The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Kaufman’s
-
-
Rank 2. Oceanique
Global
-
-
Rank 4. Al Bawadi Grill
Middle Eastern
-
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
-
Rank 6. Side Practice Coffee
Filipino
- Eater Chicago’s Best Coffee Shops
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
-
-
-
Rank 9. George's Deep Dish
Chicago-Style Pizza
-
Rank 10. Atelier
New American
A modest storefront on Western Avenue conceals Chef Bradyn Kawcak's assured kitchen, where a tasting menu draws from nearby farms with global references and uncommon technique—pupusas with blue corn, carrot-miso dumplings in rutabaga wrappers, buckwheat noodles swimming in layered umami sauce. The room is small and the cooking is deliberate, each course calibrated to taste rather than impress.
-
-
-
Rank 13. Bokeh
Cocktail Bar
-
-
Rank 15. Cariño
Mexican
Beneath the rumble of the Uptown L, Chef Norman Fenton orchestrates a tasting menu of Mexican cooking that pivots between tradition and invention—huitlacoche ravioli with fried corn silk, lamb tartare tostada styled as al pastor. The counter seats you close enough to watch his small team work, their energy matching the pace of each course.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Norman Fenton
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
-
-
-
Rank 18. Jimmy's Pizza Cafe
NY-Style Pizza
-
-
-
-
Rank 22. Beard & Belly
American
-
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars In Chicago
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Bar Program
-
-
-
-
Rank 27. Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining
Cambodian
- Eater 2022 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- The Infatuation 2024 · Chicago’s Best New Restaurants
-
Garlic smoke rises from the rice cooker each time the door swings open at this narrow Filipino spot, once a food stall, now a compact temple to pork—crispy belly hash, herb-marinated cuts, sausage. Steelhead trout in burnt tomato and tamarind broth offers brief reprieve; a fried plantain spring roll dusted with brown sugar closes the meal like a handheld brûlée.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Joe Fontelera
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 33. Kie Gol Lanee
Oaxacan Mexican
In a quiet corner of Little Saigon, regulars who've traveled to Oaxaca gather to debate the merits of soft pork tamales in green mole and crispy tlayudas loaded with chorizo. The roasted Cornish hen arrives with skin like a potato chip, cloaked in a dark mole built from layers of spice that taste faintly sweet. A focused menu, executed with care, for those who know the difference.
-
Rank 34. Spacca Napoli Pizzeria
Neapolitan Pizza
-
Rank 35. Anelya
Eastern European
In a cozy Avondale dining room, Johnny Clark and Beverly Kim honor Clark's grandmother through meticulously sourced Eastern European fare: green borsch alive with nettles, a zakusky cart of tart roe and seed hummus, butter-glazed pampushky bread. The stuffed cabbage arrives as a study in restraint—locally raised beef, deliberate flavors, no flourish beyond what the ingredients demand.
- Midwest Living 2024 · Best of the Midwest
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation #20 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
-
-
-
- The New York Times 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Ben Lustbader and Sarah Mispagel
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Pastry Chef of the Year · Sarah Mispagel-Lustbader & Ben Lustbader
-
-
Rank 40. Munno Pizzeria & Bistro
Roman-style Pizza
The dining room fills nightly with neighborhood regulars drawn to Roman-style pizzas with a bubble-like char and a serious kitchen that doesn't settle for one talent. Oblong pies like the diavola sbagliata, paired with house-made pastas that sing with restraint and care, suggest this unfussy spot knows exactly what it's doing.
-
-
-
-
Rank 44. First Sip Cafe
Vietnamese
-
Rank 45. Bayan Ko
Cuban
In a narrow Ravenswood room, Lawrence Letrero and Raquel Quadreny trace their Cuban and Filipino lineages through a tasting menu: arroz caldo crowned with lobster in calamansi butter, vaca frita recast as wagyu with black bean purée. The format forgoes stuffiness entirely, each plate a deliberate reclamation that honors both traditions without nostalgia.
-
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Heritage Restaurant
- Eater The Best Places to Eat in Suburban Chicago
-
Rank 47. Demera
Ethiopian
Demera's corner storefront on Broadway draws Uptown neighbors into its bright dining room, where communal wicker tables and wide windows create theater around the meal. The yesiga wot—beef stewed dark in berbere with ginger and onions—arrives with injera for sauce-sopping, and the vegetable spreads are equally substantial.
-
Rank 48. Birrieria Zaragoza
Mexican
-
Rank 49. 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.
-
Rank 50. Mi Tocaya Antojeria
Mexican
Lively chatter and seasonal cocktails fill the dining room at this Logan Square antojeria, where Diana Dávila's menu reclaims lesser-known Aztec traditions—guisado de nopalitos, a fragrant cactus stew with charred chilies and salty fried cheese curds, arrives with warm tortillas. The tacos carry the clarity of Mexico City street food, unpretentious and exact.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Diana Davila
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Diana Dávila
-
Rank 51. Santa Masa Tamaleria
Mexican
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Danny Espinoza and Jhoana Ruiz
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Counter Service
- The Infatuation 2024 · Chicago’s Best New Restaurants
-
Rank 52. The Victor Cocktail Bar
Cocktail Bar
-
Rank 53. Daisies
Italian
Sunlit and sprawling, Daisies has upgraded into a roomier iteration of itself, keeping its house-made pastas—pappardelle with mushroom ragù, rigatoni with pork ragù and fermented tomato—front and center. The onion dip with house-made ruffles remains essential; a new bakery operation supplies pastries, ice creams, and sorbets that close the meal with intention.
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
-
Rank 54. Parachute HiFi
Korean-American
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars In Chicago
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurant
-
Rank 55. Best Intentions
Midwestern
- 50 Best 2026 · #16 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Christopher Marty
-
After years of pop-ups, this neighborhood spot has settled into a playful approach to Indian cooking that freely mixes tradition with invention. Naan arrives topped with jalapeños and mozzarella or folded into a butter chicken calzone; Kerala crab curry and chana chaat hold their own alongside. The warehouse space, with exposed brick and a long bar, feels open and generous.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Zeeshan Shah and Yoshi Yamada
- Eater Chicago’s Best Pizza
-
Rank 57. Sol de Mexico
Traditional Mexican
Tropical walls and mariachi set the scene at this Cicero mainstay, where sopes arrive filled with caramelized plantain and house chorizo in vivid abundance. The pollo en mole manchamanteles—its mahogany sauce rich and nutty—justifies the dish's name: tablecloth stainer.
-
Rank 58. 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.
-
-
Rank 60. Galit
Modern Middle Eastern
Inside a modest storefront, Zach Engel's modern Middle Eastern cooking unfolds through a prix-fixe of diners' choosing, opening with creamy hummus, warm pita, and pickles that establish the evening's warmth. The falafel carries unexpected brightness, wines from the Levantine region flow with purpose, and the whole operation hums with genuine hospitality.
-
-
Rank 62. 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.
-
- 50 Best 2026 · #65 · North America's 50 Best Bars
- Esquire 2023 · The Best Bars in America
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
-
Rank 64. Lula Cafe
American
A brick-lined neighborhood corner that fills early and stays full, Lula cycles through seasonal plates with the ease of a place that knows its regulars. The potato 'nduja tart arrives burnished and sharp with aged cheddar; the house-made spaghetti, dressed in pancetta and a sweet-heat chili bean sauce, tastes of real technique applied without pretense. This is comfort that doesn't announce itself.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outsdanding Hospitality
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
-
Rank 65. Big Jones
Creative Southern
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Paul Fehribach
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Paul Fehribach
-
-
Rank 67. Ragadan
Middle Eastern
-
Rank 68. 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
-
Rank 69. 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
-
Rank 70. Warlord
Live-Fire American
Chefs Kraszyk, Lupton, and Fleming command a live-fire grill in open view, drawing crowds who queue before doors unlock for first-come seating at the counter. Foie gras with grilled bread and honey butter, lacquered duck, and even butter cake charred over flames compose a menu built entirely around flame and timing.
-
Rank 71. Coda Di Volpe
Southern Italian
-
Rank 72. Akahoshi Ramen
Noodles
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Restaurants
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
- The Infatuation #11 · The 25 Best Restaurants In Chicago
-
-
Rank 74. Mirra
Fusion
Mirca's kitchen splices Indian and Mexican vocabularies with unguarded confidence, sending out dum biryani with lamb barbacoa and scallop ceviche in crispy fenugreek roti alongside housemade achar and salsa tatemado that taste like they belong together. A young crowd packed elbow-to-elbow under exposed brick and ambient noise confirms what the food already knows: restraint has no place here.
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Midwest Living 2025 · Best of the Midwest
- Eater 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
-
Rank 75. Thattu
Coastal Indian
- Eater 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
-
Rank 76. 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
-
Rank 77. Schubas Tavern
Chicago
-
Rank 78. Nadu
Regional Indian
Chef Sujan Sarkar's Nadu serves contemporary regional Indian cuisine designed for sharing, with meen gassi—walleye in coconut and tamarind curry—standing out as a richly spiced centerpiece. The warm, upbeat dining room welcomes walk-ins at the bar, though reservations help secure a table for the vegetable moilee and other dishes meant for the whole table.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- Eater 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
-
-
Rank 80. Boka
Modern New American
Lee Wolen's dining room—all banquettes, mirrored fixtures, quiet confidence—sustains its reputation through unwavering technique and seasonal rigor. Hokkaido scallops arrive with green garlic purée and aerated sabayon; house-made ricotta gnocchetti swims in cream beneath crispy chicken skin. A restaurant that has earned its steadiness.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Lee Wolen
-
Rank 81. Bayan Ko Diner
Filipino
-
-
Rank 83. Brew Brew Coffee & Tea
Mexican (Baja)
-
Rank 84. Cellar Door Provisions
Mediterranean
A sunny corner in Logan Square holds a restaurant content with uncomplicated cooking—tender runner beans with garlic confit, silken duck liver mousse on warm bread—where seasoning lands true and flavors sing without fuss. The breezy dining room welcomes you equally whether you've reserved a table or pulled up to the counter. No pretense, no tweezers, just honest food that knows what it is.
-
- Time Out Chicago Pie · The 18 best pizzas in the world right now
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Pizza
-
Rank 86. Longman & Eagle
Gastropub
A corner gastropub that looks like a whiskey bar but executes refined dishes—terrines, stroganoffs, omelets with brie—from a tiny hidden kitchen. The daylit cured salmon and breakfast menu rival the cocktails that draw neighborhood regulars through morning until night.
-
-
Rank 88. Shanghai Terrace
Chinese
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
-
Rank 89. 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.
-
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
- Eater Best New Bar
-
Rank 91. 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
-
-
-
Rank 94. Scofflaw
Gin-Focused Cocktail Bar
-
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
-
Rank 96. 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
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
-
- 50 Best 2025 · One to Watch Award
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
-
- 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
-
- International Baking Industry Expo 2025 · Winner: Arshiya Farheen · World Bread Awards USA · Challah
-
Rank 100. Soul & Smoke
Chicago