Chicago Bath House

1914 W Division St, Chicago, IL

Chicago Bath House has been sweating Wicker Park since 1906. Known for decades as the Division Street Russian and Turkish Baths, and more recently as Red Square, it is the oldest and only traditional bathhouse left in the city and one of a handful still operating in the United States. The hot room is the real thing: a Russian banya with a towering stone oven and three tiers of cedar benches, paired with a Turkish steam room, a hot soaking pool and a single cold pool for the classic contrast circuit. Upstairs is a full Russian restaurant, bar and lounge where the day stretches out over herring, dumplings and tea. A $50 day admission buys unlimited time in the hot room, steam, pools and lounge, and the house rhythm is slow: sweat, plunge, eat, repeat. The signature add-on is the platza, a vigorous massage with birch, oak or eucalyptus brooms on the top bench, offered as a 15-minute traditional ($50) or 30-minute Russian-Turkish signature ($85), alongside soap and body scrubs. Walk-ins are welcome for the baths; treatments should be booked ahead. Towels, robes and slippers are included and swimsuits are required, with suits sold on site. Regulars note the co-ed banya runs hotter than the men’s room, and that the women’s side does not currently have its own cold plunge. After a full renovation under new owners in 2011 and a long run as a men-only schvitz, the bathhouse now welcomes everyone every day, and has become a Chicago institution for first-timers and old-timers alike.