AlineaFine dining restaurant · $$$$ · Lincoln Park
Three Michelin stars, edible balloons, the most famous restaurant in America, ten minutes from the Athenaeum. If this tour gets one blowout dinner, it is this one.
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614
SmythNew American restaurant · $$$$ · West Loop
Chicago's other three-star: twenty seats, zero theatrics, the chefs'-chef answer.
177 N Ada St #101, Chicago, IL 60607
KindlingRestaurant
Featured by Pooja Naik / The Chicago Pescetarian. Named directly by Naik among five Chicago recommendations in the 2023 interview.
202 S Franklin St, Chicago, IL 60606
Avli on The ParkRestaurant
Featured by Pooja Naik / The Chicago Pescetarian. Same direct-quote list.
180 N Field Blvd, Chicago, IL 60601
King Crab HouseRestaurant
Featured by Pooja Naik / The Chicago Pescetarian. Same direct-quote answer.
1816 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614
Don Pez Fish TacosRestaurant
Featured by Pooja Naik / The Chicago Pescetarian. Same direct-quote answer.
844 West Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Pizza in Chicago
Pequod's$$ · Lincoln Park
See The Move.
Vito & Nick'sPizza restaurant · $ · South side
Tavern-style thin and crispy, cut in squares. The REAL Chicago pizza, per every actual Chicagoan.
8433 S Pulaski Rd, Chicago, IL 60652
Gino's EastPizza restaurant · $$ · River North
Classic Chicago deep dish since 1966, worth the wait, and yes you can write on the walls.
162 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611
Giordano's$$ · River North
Dave Portnoy rated it 8.4. The stuffed deep dish benchmark, a top crust sealed over the cheese with sauce ladled on last.
Dave Portnoy rated it 8.2. Buttery, crisp-bottomed deep dish and the lean sausage patty that defines Chicago pizza.
439 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60654
Pizza DadaPizza restaurant · $$ · The Loop
Dave Portnoy rated it 8.2. Loop counter doing a crisp, well-executed thin pie for the lunch crowd.
125 S Clark St, Chicago, IL 60603
Trendy in Chicago
Beaumont'sRestaurant · $$$ · Lincoln Park
Old-school supper-club revival whose reservation drops vanish in minutes. Charcoal steak frites and martinis.
2020 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614
Crying TigerSoutheast Asian restaurant · $$$ · River North
Beard-finalist Thai Dang's showpiece; tables drop at midnight and go instantly, with Kitty's cocktail club hidden below.
51 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60654
NaiaMediterranean restaurant · $$$ · River North
Greek-Levantine seafood on the riverwalk. The pistachio espresso martini patio is the summer scene.
300 N La Salle Dr, Chicago, IL 60654
All WellNew American restaurant · $$$$ · West Loop
Intimate fine dining from Oriole's Beard-winning chef de cuisine. 2026's chef-crowd obsession.
111 N Carpenter St, Chicago, IL 60607
Bar TuttoCafe · $$ · Fulton Market
All-day Italian from the Rose Mary team. The pasta-bar seats are Fulton Market's current fight.
1110 W Carroll Ave, Chicago, IL 60607
Bavette's$$$$ · River North
Candlelit speakeasy steakhouse, kitchen late, every visiting A-lister's first call. THE post-show dinner in Chicago.
Greek in Chicago
Greek IslandsGreek restaurant · $$ · Greektown
The Greektown anchor. Saganaki flames, lamb everything, waiters who have worked there since the Bulls were good the first time.
200 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60661
Nine Muses$$ · Greektown
Halsted Street since 1989, big patio, huge menu, and a bar that stays lively past midnight on weekends. Grilled octopus, keftedes and the pork souvlaki.
TaximGreek restaurant · $$$ · Wicker Park
Regional Greek cooking well past the gyro-and-saganaki script, with an all-Greek wine list worth trusting. Beer-battered mussels and the spiced lamb shoulder, then the rooftop.
1558 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
Avli TavernaGreek restaurant · $$$ · Lincoln Park
Modern Greek small plates in a warm room that locals treat as their default neighborhood spot. Order a spread of mezedes and the whole grilled branzino.
1335 W Wrightwood Ave Ste 1, Chicago, IL 60614
CiraMediterranean restaurant · $$$ · Chicago
Greek and eastern Mediterranean in the West Loop, inside the Hoxton. Bright room, whole fish, good for a table of six.
Big patio with a fireplace on Halsted, authentic Greek plates and a lively room.
212 S Halsted St #1, Chicago, IL 60661
Steaks in Chicago
Bavette's$$$$ · River North
Candlelit speakeasy steakhouse, kitchen late, every visiting A-lister's first call. THE post-show dinner in Chicago.
Bavette's Bar & BoeufSteak house · $$$$ · River North
Dark, jazz-soaked room that everybody in town names first when you ask about steak. Get the bone-in filet and the roasted bone marrow, and book weeks out.
218 W Kinzie St, Chicago, IL 60654
Gene & GeorgettiSteak house · $$$ · River North
Chicago's oldest steakhouse, open since 1941 and still run like it. Order the Chicken alla Joe as a side to a bone-in sirloin, that is the move regulars make.
500 N Franklin St, Chicago, IL 60654
Maple & AshSteak house · $$$$ · Gold Coast
Everything comes off a live oak fire, and the wine list is genuinely one of the best in the country. Say I Don't Give A F*@k to the server and let the kitchen just feed you.
8 W Maple St, Chicago, IL 60610
Gibsons Bar & SteakhouseSteak house · $$$$ · Gold Coast
The loud, clubby Rush Street original where the portions are absurd and the bar scene runs late. If you want to see Chicago's power crowd eat, this is the room.
1028 N Rush St, Chicago, IL 60611
Swift & SonsSteak house · $$$$ · Fulton Market
The polished modern option, dry-aged beef and a serious raw bar in an old cold storage building. Best in the city for a quiet meal where the steak does the talking.