The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Three Dots and a Dash
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Rank 1. Three Dots and a Dash
Tropical
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – 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. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 2. 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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- 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 4. The Bamboo Room @ Three Dots and a Dash
Tiki Cocktail Bar
- 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
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Rank 5. Brindille
French
- AAA Four Diamonds
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Hospitality
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Rank 6. Frontera Grill
Regional Mexican
Rick Bayless' Clark Street flagship pursues regional Mexican cooking with theatrical precision—table-side margaritas arrive alongside molés that taste like they've traveled from the coasts of Guerrero. The kitchen's ceviche and poblano-spiked sides suggest a place less interested in fusion than in honoring what already works.
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Rank 7. 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 8. 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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Rank 10. Bar Sótano
Modern Mexican
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Rank 12. 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 13. Shanghai Terrace
Chinese
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
- AAA Four Diamonds
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
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Rank 14. Avec River North
Midwestern Mediterranean
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best Mediterranean Cuisine Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago Right Now
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Rank 15. Indienne
Modern Indian
Chef Sujan Sarkar's progressive vision of Indian cuisine arrives plated like gallery pieces in a River North warehouse: pani puris and curries refined with French restraint, each course deftly spiced and theatrically composed. The room itself—soaring beams above rose-pink booths—suggests ambition without pretense, a setting where familiar flavors taste like discovery.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Bon Appétit 2023 · America's Best New Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Great Lakes · Sujan Sarkar
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Rank 16. 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 17. Bavette's Bar & Boeuf
Steakhouse
A speakeasy-dark steakhouse where wet-aged beef meets jazz and a boisterous crowd. The steak frites arrives with buttery béarnaise; the short rib stroganoff swims with hand-cut pasta. Exposed brick and mismatched fixtures frame a room built for noise and conviviality, not quiet contemplation.
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Rank 19. RPM Steak
Steakhouse
A bi-level steakhouse wrapped around a marble bar, all polished black and wood, where the crowd never thins and the booths offer prime seats for watching money circulate. The beef spans Japanese wagyu to American prime, cooked pink and edged with thyme-and-rosemary crust, the wine list ranging from Napa to Burgundy.
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Rank 22. Tre Dita
Tuscan Italian
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- The Banchets 2025 · Winner · Best Design
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Rank 24. Obélix
French
Duck and foie gras anchor a menu of French classics made entirely in-house—from pâté en croûte to squab pithiviers—executed with a clarity that belies the kitchen's ambition. The sun-soaked River North room hums with the contentment of guests who finish with house-made ice creams and warm pastries, as if restraint were never an option.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Nicolas Poilevey and Oliver Poilevey
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Courtney Kenyon-Snider
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Rank 25. Maple & Ash
Steakhouse
A wood-fired steakhouse that doubles as a scene: leather banquettes, a photo booth, and a semi-open kitchen where dry-aged beef and whole octopus emerge burnished from the flames. The seafood tower arrives tableside, lobster tail and king crab glistening in garlic butter and chili oil, but it's the theatre—the music, the glow—that makes you want to stay.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 10 U.S. Nominee · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 26. Gilt Bar
American
A moody River North retreat where the front bar moves with cocktail-fueled precision and leather banquettes in back promise intimacy. Gilt trades subtlety for impact: fried chicken arrives golden and craggy atop silken potatoes; beef cheek pot pie swims in bone marrow gravy. The cooking is unapologetically rich, the portions designed to defeat you before dessert even arrives.
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Rank 27. Ciccio Mio
Italian
A coal-fired throwback to red-sauce exuberance, where Hogsalt's latest swings for maximum flavor and portion. House-made pastas anchor the menu—try the lasagna Bolognese rotolo, lighter than tradition dictates—while half chicken emerges from the coals glossy with garlic and fried oregano. The tiramisu arrives booze-soaked and uncompromising.
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Rank 28. Chicago Cut
Steakhouse
A riverfront steakhouse where prime beef dry-aged in-house arrives with reliable crusts and the confident polish of old money. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the Chicago River; the room hums with business-lunch energy and leather-bound tradition.
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Rank 29. Miru
Japanese
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Rank 31. NoMI Kitchen
French
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Rank 32. perilla
Korean
A mural of Michelle Obama in hanbok presides over a urbane room where Chef Andrew Lim riffs on Korean classics with Wagyu tartare and fire chicken spiked with Chihuahua cheese. The semi-open kitchen and street-facing windows catch the city's pulse, while a curated tea menu substitutes for dessert with quiet intention.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Banchets 2025 · Nominee · Best Design
- The Infatuation 2024 · Chicago’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 33. Prime & Provisions
Steakhouse
A glitzy riverfront steakhouse with a two-story wine tower and visible dry-aging room, all beneath barrel-vaulted ceilings and chandeliers. The kitchen opens with house-cured bacon inflected with maple and dark chocolate, followed by a black pepper-crusted dry-aged strip steak with mushrooms and potatoes. It's unapologetic in its indulgence.
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Rank 36. 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 38. 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 39. 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 40. Z Bar
Global
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- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 42. Sifr
Wood-Fired Middle Eastern
In a sun-filled River North corner, Sifr builds meals around its hummus—a charred and crispy affair layered with zhoug and za'atar—and wood-fired proteins like spiced chicken shish taouk and halloumi with pomegranate molasses. The kitchen, from the team behind Indienne, treats sharing as a suggestion rather than a rule. House-made ice creams close things out with understated grace.
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Rank 43. 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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- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
- The Infatuation The Best Coffee Shops & Cafes In Chicago
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Rank 45. 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 46. Doma
Croatian
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Rank 47. Tzuco
Mexican
Carlos Gaytán's Tzuco crackles with energy, its earth-toned dining room anchored by a chef's counter where hamachi swims in electric cactus aguachile. The tinga de pollo and grilled-octopus tacos honor tradition while reaching toward something brighter.
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- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
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Rank 50. 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 51. Oud Coffee & Cafe
Palestinian Coffee
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Rank 53. Les Nomades
Haute French
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Rank 55. Chef's Table at Astor Club
Contemporary New American
Ten diners share a nightly tasting menu in Chef Trevor Teich's intimate Gold Coast dining room, where oysters arrive topped with champagne foam and lobster is finished tableside with vin jaune beurre blanc. The Astor Club's private setting and luxe ingredients create an air of exclusive refinement without pretension.
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 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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Rank 59. Taqueria Chingón
Mexican
A West Loop taqueria modeled on Mexico City street stalls, where al pastor and duck carnitas with date puree compete with bolder moves—blood sausage with salsa macha, crispy artichoke with tapenade. Everything lands on freshly griddled corn tortillas under a covered patio that buzzes with the rhythm of a place that knows what it's doing.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Nicolas Poilevey and Oliver Poilevey
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
- The Infatuation The Best Cocktail Bars In Chicago
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Rank 64. Bazaar Meat
Spanish-Influenced Steakhouse
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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
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Rank 68. 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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Rank 69. Acanto
Italian
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Rank 70. Amorino
Italian Dessert
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Rank 71. Alla Vita
Italian
The Boka Group's polished Italian room serves freshly made pasta and puffy-edged pizzas under floating amber sculpture, with rigatoni alla vodka that balances sweetness and cream. A bustling stone bar at lunch offers some of the city's most satisfying sandwiches, attended by unflappable staff.
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Rank 72. Soul & Smoke
Chicago-Style Barbecue
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Rank 73. 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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A sprawling seafood house with dark wood and mounted fish, serving generous portions of oysters, stone crab, and frog's legs to a perpetually packed dining room. The bar anchors its own scene, while decadent desserts like Muddy Bottom Pie demand accomplices.
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Rank 75. Potter's Lounge
Chicago
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Rank 76. 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 77. 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 78. 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 80. Girl & The Goat
Contemporary
A warren of wooden beams and elevated platforms fills with the din of regulars, families, and groups—a restaurant that hums with purpose from open to close. The kitchen's bold, shareable dishes organize around primary ingredients, with goat as a signature focus, flavors direct and satisfying without pretense. Warm without fuss, it's a place that understands generosity as a design principle.
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Rank 81. OMAKASE YUME
Sushi
Chef Sangtae Park works in near silence at his West Loop counter, slicing fish before service and plying them with kimchi puree and sesame oil rather than conventional technique. His rice tastes austere until paired with grilled miso black cod, at which point the meal's architecture becomes clear—purposeful, swift, and entirely on his terms, not yours.
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Rank 82. etc.
Southern
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Rank 83. 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
- Time Out #4 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 84. Beity
Lebanese Middle Eastern
Stone vaults and a sunken dining room with fireplace create an intimate sanctuary in Fulton Market where Chef Ryan Fakih draws on Lebanese family recipes. His mezze spread—charred pita, lamb hummus, falafel in yogurt—opens a tasting menu that moves from refined tradition to stylized interpretations of sayadieh and mograbieh, each course deliberate and unhurried.
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Rank 86. Roop
Indian
Roop spreads across two floors of deep blue velvet in a bright West Randolph setting, where Indian classics meet cutting-edge technique—see the deep-fried cauliflower koliwada with yogurt and rice mousse. The drinks program and creamy dal deserve equal attention to the beef short rib curry and semolina cake.
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Rank 87. 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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Rank 88. Pizz’amici
Tavern-Style Pizza
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation 2025 · #10 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- The Infatuation 2025 · #1 · Chicago’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 89. Booze Box
Japanese
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Rank 90. Lou Mitchell's
American
Near Union Station, a diner operating since 1923 still fills its booths with travelers and regulars seeking eggs, waffles, and sandwiches prepared without pretense. Servers deliver hot coffee and complimentary donut holes; the open-faced Reuben arrives on homemade rye with thick-cut fries. It promises comfort, not revelation, and delivers exactly that.
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Rank 94. El Che Steakhouse & Bar
Argentinian Steakhouse
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Rank 95. Swadesi Cafe
Indian
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Rank 96. Gaijin
Japanese
Paul Virant's small restaurant centers on a gleaming okonomiyaki griddle where diners customize their own savory pancakes in the Osaka and Hiroshima styles, each cooked to order with the precision he honed in Japan. Brass and exposed brick frame the space like an izakaya, while the menu keeps shirokuma with pineapple-buttermilk sherbet and a house brew from Moody Tongue in steady rotation.
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- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #1 · U.S. Coffee Roasters Championship · Diego Guartan
- Time Out The 40 best coffee shops in Chicago
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Rank 98. Bonci
Roman-style Pizza
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