by guest count, from boardrooms for a dozen people to theaters that seat close to 2,000, with a last section on courtyards, gardens and other spaces that do not fit the usual banquet-hall mold.

Every capacity figure below comes from the venue’s own website. Treat the numbers as ceilings, since a seated dinner with a dance floor holds fewer people than a standing cocktail party in the same room. Parking, transit and catering rules are included because they tend to drive the budget as much as the rental fee.

Under 50 guests

Small groups have fewer true private rooms to pick from than you might think. Many places that advertise events want 100 or more people on a Saturday.

Revolution Brewing taproom, Avondale

The taproom at Revolution Brewing sits inside the brewery’s production plant at 3340 N. Kedzie Ave. in Avondale. The taproom makes the list because it works for a casual group without a rental contract. Tables are 10-tops, and the brewery suggests booking once a group reaches about 20 people. Private brewery tours cost a $75 guide fee plus $10 a person, must be booked a week ahead and are not offered on Saturdays. One honest drawback: since the company’s brewpub closed in December 2024, the brewery says it no longer hosts private weddings or receptions. The taproom is closed Monday and Tuesday. The Belmont Blue Line stop is a short walk.

Boardrooms in Lake Forest and Oak Brook

The Deer Path Inn at 255 E. Illinois Road in Lake Forest has two boardrooms: the Cambridge seats 16 and the Oxford, at 640 square feet, seats 18. The inn is included for its English-manor setting, which suits a board meeting or a small family dinner that should not feel like a hotel conference room. All catering comes from the inn’s own kitchen. Downtown Lake Forest and its Metra Union Pacific North station are walkable from the inn.

In Oak Brook, The Drake Oak Brook at 2301 York Road lists its Gino Boardroom at 13 guests. Self-parking and valet are free, according to the hotel, which matters in a suburb where nearly everyone drives.

50 to 150

Loft on Lake, West Loop

The independent venue Loft on Lake occupies a brick loft at 1366 W. Lake St. on the west end of the Fulton Market District in the West Loop. The venue seats up to 150 and holds 200 cocktail-style under oak timber ceilings and a 65-foot skylight. The reason to book here is flexibility: there is a full prep kitchen for your caterer, and the room is a blank canvas. There is no outdoor space. The Morgan and Ashland stops on the Green and Pink lines are close, the #9 Ashland bus runs nearby, and the venue points guests to the Plumbers Union lot at 1341 W. Randolph St.

Small theaters in downtown Aurora

The Paramount Theatre in Aurora rents more than its main stage. The organization runs the 98-seat Stolp Island Theatre at 5 E. Downer Place and the 165-seat Copley Theatre at 8 E. Galena Blvd., which suit a screening, awards night or presentation for a mid-size group. The Paramount says its spaces handle groups from 6 to 6,000. The municipal garage at Stolp Avenue and Downer Place is free for the first hour, then $2 for the second hour and $1 an hour after that.

Two Brothers Roundhouse, Aurora

The brewery and restaurant at Two Brothers Roundhouse, 205 N. Broadway in Aurora, has several private rooms, including the Stout Room and Lager Room, plus larger banquet halls. The brewery quotes wedding receptions at 50 to 300 guests and other private events from about 25 people up. The Roundhouse is next to the Aurora Transportation Center, the last stop on Metra’s BNSF line, so city guests can come by train. A Holiday Inn Express shares the parking lot. Only Two Brothers beer is poured, and catering comes from the house kitchen.

150 to 500

Ravenswood Event Center

The Ravenswood Event Center fills a former print warehouse at 4021 N. Ravenswood Ave., right at Irving Park Road. The Loft seats 180 and holds 250 for cocktails; the Atrium seats 180 for a ceremony and 100 for dinner. The Showroom, the largest space, holds a collection of vintage neon signs and European and American sports cars. The venue is included because the pricing is published: a Saturday from April through December is $7,000 for the Atrium and Loft, with lower rates January through March and on weekdays. Catering is in-house, with a menu minimum of 150 guests on Saturdays, and alcohol is BYOB. The Irving Park Brown Line stop is the closest L station.

Venue SIX10, South Loop

The glass-fronted Spertus Institute building at 610 S. Michigan Ave. houses Venue SIX10, across from Grant Park in the South Loop. Crown Hall seats 350 and holds 400 standing; the Feinberg Theater has 398 seats; Gallery 10 seats 250 and opens onto a terrace. The venue makes the list for conferences and galas that need a theater and a reception room under one roof. Food comes from a list of exclusive caterers, and the venue is the only liquor provider, with beer and wine packages starting at $22 a person for two hours. The Harrison Red Line stop and the Van Buren Street Metra Electric station are both a short walk.

Windsor Hall and the North Theatre

Back at the Deer Path Inn, Windsor Hall seats 200 at a banquet or holds 478 for a cocktail reception, and the room divides into three smaller halls. In Skokie, the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts at 9501 Skokie Blvd. rents its North Theatre, a 318-seat thrust stage where no seat is more than 30 feet from the performers. That size works for a recital, a lecture or a company town hall. Parking in the center’s lot is free, and a garage east of the building opens after 6 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends. CTA bus 97 and Pace routes 208 and 215 serve the area.

500 and up

Hotel ballrooms and tented halls

The Drake Oak Brook lists its Grand Ballroom at 660 guests and the Three Oaks Room at 450, with smaller rooms for 125 to 260. For weddings the hotel quotes a maximum near 600 guests across 14 event rooms. In the city, Galleria Marchetti at 825 W. Erie St. in River West has a 6,000-square-foot tented ballroom with heat and air conditioning. The ballroom seats 450, or 375 with a dance floor, and holds 900 cocktail-style. The family-owned business traces its Chicago roots to 1924 and Giuseppe Marchetti’s Como Inn. The Chicago Blue Line stop at Chicago and Milwaukee avenues is a few blocks away. Galleria Marchetti works from its own list of approved vendors.

Two Brothers Roundhouse also belongs here: the brewery says its combined banquet rooms can host up to 600 people.

Historic theaters

For a performance, a corporate show or a school graduation, the big rooms are theaters. The Rialto Square Theatre at 102 N. Chicago St. in Joliet seats 1,966 in total, counting 1,125 on the main floor, 784 upstairs and 43 in the orchestra pit. The Rialto rents for concerts, dance recitals, graduations and corporate meetings, and hosts weddings and receptions; the rotunda is ringed by 18 columns under a crystal chandelier. A bridal suite rents for $500. Downtown street parking is limited to two hours on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The Paramount’s main house at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in Aurora seats 1,885. Valet runs $19 to $24 for a standard car, according to the theater.

The Arcada Theatre at 105 E. Main St. in St. Charles is a 1926 vaudeville house with about 900 seats, roughly 700 on the main floor and 200 in the balcony. The Arcada’s site does not publish rental terms, so the easier route for a large group is a block of show tickets: groups of 10 or more get a discount through the box office at 630-962-7000. Street parking around the theater is free.

The North Shore Center’s larger George Van Dusen Theatre is also available to rent, though the center does not list a seat count on its rental page.

Outdoor and unusual spaces

Salvage One, West Town

The architectural salvage warehouse Salvage One at 1840 W. Hubbard St. doubles as an event space across three floors. The first-floor ceremony room uses wooden church pews and holds 175 seated or 250 standing; the brick-and-ivy courtyard holds 200 to 250; the second-floor reception space seats 250 with a dance floor. The draw is the setting, since the store’s vintage furniture and fixtures are the decor. You can bring your own liquor, but an approved caterer has to serve the drinks. There is no parking lot; the venue says free street parking is usually easy in the evening and can recommend a valet service. A staff-run elevator serves the floors.

Gardens, courtyards and a riverfront park

The Drake Oak Brook sits on more than 20 acres of gardens with fountains, waterfalls and a gazebo used for outdoor ceremonies. Two Brothers Roundhouse has an outdoor courtyard and gazebo used for ceremonies. At Galleria Marchetti, La Pergola is a 3,000-square-foot glass ballroom with a retractable roof that seats 180 and holds 250 for cocktails. For a festival-size crowd, the Paramount also rents the John C. Dunham Pavilion at RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway in Aurora, a general-admission concert site for up to 6,000 people.

Good to know

Checked September 28, 2026. Rental rates and packages change often, and most venues quote prices only after an inquiry, so confirm capacity and minimums in writing before you sign.

• Courtyards at Salvage One and Two Brothers and the Drake’s gardens depend on the weather, so ask each venue about its indoor backup before booking an outdoor date.
• Winter is cheaper. Ravenswood Event Center’s January-through-March Saturday rate is $5,500, compared with $7,000 from April through December.
• The North Shore Center’s North Theatre became available for rentals in June 2026.
• Theater dates fill with each venue’s own shows. The Paramount runs Million Dollar Quartet from October 7, 2026, through January 3, 2027, and the Rialto marks its centennial this year.

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