Here is the deal, there are SO many restaurants in Chicago. The good news is that you can have whatever you want basically whenever you want wherever you are. That is also kind of the bad news. Sometimes it’s so hard to pick (and feel good about your selection) a restaurant from the more than 8,000 options available to you.
There are a million of ways to slice and dice the restaurants in Chicago. By neighborhood, by cuisine, by price range, by meal. And on and on and on. Websites like TripAdvisor and Yelp do an incredible job, so we’re not going to try and out do them in that department. We’re just going to give you some recommendations based on our teams our personal favorites.
Roasted Veggies
Why we like it: This is the easy part. It’s so fricken good – every single time. They pride themselves on incorporating the freshest in-season ingredients which makes going back new and interesting. Osteria has two different areas of the restaurant. One side is a casual pizzeria and bar, the other is a more formal dining area. Either is a great option, just depends on what you’re in the mood for. In the summer they have outdoor seating and if you time your visit right you can attend one of their events or classes which never disappoint. Event Calendar
Cuisine: Italian, of course. Osteria Via Stato translates to Cafe on State Street
Neighborhood: River North (620 N State St, Chicago, IL 60654)
Price Range: Mid-range, pastas starting around $8 and their specialties starting at $17.
Hours: Pizzeria side (and outdoor seating) is open everyday at 11:30am, dining room side opens daily at 5:00pm
Ribs
Why we like it: One word: Ribs. Mouth-watering, perfectly cooked (with your choice of three different sauces) baby back ribs. Besides the food this place has been around since 1932 and it’s as cozy today as it was back then. Be prepared to wait a little bit though. They do not accept reservations and the wait is typically over an hour long. But … worth it.
Cuisine: BBQ, specialty is ribs.
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park/Old Town (1655 N Sedgwick St, Chicago, IL 60614)
Price Range: Mid-range(ish). Full slab of ribs is $23.
Hours: Weekdays open at 5pm, weekends open at Noon (12pm)
Blackberry Bliss Cakes
Why we like it: Do not just take our word on this one – this place is consistently ranked as a top breakfast destination in Chicago – especially of you’re exploring the neighborhoods up north. This isn’t the first time we have mentioned this breakfast place either, it’s recommended in our Andersonville Neighborhood Guide as place you can’t pass up. Everything is genuinely delicious, but if you can only have one item make it the Blackberry Bliss Cakes.
Cuisine: Globally inspired, new American-style cooking. AKA awesomeness.
Neighborhood: Andersonville (5707 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60660)
Price Range: Mid-range for breakfast and brunch. Not single item is more than $13 or $14
Hours: Closed Mondays, 7am-3pm on weekdays, 8am-3pm on weekends
Signature Maki Roll
Why we like it: Coast Sushi Bar has a lot going for it. 1. It’s located in Bucktown. 2. It’s BYOB (bring your own bottle) and 3. They have the best sushi. Drop the mic. Check out their White Dragon roll under their Signature Maki menu. That roll is crazy good.
Cuisine: Sushi
Neighborhood: Bucktown (2045 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60647)
Price Range: Tough to say exactly, but the place is first-class all around. Signature maki rolls are between $11-$13 each and their regular maki rolls begin at $5. You’ll save money with BYOB so splurge on the rolls!
Hours: Opens 4pm on weekdays and Noon (12pm) on weekends
King Crab Legs
Why we like it: The atmosphere is so cool – very dive-bar-ish, but they are serving the best (and probably cheapest) seafood in the city. This is our go-to spot for king crab legs and an ice-cold draft of Budweiser. In the summer they have a patio facing the sidewalk that gives you a front row seat to some nice people watching.
Cuisine: Seafood
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park (676 W Diversey Pkwy, Chicago, IL 60614)
Price Range: CASH ONLY! This is another tricky one. Relative to other restaurants serving seafood this place is cheap (a giant mound of king crab legs for $30) but if you’re comparing it to the hog dog stand down the road or Subway then this would be considered expensive.
Hours: Opens daily at 11:30am
Bone Marrow
Why we like it: Longman & Eagle is our only Michelin-starred restaurant that made our list which means you know you’re going to get excellent food. They’re serving food you probably haven’t had before (beef tribe, duck-in-a-jar & wild boar sloppy joes) that will blow your mind. The prices are reasonable as well and their happy hour is legit. They don’t take reservations so make sure you plan accordingly – but don’t worry too much the neighborhood is bumping with plenty of places to grab drink while you wait.
Cuisine: Regional American fare using the freshest, in-seasonal locally sourced ingredients
Neighborhood: Logan Square (2657 N Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60647)
Price Range: It’s not cheap, but for the quality you can’t beat it. Snacks and small plates start around $10, entrees start around $20
Hours: Brunch everyday from 9am-3pm, limited bar menu from 3pm-5pm, full dinner menu starting at 5pm
Steak
Why we like it: It’s an Argentinian steakhouse! This might be our favorite BYOB restaurant. You don’t find a ton of BYOB steakhouses which make this place unique. If you’re ever feeling like you need to load up on the calories come here and start with a giant plate of fried cheese, move to a salad to make you feel better and finish the meal a parrilla chef’s special for one (or two, if you’re “feeling” it). The grilled chef special will come with short ribs, sausage, sweetbreads and black sausage.
Cuisine: Argentinian steakhouse
Neighborhood: Wrigleyville/Lake View (3763 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613)
Price Range: This place is fairly priced for the food you get, very good value plus it’s a BYOB.
Hours: Monday – Friday opens at 5pm, Saturday opens at 3pm and Sunday at Noon (12pm)
Whole Fried Snapper
Why we like it: There aren’t a lot of badass places in Chicago serving you an entire fried snapper like they do here. We can’t get enough of their camarones chinahua which is this magical shrimp appetizer served with gooey, melted cheese, onions and peppers. Plus the restaurant is built like a boat (El Barco = The Boat). There isn’t anything we don’t like about this place. Oh, and did we mention they have a giant outdoor patio to enjoy in the summer?
Cuisine: Mexican seafood
Neighborhood: Wicker Park (1035 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622)
Price Range: You won’t find a better deal for the quality and amount of food you get here. The entire deep fried red snapper (which we think can feed 2 no problem) is about $23
Hours: Open daily at 10am
Beer Flight
Why we like it: A dear friend said it best “This is a cool local place that serves damn good burgers. There are usually a lot of hipsters in there too. I always seem to leave the place fairly drunk and that’s a good indication that this place is great.” That’s probably because they serve whiskey and/or beer flights that are reasonably priced. If you’re a dog-lover you will like the fact that their outdoor patio is dog-friendly.
Cuisine: Modern pub cuisine
Neighborhood: Buena Park/Uptown (910 W Buena Ave, Chicago, IL 60613)
Price Range: This place won’t hurt your wallet too much. Burgers start at $9 and go from there. Whiskey flights start at $6.
Hours: Monday-Friday opens at 4pm (Kitchen opens at 5pm), Weekend opens at 11:30am.
Fried Soft-Shell Crab
Why we like it: A couple of reasons – one the food is amazing. If you love hot sauce then you’re going to be in…well…heaven. They have a wall of (we’re probably exaggerating) over a million sauces. So far we had left off the Loop on this list and that didn’t seem fair. And finally the cuisine is really unique, there aren’t a ton of authentic cajun-creole restaurants in Chicago. This is definitely our favorite. The cheddar-jalapeno corn muffins are ridiculously good.
Cuisine: Cajun-creole
Neighborhood: The Loop/Downtown (111 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60602)
Price Range: CASH ONLY! You’re in Chicago so you’ll pay for it, but this place isn’t too bad. Mid-range for sure. Jambalaya is $8 and a Po-bo style sandwich will set you back about $13.
Hours: Closed Sundays, open at 10am daily.
And there you have it. Our favorite local restaurants. As our tastes and views change we will add and subtract to this list. We hope that you make it out to at least one of these spots while you’re in Chicago. Enjoy!
