The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Birrieria Zaragoza
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Rank 1. Birrieria Zaragoza
Mexican
A narrow storefront devoted entirely to birria—stewed goat so tender it dissolves on the tongue, served bone-in for maximum savor in consommé or as tacos with handmade corn tortillas. The quesadilla, stuffed with melting cheese and meat, feels almost indulgent in its simplicity. One dish done with absolute conviction.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Time Out #2 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
- The Infatuation #18 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
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Rank 2. Xocome Antojeria
Handmade Mexican
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Rank 3. La Chaparrita
Mexican
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Rank 4. EL Ideas
Contemporary
Phillip Foss cooks from his home in a warehouse where one seating means everyone eats together, wine is unlimited, and the kitchen is theater—guests drift past the pantry and stand inches from the plating. His cuisine surprises with playful riffs, though the French fries with potato leek soup and nitro ice cream remain steadfast.
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- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outsdanding Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Chef of the Year · Kevin Hickey
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Rank 7. Grano
Mexican Bakery
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Rank 8. Osito's Tap
Mexican
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Rank 9. Cafe Jumping Bean
Mexican
- Eater Chicago’s Best Coffee Shops
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
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Rank 11. Cadinho
Portuguese Bakery
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Rank 12. Mariscos San Pedro
Mexican Seafood
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Marcos Ascencio
- The Infatuation #8 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
- Time Out #15 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 13. Smyth
Contemporary
The open kitchen at this chic West Loop tasting room showcases Shields and Urie-Shields' boundary-pushing approach to seasonal produce, some grown on-site. A kelp tart with pea butter and trout roe, or foie gras doughnuts with crab, exemplify their restless creativity.
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- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
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Rank 15. Ghin Khao
Northern Thai
At this sibling-run Northern Thai spot, hip-hop thrums beneath murals while the kitchen balances heat, salt, sweet, and acid with precision. Fishcakes arrive crunchy with herb salad; nam khao tod layers crispy rice with chicken, pork skin, ginger, and cilantro. BYOB transforms modest ambitions into proper feasting.
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Rank 16. Bueno Days
Mexican
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Rank 17. HaiSous
Vietnamese
Chef Thai Dang and his wife have built a composed room in Pilsen where refined Vietnamese cooking arrives in five thoughtful sections, from an open kitchen counter to intimate dining rooms. The goi vit and ché matter here—duck salad and coconut rice pudding that linger because they taste like they were made with intention, not routine.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Thai Dang
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 18. Vito & Nick's
Tavern-style Pizza
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Rank 20. Ever
Creative
On a hushed corner of Fulton Market, Curtis Duffy orchestrates an austere dining room where every element—light, spacing, plating—answers to a larger vision. The food arrives as disciplined architecture: technically assured, visually composed, each plate a study in structure and restraint.
- AAA Five Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best Fine Dining Experience
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Rank 22. Phil's Pizza
Tavern-Style Pizza
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Rank 23. Nine Bar
Asian-Inspired
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Bars
- 50 Best 2026 · #76 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire 2024 · The Best Bars in America
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Rank 25. Kumiko
Japanese Cocktail Bar
Julia Momosé's dining bar pairs an exceptional Japanese spirits collection with sharp-uniformed servers who radiate genuine warmth across a room designed for lingering. The kitchen matches that precision—butter cabbage with ramp miso and katsuobushi, grilled Arctic char in shio koji beurre blanc—each plate calibrated as carefully as the cocktails beside it.
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Rank 26. JM Seafood
Seafood
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Rank 27. HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen
Vietnamese
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Thai Dang
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Thai Dang
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 29. Novel Pizza Cafe
Midwest/Filipino/Mexican
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Rank 30. Carnitas Uruapan Restaurant
Michoacan-Style Mexican
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Rank 31. La Michoacana Premium
Mexican
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Rank 32. Oriole
French-Japanese New American
A former warehouse accessed by freight elevator, Oriole channels restrained elegance through its open kitchen and striking ceiling collage. Chef Noah Sandoval's French-Japanese tasting menu demonstrates disciplined technique, with black truffle capellini and foie gras canapés executed with quiet precision.
- AAA Five Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- The Infatuation Infatuation’s Highest-Rated Restaurants In America
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Rank 33. Pleasant House Pub
British
A contemporary room of marble and pottery plays host to English meat pies that justify the crowds—the steak and ale arrives with a flaky, buttery crust and beef stew filling, sided with mashed potatoes and minty peas. Between pies, there's rarebit mac and cheese and a pub burger with bacon aioli that suggests the kitchen understands comfort food as something worth taking seriously.
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Rank 34. Moody Tongue
Contemporary
A dining room suspended above a working brewery, all moody lighting and masculine restraint, where a tasting menu of global whimsy—Hokkaido scallop, wagyu with oxtail-filled corn bread—finds its match in house-brewed beers that function as something more than an afterthought. The beer pairing is essential to the experience.
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Rank 36. Sugar Shack
Dessert
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- 50 Best 2025 · One to Watch Award
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
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Rank 40. Elske
Contemporary
The Posey's airy dining room and garden patio set a calm stage for cooking that honors ingredients with Danish-inflected restraint. Duck liver tart with salted ramp, composed vegetable plates, and gently handled proteins move across the season; desserts—shaped by Anna Posey's visual arts background—balance considered composition with simplicity. A thoughtful wine and juice program follows.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Anna Posey
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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Rank 42. Oliver’s
Seafood
A narrow storefront opens into a larger dining room dressed in 1930s Hollywood glamour, all cushioned chairs and gallery walls. The kitchen coaxes global flavors from pristine seafood—a grilled tiger prawn over garam masala, porcini risotto with browned butter—with admirable restraint.
- Artful Living 2025 · The Top 5 Most Stylish Restaurants in America
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 43. Sepia
New American
A former print shop on Jefferson Street holds a dining room where exposed brick and floor-to-ceiling wine racks frame Chef Andrew Zimmerman's restless intelligence. His brioche with black truffle and leek velouté, his sablefish with barbecue spice and smoked apple, suggest a cook equally at home in Southeast Asia, Korea, and the American South.
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Rank 44. Creepies
French
Stone and wood walls hold art above black-and-white tile, where David and Anna Posey's bistro unfolds with French discipline and Midwestern warmth. A halibut arrives with sauce homard and dumplings; a gnocchi swims in gruyere and egg yolk—restrained cooking that asks nothing more of itself than clarity.
- Esquire 2025 · Vesper · The Best Martinis in America
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation 2025 · #9 · Chicago’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 45. Feld
Contemporary
Chef Jacob Potashnick orchestrates a produce-focused tasting in Ukrainian Village's open kitchen, drawing ingredients from within four hours of Chicago and coaxing them through multiple preparations—raw asparagus, tempura, juice. A single vegetable becomes the evening's argument, whether maitake mushroom across textures or sour cherries from the backyard trees.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Jacob Potashnick
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 46. Next
Contemporary
Each season brings a new culinary theme—ancient Rome, Hollywood, fin-de-siècle Paris—executed with technical precision and theatrical flair. The tasting menu pivots entirely every few months, making repeat visits feel like discovering a different restaurant.
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Rank 47. Monteverde
Italian
The pasta station anchors this narrow room where Chef Sarah Grueneberg executes the fundamentals of cucina tipica with quiet precision. Cabbage leaves give way to cacio e pepe made luminous with whey, each strand of al dente pasta coated in Pecorino and cracked pepper—the kind of cooking that fills the counter by early evening.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Emerging Chef · Bailey Sullivan
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation #7 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
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Rank 48. Maxwells Trading
Contemporary
A converted warehouse in West Loop fills nightly with the sound of conversation ricocheting off black-framed windows and an almost endless bar, its kitchen playing confidently with Japanese, Chinese, and Thai influences across dishes like soup dumpling tortellini and turbot with kombu beurre blanc. The rooftop garden feeds the plates; the bartenders fuel the momentum.
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Christopher Jung and Erling Wu-Bower
- Wine Enthusiast 2025 · Top 50 New Restaurants
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Rank 49. Kasama
Filipino
Tim Flores and Genie Kwon cook Filipino food with striking originality in a spare room, each dish—mussel adobo, shrimp-paste peanut sauce—arriving as both homage and reinvention. The desserts, particularly a corn semifreddo that riffs on mais con yelo, are equally inventive, suggesting a kitchen where tradition and technique speak the same language.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- 50 Best 2025 · #31 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
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Rank 51. Bisous
Parisian
- 50 Best 2026 · #30 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire 2024 · The Best Bars in America
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 10 U.S. Nominee · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
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Rank 52. Milly's Pizza In The Pan
Pan-style Pizza
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Rank 55. Ocean Grill & Bar
Vietnamese
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Rank 57. Apolonia
Contemporary Mediterranean
- The Banchets 2025 · Winner · Sommelier of the Year · Jelena Prodan
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Chef of the Year · Stephen Gillanders
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Rank 58. Chez Joël
French
Soft blue velvet and a gleaming chandelier set the stage for Francophile nostalgia at this Taylor Street dining room, where expats linger over wine and memory. The kitchen honors classical French technique—frogs' legs in Provençal style, crisp-skinned coq au vin—without pretension or constraint.
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Rank 59. Yao Yao
Sichuan Chinese
The glass-walled kitchen at Yao Yao frames the work of pickling and braising that defines the place. The signature fish arrives fiery and funky, its sour greens delivering sharp counterpoint to heat; wontons in chili oil and spare sides of celtuce and konjac noodles complete a meal built on fermentation and restraint rather than spectacle.
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Rank 60. The Momo World
Nepali Noodles
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Rank 61. Pizz’amici
Tavern-Style Pizza
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation 2025 · #10 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- Eater Best New Pizzeria · The 2025 Eater Chicago Award Winners
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Rank 62. The Loyalist
French
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. Central
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
- Time Out #18 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 63. il Carciofo
Roman Italian
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Frank Callero, Joe Flamm, and Steven Zaleski - Day Off Group
- The Infatuation 2025 · #10 · Chicago’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 64. Rose Mary
Croatian Eastern European
Chef Joe Flamm's Rose Mary channels the rustic warmth of Croatian konobas through whitewashed walls and hanging plants in West Fulton Market. Charcoal-fired lamb and delicate rosewater fritule anchor a menu drawing from the Adriatic with assured restraint.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Frank Callero, Joe Flamm, and Steven Zaleski - Day Off Group
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. Central
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 67. Virtue
Southern
In a Hyde Park corner across from the university, Erick Williams runs a dining room with an animated bar and a kitchen that takes Southern cooking seriously—corn bread arrives with a steak knife and honey butter. The dirty rice with chicken gizzards and house-made charcuterie with pepper jelly suggest a chef thinking past nostalgia toward something more deliberate.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Winner · Emerging Chef · Damarr Brown
- Food & Wine 2025 · The Top 15 US Restaurants
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 68. VietFive Coffee
Vietnamese
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Rank 69. Brasero
South American
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Wine Enthusiast 2024 · Forward 50 Restaurants
- Time Out #23 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 70. Momotaro
Modern Japanese
Momotaro channels mid-century Japanese fantasy through multiple kitchens, with Gene Kato's grilled jidori kimo and robata beef tsukune earning their reputation. A whiskey list displayed on a departure board and severely rationed uni nigiri reward those who plan ahead.
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- Eater Chicago’s Best Coffee Shops
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
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Rank 73. Milly’s Pizza In The Pan
Pan-style Pizza
- Time Out Chicago Pie · The 18 best pizzas in the world right now
- The Infatuation #23 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Pizza
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Rank 74. Al Bawadi Grill
Middle Eastern
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
- Eater The Best Places to Eat in Suburban Chicago
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Rank 75. Swift & Sons
Steakhouse
A converted 1920s meat warehouse on Fulton Market, now a plush steakhouse where soaring wood arches and concrete columns frame tables suited for serious eating. Prime beef arrives seared hard and flanked by three sauces, while the wine list obliges small pours and the sides—king crab, Boston cream pie—suggest no one here counts calories.
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- Eater Chicago’s Best Coffee Shops
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
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Rank 79. Sanders BBQ Supply Co.
Barbecue
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Nick Kleutsch and James Sanders
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 80. Casa Madai
Japanese/Mexican
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- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 84. avec
Mediterranean
Warm wood lines every surface of this twenty-year-old counter restaurant on West Randolph, where a Mediterranean kitchen turns seasonal ingredients into boldly dressed plates—roasted asparagus with za'atar buttermilk, chickpea hummus studded with oysters mushrooms—each one crowned in herbs and crunchy garnish. The effect is unfussy abundance.
- Wine Enthusiast 2023 · Forward 50 Restaurants
- The Banchets 2025 · Winner · Restuarant of the Year
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 86. Alinea
Creative
Grant Achatz orchestrates dinner as theater—vapor drifts across the table, hidden flavors emerge from diminutive courses, and tableside pyrotechnics render the plate obsolete. The evening oscillates between whimsy and precision, each course a small rupture in expectation, culminating in dessert painted directly onto bare wood.
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- VinePair 2025 · Food & Beverage Program of the Year · The Next Wave Awards
- The Pinnacle Guide 2026 · 1 Pin
- 50 Best 2026 · #27 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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Rank 88. Mako
Japanese
An unmarked storefront on West Lake houses B.K. Park's intimate omakase counter, where twenty-two seats face a team working with sudachi, sesame-pepper soy, and burnt scallion ponzu to remake each piece. The evening unfolds through sushi and braced abalone with equal care, finishing in whiskey caramel and the specific pleasure of being fully seen by the kitchen.
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Rank 89. J.P. Graziano
Italian
- The Infatuation #10 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Counter Service
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Rank 93. Jeong
Korean
Dave Park and Jen Tran have built something rare here: a tasting menu that treats Korean flavors with the precision of haute cuisine without irony or apology. A disk of salmon tartare arrives under doenjang yuzu gastrique and crisp rice crackers; octopus swims in peach sauce alongside kimchi. The room is sleek and intimate, the cooking inventive and exact.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #6 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Hospitality
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- Time Out #20 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Rising Chef · John Dahlstrom
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Rank 95. Asador Bastian
Basque-inspired Steakhouse
Asador Bastian applies Basque grilling discipline to dry-aged beef cooked over charcoal with deliberate restraint, avoiding performance for precision. Set in a 1883 building, the restaurant prioritizes selection and control over volume, anchored by a working open kitchen.
- World's 101 Best #15 · World's Best Steak Restaurants
- Esquire 2025 · Dirty Dirty · The Best Martinis in America
- Esquire 2023 · The Spanglish · The Best Martinis in America
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- Eater Chicago’s Best Coffee Shops
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
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Rank 98. Topolobampo
Mexican
Rick Bayless's Mexican fine dining showcases seasonal, tradition-rooted dishes with unexpected flourishes, from memela divorciada to salmon in pipian sauce. The agave-focused beverage pairings elevate each course with studied care.
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
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- Eater Chicago’s Best Coffee Shops
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago