What time you can buy alcohol in Illinois on Sunday depends entirely on your city and the type of business selling it. The earliest Sunday sales start around 6:00 AM in some areas, while standalone liquor stores in Chicago can’t ring up a purchase until 11:00 AM. Illinois repealed its statewide Sunday restriction in 2015, so every answer now comes from a local ordinance.
Why There’s No Single Statewide Answer
The old state provision governing Sunday retail alcohol sales, 235 ILCS 5/6-14, was repealed effective July 15, 2015.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 235 ILCS 5/6-14 Since then, the state has treated Sunday like any other day. The rules you actually have to follow come from your city council, village board, or county board, which have authority under 235 ILCS 5/4-1 to set hours and restrictions for licensed businesses in their jurisdiction.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 235 ILCS 5/4-1 Hours in one town can look nothing like the hours in the next.
Chicago Sunday Hours
Chicago has the most layered rules in the state, and the Sunday start time depends on what kind of license the business holds.
- Grocery stores and large retailers that qualify for early Sunday liquor sales under the municipal code can sell packaged alcohol beginning at 8:00 AM.3City of Chicago. Chicago Municipal Code 4-60-130 Hours of Operation
- Restaurants and bars that hold both a consumption-on-premises or tavern license and a retail food license can start serving at 9:00 AM, as long as drinks are served alongside food until 11:00 AM.4City of Chicago. Official Notice of Changes to Chicago Municipal Code 4-60-130 Sunday Hours
- Standalone liquor stores, package goods retailers, and bars without a food license can’t sell until 11:00 AM.3City of Chicago. Chicago Municipal Code 4-60-130 Hours of Operation
So on a Chicago Sunday morning you can walk into a grocery store at 8:00, sit down for brunch and order a mimosa at 9:00, but you can’t buy a bottle at the liquor store across the street until 11:00. Package goods sales end at midnight.3City of Chicago. Chicago Municipal Code 4-60-130 Hours of Operation
Springfield and Peoria
Hours outside Chicago can be much earlier. In Springfield, on-premises establishments with a Class A-1 license can serve alcohol from 10:00 AM to 4:00 AM, seven days a week. Off-premises retailers with a Class B license can sell packaged alcohol starting at 7:00 AM on Sunday, with sales ending at midnight.5Illinois Liquor Control Commission. Survey Details – Springfield The liquor store opens three hours before the bar.
Peoria County goes further. Its ordinance bans alcohol sales only between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM every day, with no separate Sunday rule, so both bars and liquor stores in the county can operate from 6:00 AM Sunday until 2:00 AM Monday.6Peoria County. Peoria County Ordinance – Alcoholic Liquor, Section 3-46
Bars Versus Liquor Stores in the Same Town
If the start time for a bar doesn’t match the start time for the liquor store a block away, that’s by design. Most local ordinances separate on-premise sales (drinks poured and consumed on site) from off-premise sales (sealed containers taken home), and set different hours for each.
Chicago lets a licensed restaurant pour a drink at 9:00 AM while the package store next door waits until 11:00. Springfield flips it, with liquor stores opening at 7:00 and bars at 10:00. Knowing the city’s “Sunday hours” in general isn’t enough. You need to know whether you’re buying for here or to go.
Does Delivery or Pickup Change the Rules?
No. A delivery order or a curbside pickup is still a sale, and the retailer completing the transaction has to follow the same local Sunday hours that apply inside the store. If a liquor store can’t sell until 11:00 AM, a delivery app can’t process your 9:00 AM order from that store either. The hours that matter are the ones for the city where the retailer is located, not where you live.
How to Confirm Hours in Your Area
Because the answer sits in a local ordinance, go to the local source:
- Search your city or village website for the municipal code and look under the liquor or alcohol section. Hours are usually listed by license class.
- Check the Illinois Liquor Control Commission’s survey of local regulations at ilcc.illinois.gov, which lists hours of operation by license type for many municipalities.
- Call your local liquor control commissioner’s office, typically the mayor’s office in your municipality, if a recent change hasn’t been posted yet.
Calling the store or restaurant you plan to visit works as a backup. Staff will know their own license hours, though what they tell you won’t necessarily apply to the business across the street if it holds a different class of license.