Water Tower Place
Water Tower Place
4.5
11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Where downtown Chicago comes to life. At the pinnacle of Chicago's famed Magnificent Mile, Water Tower Place is Chicago's premier shopping destination. Its stunning seven-level atrium features more than 60 of your favorite stores and restaurants plus a mix of distinctive specialty shops and boutiques. It offers a unique, high-energy urban shopping experience you simply won't find anywhere else in the city. In short, Water Tower Place is the place to shop.
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Near North Side
How to get there
- Chicago • 6 min walk
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Restaurants
3 287 within 5 kms
Attractions
1 034 within 10 kms
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
801 reviews
Excellent
366
Very good
298
Average
121
Poor
8
Terrible
8
Cassie Chichester
Richmond, VA1 790 contributions
Sept 2021
This mall has so much potential - in a great city with lots of shoppers. It felt like a ghost town. We went inside the lego store and a few other clothing spots but I'd love to see this mall flourish. There's also a Jojo's milkbar inside for a treat. But they're not full service - you can just get milkshakes and I think a few small snacks.
I think we're seeing a decline in the inside malls in general (online shopping ugh).
I think we're seeing a decline in the inside malls in general (online shopping ugh).
Written 14 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark H
Fond du Lac, WI4 213 contributions
Dec 2022
It's busy vertical mall with lots of chain stores & large food court during early the early December Saturday we visited. It's filled with families checking out the Lego store and the Harry Potter store.
Restrooms are clean.
Retail therapy isn't my thing, but others may enjoy this.
Restrooms are clean.
Retail therapy isn't my thing, but others may enjoy this.
Written 3 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachel W
Detroit, MI368 contributions
Jun 2021 • Family
This place needs some new stores. There were several large vacant stores. I assume it was effected by the COVID closures. It y it s worth going to though because there are some gems there like American Girl, Lego store, and a Harry Carey’s restaurant. It has a delicious donut and shake place as well and a Freshii on the ground level.
Written 29 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jason S
Reedsburg, WI718 contributions
Apr 2023
We went here because my son knew they had a Lego store. It has a lot of floors of shops, but for the most part, many of them are not all that interesting. We did make a purchase at the Lego store, so for my son it was worth going to.
Overall, a decent mall in the middle of the city
Overall, a decent mall in the middle of the city
Written 3 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Milton Kanno
Sao Paulo, SP9 892 contributions
Mar 2019 • Couples
Compaired to The Loop stores this place is not much. Nothing special about the building nothing special about the stores. It is located in the end of Michigan avenue North, a little far from downtown, reason why it is less crowded than regular malls on business days.
Written 20 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Irina
United States13 846 contributions
Jul 2022
It's not easy to evaluate Water Tower Place now, since the flagship store Macy's closed their business in the mall in Spring 2021. That was a heavy blow to the mall.
The mall is there -- the looks are different. Not only Macy's gone by now -- dozens of other shops, restaurants, cafes, etc are no longer in Water Tower Place. Once a vibrant, always busy, always attractive and famous mall on N Michigan Avenue looks ... empty and abandoned? Not quite.
Some old stores are still there (Adidas, Lacoste, Aeropostale, Express, Eileen Fisher, Pink, Victoria's Secret, Lego, and others), some new ones open their doors to customers, pop-ups are emerging -- food stands, kiosks, etc. I visited the mall at the end of July -- and was somewhat saddened by what I saw. The glass elevator in the center of the atrium now goes from the Mezzanine (Level M) up to the top Level 7, with no stops in between. That probably says something.
However, I did visit American Girl Place -- the store works just fine, but wasn't too busy, then I had a very nice lunch at Harry Caray's 7th Inning restaurant, and also visited a modern Sports Museum near the restaurant. Those were very good and memorable experiences.
Water Tower Place has been in successful business since 1976, it was very popular with public, now the mall faces big uncertainties and significant challenges in its future business.
The mall is there -- the looks are different. Not only Macy's gone by now -- dozens of other shops, restaurants, cafes, etc are no longer in Water Tower Place. Once a vibrant, always busy, always attractive and famous mall on N Michigan Avenue looks ... empty and abandoned? Not quite.
Some old stores are still there (Adidas, Lacoste, Aeropostale, Express, Eileen Fisher, Pink, Victoria's Secret, Lego, and others), some new ones open their doors to customers, pop-ups are emerging -- food stands, kiosks, etc. I visited the mall at the end of July -- and was somewhat saddened by what I saw. The glass elevator in the center of the atrium now goes from the Mezzanine (Level M) up to the top Level 7, with no stops in between. That probably says something.
However, I did visit American Girl Place -- the store works just fine, but wasn't too busy, then I had a very nice lunch at Harry Caray's 7th Inning restaurant, and also visited a modern Sports Museum near the restaurant. Those were very good and memorable experiences.
Water Tower Place has been in successful business since 1976, it was very popular with public, now the mall faces big uncertainties and significant challenges in its future business.
Written 30 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rosie K
Chicago, IL1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Friends
There was so much to do. It never gets old. The shops there were amazing I got every gift for christmas there!
Written 10 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Taylor B
Chicago, IL8 508 contributions
Jun 2024 • Solo
Water Tower Place is the centerpiece of the Magnificent Mile, Chicago's shopping mecca. Located at 835 North Michigan Avenue, in the shadow of the Hancock building, across the street from the historic Chicago Water Tower, it is a large urban, mixed-used development comprising a 758,000 square feet shopping mall within a 74-story skyscraper. When built in 1975, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world with a 78-story, 859-foot tall reinforced concrete slab, faced with gray marble, in the tower section. One of the first vertical malls in the world, the eight-level mall features nearly 100 shops, a live theatre and several restaurants, all arranged around a chrome-and-glass atrium with glass elevators. The structure also contains a Ritz-Carlton hotel, 360 condominium units and office space. Today, the mall is anchored by a three-story American Girl store. Other stores include White House Black Market, Chico's, Lacoste, Eileen Fisher, Adidas, Akira, Claire's, Locker Room, Lego, Sephora, J.Jill, Johnston & Murphy's, Bath & Body Works and Sunglass Hut. Also be sure to visit the Chicago Sports Museum. For a break, have lunch at Harry Caray's 7th Inning Stretch Restaurant & Sports Bar or grab a snack at Garrett's Popcorn Shop or Auntie Anne's cookies.
Written 16 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tuxedofrank
Chicago, IL107 contributions
May 2018 • Couples
We have visited Water Tower Place many times over the years mostly in the daytime hours. But beware of going there in the evening hours! While we were deciding where to eat in the Mezzanine Level Food Court we saw about a dozen unruly teens congregating and intimidating shoppers as they walked by near the escalators. We heard someone say they might have guns and other people started leaving and we followed them and went back into Macys, we then left the store went and back to Michigan Avenue.
They need more security and do not let teens in Water Tower Place unless they are with an adult!
They need more security and do not let teens in Water Tower Place unless they are with an adult!
Written 9 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Musicmaster
Minneapolis, MN149 contributions
Sept 2017 • Couples
I've enjoyed wandering around and people watching in malls since the late '60s when the then safe and exciting Paramus (NJ) Mall was the nearest if not also the first shopping mall to begin replacing what were called "highway stores" (Two Guys, Great Eastern Mills, etc., earlier versions of Target and WalMart). While most of the stores I frequented have shut down over the past 10-20 years (bookstores, KayBee's, Sam Goody's, Warner Bros. among them) I still enjoy wandering (and usually not buying) anything but coffee in these fading hubs of commerce. Because my wife is a bona fide mall shopper, I get to loiter and languish pretty often in these odd and colorful collisions of fancy lifestyles and Giant Clearance Sales. Class meets unclassy in the mall! The aspirational and the kid-steered and the seniors doing laps at the mall! Food courts and security jesters at the mall! Every visit a poem! During a recent getaway to Chicago we spent over an hour in the very quiet Water Tower Place and especially enjoyed the Lego store. Employees in all the stores we entered were overly friendly or overly bored, and in my book that made everything overly okay. Seriously, each mall is like a small town with mostly new inhabitants everyday. Sit down and watch for a great new episode of life.
Written 27 November 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What to do after a late show at Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place? We are seeing a show in early December at 7:30pm. We plan on taking train in to Union Station. Is it safe to walk back to train station at 10:00pm or better to take a taxi? Are taxi's readily available that time of night (it will be a Tues. night). We would have almost 2 hours time between when show lets out and our train leaves. I would love to stop someplace for a drink or light snack, but am worried about walking around that time of night ….. we are two women in our 60's.
Written 9 September 2019
Safety these days is an issue almost everywhere. Some of the city’s aggressive homeless panhandlers can be intimidating to those who are not used to it. Yes there are thieves that walk the city streets day and night. To answer your questions- I do take the trains and walk that path late to catch the 12:30 am train Bach to the burbs. So do my adult children when they come into town. We do not take Wacker, We take Michigan to Adams. It’s a bit longer but better patrolled. I am not afraid. I am however vigilant and we all carry pepper spray. Uber and taxis are pretty cheap that short of a distance. Do what make you feel more secure so you can be comfortable and enjoy every part of your trip to the city😊
Written 10 September 2019
Where's the best place to get a cab at water tower mall
Written 8 December 2018
Allyson O
Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where is the best place for high tea December 6th. We are shopping in the the tower but thought we could enjoy a special experience too.
Thank you for any suggestions that are close by.
Allyson
Written 30 November 2018
Best place to get a cab at water tower mall
Written 8 December 2018
Allyson O
Port Washington, Wisconsin
Where is the best place for high tea December 6th. We are shopping in the the tower but thought we could enjoy a special experience too.
Thank you for any suggestions that are close by.
Allyson
Written 30 November 2018
And there is another place called the Allis they have High Tea also!!
Written 1 December 2018
Harry Caray's is a vintage baseball, semi-hokey mini museum with pretty good food for this tourist trap within what was once a destination mall.
Written 5 April 2018
What restaurants are in Water tower??
Written 4 April 2018
The_Loup_Garou
Phoenix, Arizona
165,453 contributions
Harry Caray’s
Freshii
Mity Nice Bar & Grill
M Burger
Are some.
Good luck,
Hunt
Written 4 April 2018
where is parking in that area?
Written 26 December 2017
The Water Tower Place parking facility is accessible from Chestnut Street, offering direct indoor access to the shopping center 24 hours a day. Insider Tips. Current parking rates are as follows: $22.00 for 1 hour or less.
Written 27 December 2017
I have a question about the premier passport for international visitors, do they mean when you get this there is a pass included that for some stores international customers do not have to pay sales tax? Like what Macy's does for there international customers?
Written 11 January 2016
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