ORDAirport Guide

Food, water and drinks through security at O'Hare

Food usually stays in your carry-on, liquids follow TSA's quart-bag rule, and empty bottles refill past the checkpoint. Where to buy a drink in each terminal.

The pale terrazzo floor with dark diagonal bands and a grey panel wall in the screening hall of Checkpoint 10 in Terminal 5 at O'Hare.
Checkpoint 10, Terminal 5

Sandwiches, fruit and health bars can usually ride in your carry-on, TSA says. TSA lets liquids through only in travel-size containers in one quart-sized bag. Take an empty bottle and refill it once you’re through security.

What TSA lets through

Officers may ask you to separate foods, powders and other items that clutter a bag from the rest. Follow their instructions, because TSA words its food guidance as “in most cases” rather than a flat yes.

What you’re carrying At the checkpoint
Liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less per item, all in one quart-sized bag
Anything bigger than that Pack it in a checked bag, per TSA, unless an exemption below applies
Mini bottles of alcohol Allowed in carry-on if they fit comfortably in that quart-sized bag
Alcohol over 140 proof Not allowed in carry-on or checked bags, per TSA’s list

The airport’s TSA page repeats the rule and adds that the bag goes in a bin for screening. TSA says anything that alarms gets additional screening. It also says the final call on an item belongs to the officer at the checkpoint.

TSA’s list also says to check with your airline before bringing any alcohol on board, and it notes that FAA regulations prohibit drinking alcohol on an aircraft unless a flight attendant served it. TSA names medications and infant and child nourishments as exemptions to the liquids rule. Its screening page points to special instructions for baby food, breast milk and medically necessary items.

Duty-free liquids from an international flight

A connection through O’Hare can bring bigger bottles. TSA lets you carry duty-free liquids over 3.4 ounces if you bought them internationally and you’re traveling to the United States with a connecting flight. The retailer must have packed them in a tamper-evident bag that shows no sign of tampering. You also need the original receipt, and the purchase must be within 48 hours. TSA still recommends packing them in checked baggage. Our Terminal 5 arrivals guide covers where connecting passengers recheck their bags before the next security line.

Water: empty the bottle, then refill

The airport’s refill page says passengers can refill at designated stations once they’re through security, and it describes the stations as a way to refill bottles that had to be emptied first. So fill your bottle after you clear the checkpoint. The airport’s terminal map lists these stations by terminal:

Terminal Departures and check-in level Baggage claim
Terminal 1 21 1
Terminal 2 9 3
Terminal 3 17 1
Terminal 5 14 3

Buying a drink before security

Each terminal has a Hudson store at baggage claim:

Four other counters sell coffee before security and open ahead of their terminal’s Hudson store:

Terminals 2 and 3 list no counter before security that opens ahead of their Hudson stores. Three more places at baggage claim open at 6 a.m., the same time as their terminal’s Hudson store:

In Terminal 2, the Sports Edition Bar at baggage claim is open 2 p.m. to midnight, so it is the place to look for a drink after the Hudson store closes at 8 p.m.

Buying a drink after the checkpoint

Every terminal has Hudson stores that sell drinks, and the ones past the checkpoint sit at gates on the concourses. Most open at 4 a.m. and close at 10 or 10:30 p.m. A few differ, such as the Terminal 5 stores at Gates M18 and M20, which run 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. You reach those drinks only once your terminal’s checkpoint is open.

Terminal Checkpoint Hours
Terminal 1 1 3:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Terminal 1 2 4 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Terminal 1 3 3:45 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Terminal 2 5 3:15 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Terminal 3 6 3:45 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Terminal 3 7 3:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Terminal 3 7A 3:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Terminal 3 8 4 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Terminal 5 10 Open 24 hours

Our security page adds the PreCheck and CLEAR lane hours.

The airport’s directory lists bottled water or beverages at these food counters and markets:

When the Hudson stores and the counters above are closed, these counters past the checkpoint stay open 24 hours:

Terminal 3 also has Windy City Mart Drinks past the checkpoint, on the Departures and Check-In level. The airport lists no hours for it, so don’t count on it overnight.

The food and shops directory shows every coffee counter by terminal and hours.

What the pages don’t settle

The airport’s TSA page adds no food or drink rules of its own. TSA’s liquids page names the groups the rule covers, but the item-by-item answer sits in TSA’s What Can I Bring tool, so search it for a specific food. TSA also takes questions through AskTSA, with live assistance from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. Text “Travel” to 275-872.

Sources