The Apartment/Lion Head Pub It's just like home...with a couple hundred people at your bedside. Get your New Year’s Eve kiss while sprawled in one of the Apartment's many exposed beds. A food buffet runs from 8-10 p.m., followed an open bar and the finale, a multi-media countdown. The more expensive package includes access to both faux bedrooms. General admission after 11 p.m. is $25, space permitting. Cost: $60-75
Artful Dodger This Bucktown establishment is keeping things low-key and won’t gouge you at the door like many places. There will be a free champagne toast offered at midnight and a crew of DJs, including Dujan, will spin an eclectic mix of everything from rock to hip-hop. Cost: Free
Belly's The Champagne Supernova event explodes with tons of top shelf liquor and bottled beer. You can have a champagne toast and midnight, enjoy the sounds of DJ North all night and snack on appetizers. Plus, they wisely included Red Bull in the open bar package. Cost: $80
Cans Unabashedly old school, this retro-themed bar is offering a party package with a top shelf open bar, a champagne toast and a gourmet food buffet. With an open bar until two, you might be able to make quite a beer-a-mid from all those cashed cans. Call Kim at 773-276-7582 for reservations. Cost: $80
Celtic Crown Public House Chicago is going to have more Irish-themed New Year’s parties than the Emerald Isle this year. Expect two different champagne toasts and an open bar from 9 p.m. until midnight. Cost: $35
Cubby Bear Since the future has always had a permanent place in any true Cubs fan’s heart, it's only fitting that this Wrigleyville landmark would plan an extensive New Year's Eve party. The Retro Rewind Dance Party features classic tunes and an open bar that goes until 1 a.m., with the requisite champagne toast. There will also be a raffle for a free weekend for two in a hotel downtown, along with hats and noisemakers. Cost: $75
Deja Vu Toast 2005 with the "Out with the Old, in with the Vu!" celebration. Presale tickets get you a three-hour open call bar that might have you seeing double by the end of the night. Admission also comes with free party favors and a video countdown. If you plan ahead of time, you can upgrade to the VIP package for $45. Cost: $25-$45
Duffy's Tavern Indulge in the gourmet buffet offerings, including shrimp cocktail and a dessert bar, before hitting the bar. You'll keep coming back for more free wine, beer, top-shelf liquor and champagne. You can pay at the Bar1 Events office at 952 W. Webster or call (773) 868-8073. Cost: $75 cash or check and $80 credit card
Durkin's This Diversey mainstay offers up a gourmet buffet with pasta and carved roast beef, perfect for soaking up the large variety of free liquor. Beer, wine and top-shelf liquor (take it easy with the martinis) are available all night long. You can pay at the Bar1 Events office at 952 W. Webster or call (773) 868-8073. Cost: $70 cash or check and $75 credit card
Fado Irish Pub What's more Irish than Bass beer? Fado, the charming River North pub that’s part of a nationwide chain, doesn’t care where the ale comes from as long as it does its job. Its New Year’s party features discounted bottles of Bass, a live DJ spinning Top 40 hits, a champagne toast and a countdown on their big screen TV. Doors open at 8:30. Cost: $10-$20
Finn Mc Cool’s and the Loft Don’t wait until March to make a toast to the Emerald Isle. Ring in the Irish New Year locally at 6 p.m. with a bit of the bubbly and then continue drinking until midnight catches up to the Midwest. Though with a bash this you, you may not feel like you’ve been touched by the luck of the Irish tomorrow morning. Cost: $10 cover starting at 7 p.m.
Full Shilling What’s more fun: watching the city dye a dirty river green or drinking from Irish New Year’s (6 p.m. Central Standard time) to midnight? The Full Shilling rings in 2005 in Dublin with an early-evening champagne toast, an open bar and two hours of passed appetizers. Cost: $45
Globe Pub This new British pub colonized the spot once held by the Lyon's Den and plans to wave the Union Jack on the 31st. They’ll celebrate British New Year at 6 p.m. and then begin a five-hour open bar from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. The buffet should feature some stick-to-your-gut pub grub. Cost: $60
Gunther Murphy's With music like the movie of the same name, the spoof act Blazin' Saddles bring a degree of infamy and irreverence to the stage. They’ll be the highlight for the evening at this music venue and pub. Cost: $10
Hydrate One of the hottest spots in Boystown won't disappoint on New Year's. The night begins at 8 p.m., with a selection of cocktails containing the new premium vodka Level. Appetizers from the nearby restaurant X/O will also be passed around. The highlight of the night is a late night set by DJ Ralphi Rosario. Cost; $25
Jack Sullivan's Everything is free and for the taking tonight. The buffet is top-notch and includes carved roast beef, and the bar is serving anything you call (including champagne) all night long. You can pay at the Bar1 Events office at 952 W. Webster or call (773) 868-8073. Cost: $75 cash or check and $80 credit card
John Barleycorn The pickup joints at both of Barleycorn's locations are offering the same straightforward package for the evening. Admission allows you to get any drink you want from the bar and indulge in a dinner, dessert and appetizer buffet for most of the night. There’s also a free coat check, to leave you less encumbered when you start busting out your big moves. Cost: $100
Leg Room This swank spot stands out from the usual Division Street debauchery, but may not be quite as refined on New Year’s. Revelers have a few choices to match their party budgets, including $50 for open bar privileges, $75 for open bar with reserved seating (minimum four people) or $20 for general admission after 11 p.m. Billed as a “New Year’s Eve Like No Other,” this supposedly idiosyncratic fete will still feature a champagne toast at midnight. Cost: $20-$75
McGee's Hungry revelers can snack on the excellent gourmet buffet before tossing back a few celebratory drinks. Booze is free all night, including beer, wine, top-shelf liquor and champagne. You can pay at the Bar1 Events office at 952 W. Webster or call (773) 868-8073. Cost: $70 cash or check and $75 credit card
NY This sleek new spot is hoping to bring more of a Manhattan vibe to the Rush and Division area. To kick things off with a bang, NY is having its grand opening on New Year’s. Tonight’s party is hosted by Stoli Russian vodka, so the cocktails will keep coming. Hopefully the evening’s entertainment, residents Hit Man and Me alongside New York DJ Phantom, is a sign of things to come. Call 877-570-6564 for reservations. Cost: $75
Reserve This new boutique bottle-service bar offers many different ways to enter 2005 pampered and plastered. Inside the luxurious and intimate setting, you can settle for one of two open bar packages. If that’s not enough for a high roller like yourself, you can literally become Reserve royalty for $7,500. Four people will receive a personal butler, limo service all night, dinner for four at Tavern on Rush, premium open bar, some of the 1993 vintage Jeroboam Dom Perignon (one of 50 bottles shipped to the United States,) table of your choice, song of your choice played after the countdown to New Year's and two deluxe suites at the Sofitel. Cost: $125-$200
Rodan This bohemian bar and restaurant attracts such a relaxed and chill crowd, it’s hard to believe it’d be swept into the New Year’s bacchanal. But the management has managed to book a fitting DJ, the eclectic and inviting local house hero Madrid, to host its farewell to ’04. Come for the smooth set, stay to stare at the creepy and cool bathroom mirrors. Cost: Call 773-276-7036 for reservations. Cost: free; you pay for the eats and drinks
Salud New Year’s day hangovers are hard enough to handle without factoring in cheap tequila. That’s why Salud, known for serving sophisticated, upscale tequilas that don’t bite, is one of the few places where it’s safe to shovel down margaritas on December 31. Their party includes a top shelf open bar, a gourmet food buffet and champagne until 2 a.m. Call Kim at 773.276.7582 for reservations. Cost: $80
Sauce This posh hangout, a popular stopover for the Lincoln Park crowd, gives its patrons just what they want for New Year’s: an all-inclusive open bar features anything and everything you could choose from behind the bar, and resident DJ Agent X will spin all night. There’s also a free champagne toast at midnight. Cost: $100
Wrightwood Tap Pig out on a gourmet buffet that puts Vegas food lines to shame before you commemorate the calendar flip with a bevy of free beverages. Champagne, beer, wine and top-shelf liquor are free all night. You can pay at the Bar1 Events office at 952 W. Webster or call (773) 868-8073. Cost: $70 cash or check and $75 credit card
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