

Chicago is also home of Paul Kahan’s Publican and other members of the One Off Hospitality family.įor pastry, check out Lost Larson in Andersonville and Wicker Park, Aya Pastry in West Town, and James Beard award nominee Justice of the Pies (available at various markets and restaurants). Virtue in Hyde Park is another splendid restaurant with its own spin on Southern food from chef Erick Williams, who recently won a James Beard award for Best Chef Great Lakes (his chef de cuisine, Damarr Brown, was voted audience favorite on this past season of Top Chef). Can’t-miss spots include Diana Dávila’s genius Mi Tocaya Antojeria, Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark’s Korean-American stalwart Parachute (recently reopened after a pandemic hiatus), and Jason Hammel’s all-day masterpiece Lula Cafe. ShutterstockĮssential restaurants: To ensure an authentic Chicago experience, visitors should dive into Eater Chicago's Essential 38 Restaurants, which is updated quarterly. Parts of Randolph Street in the West Loop are closed to automobile traffic for outdoor dining. From patios, to takeout, to dine-in, this where to start when plotting out a trip. Where to Start with Eater Chicago's Top MapsĮater publishes a massive number of maps to guide diners through all of Chicago's can't-miss foods, drinks, restaurants, and bars. Of course, this is the city of Malört, the divisive spirit born out of Chicago, available at dives and cocktail bars alike accept that or just quietly sip a hard seltzer. Several new breweries and taprooms have opened in the city in recent months, including 5 Rabbit, Half Acre, and Hop Butcher For the World. (inventors of barrel-aged beer, now a subsidiary of Budweiser) to Maplewood Brewing - is humming. From dark and heavy stouts, to all the hops an IPA fan could want, the city’s beer scene - from Revolution Brewing, to Goose Island Beer Co. The eclectic community isn’t just made up of bearded dudes who like flannel. Then there’s the beer scene, which has been growing steadily in recent years. The Michelin-starred restaurants in America’s third-largest city offer top-notch fine-dining experiences, ranging from experimental tasting menus ( Alinea, Claudia, Esmé) to omakase ( Mako, Omakase Yume) to foragers ( Elizabeth) to the only starred Filipino restaurant in the world (Kasama). And don’t forget to ask for extra mild sauce when stopping at a Harold’s Chicken Shack or any of the many fried chicken specialists on the South and West sides. Street food remains a vital part of the city’s dining culture, and visitors should spend time getting to know Italian beef sandwiches and tacos. The city’s variety - from grandma slices, to Detroit squares, to Neapolitan - demonstrates that pizza is something Chicago excels at, no matter the form. Instead, most regularly consume the city’s signature square-cut thin-crust pizza, known as tavern style. Tourists fixate on deep-dish pizza, a complicated topic for locals who tend to reserve the stuff for special occasions. And don’t forget the tube steaks: the city’s hot dogs stands have no match - and not just the near-ubiquitous Viennas. While Chicago is no longer the nation’s meatpacking capital - the famous ( or infamous) Union Stockyards closed in 1971 - the city still contains an abundance of excellent steakhouses, perfect for the hoards of conventioneers on expense accounts who are starting to return post-pandemic.

This is your guide to the best the city offers.Ĭulinary innovation with a Midwestern heart While the city searches for some sense of normalcy, its chefs, cooks, bartenders, and servers continue to offer a level of sophistication seldom seen anywhere else in the country. Neither Chicago nor the state of Illinois has a vaccine passport program. In Chicago, all these influences blend together into a rich array of traditional neighborhood spots, white tablecloth temples of gastronomy, and inventive tasting menus that change with the seasons.Ĭhicago lifted all COVID-19 mask and vaccine restrictions at restaurants and bars last winter, though individual owners could still insist on face coverings or proof of vaccines to ensure the comfort of their staff. And they brought their food with them, from South Asia and Eastern Europe and South America and the American South. The population is a rich conglomeration of Chicagoans born and raised and immigrants from all over the world: Albany Park and Uptown are among the most diverse neighborhoods not just in the city but the entire country. It may be hundreds of miles from any ocean, but it was built on the shores of the great inland sea of Lake Michigan - the third coast - and as a city, it’s second to none.
