The 21 Best Beer Bars in Chicago
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The best beer bars in Chicago, according to the experts: The 50, The Banchets, and Bon Appétit have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Delilah's comes out on top.
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Bungalow by Middle Brow and Candlelite hold the next two places. Eater shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Bon Appétit next.
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Rank 1. Delilah's
Beer Bar
The awards
- The 50 The 50: The 50 Discovery
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Bungalow is the Logan Square brewpub where the beer runs on wild yeast and the wine is made with as little intervention as the law allows. Tavern-style thin-crust pizza shows up on Tuesdays, cut in squares, but the toppings come from regional farms and the sauces wander off script. Order a pepperoni pie here and you'll feel like you've missed the point. The Beard folks named the beverage program a semifinalist in 2024.
The awards
- The Banchets The Banchets: Nominee · Best Neighborhood Restaurant
- Bon Appétit Bon Appétit: America's Best New Restaurants
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- The Banchets Nominee · Best Neighborhood Restaurant
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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The awards
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Dimmi Dimmi is a corner Italian spot in Lincoln Park that took over a three-decade neighborhood fixture and somehow kept the regulars from rioting. The tavern-style pizzas have crackly edges and come cut in squares, and the handmade pastas hold their own beside them. It's a sit-down dinner, so book ahead, or try your luck at a weekday lunch, which is when the people who know things tend to walk in.
The awards
- Eater Lincoln Park’s Best Restaurants
- Eater Chicago’s Best Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza Restaurants
- Eater Chicago’s Best Italian Restaurants
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Rank 2. Flo & Santos
Tavern-style Pizzeria
Flo & Santos is a South Loop pub that can't pick a lane, so it picked three: tavern-style thin-crust pizza, Polish comfort food, and a beer garden with daily specials. Order the pie with kielbasa and sauerkraut and a pierogi sampler on the side, and your cardiologist will lose track of the subplots. Casual, reasonably priced, and equally happy to see you in a work shirt or a ballgame jersey.
The awards
- Eater Chicago’s Best Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza Restaurants
- Eater The Best Restaurants in Chicago’s South Loop
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Rank 2. George's Deep Dish
Chicago-Style Pizzeria
This Edgewater pizza shop does deep-dish on a sourdough crust that borrows from a Greek bread called lagana, then turns around and makes cracker-thin tavern pies from the same dough. There's barely any seating and the oven is small, so most people order online and take it home, where an uncut pizza stays crunchy. Eater has put it on its lists for deep-dish, thin-crust, and best pizza overall.
The awards
- Eater Chicago’s Best Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza Restaurants
- Eater Chicago’s Best Pizza
- Eater Chicago’s Best Deep-Dish Pizza
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The awards
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The awards
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The awards
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Rank 2. Novel Pizza Cafe
Creative Pizzeria
This Pilsen pizza-and-coffee spot wears its owners' Filipino and Mexican roots on the crust, most memorably with longganisa and giardiniera together on a tavern-style pie. The menu includes pan pies and slices, plus coffee drinks from the people behind Side Practice, so you can have breakfast and dinner in one visit. It tends to sell out, which is the polite way of saying go early and bring a plan B.
The awards
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Rank 2. Palermo's of 63rd
Pizzeria
The awards
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Rank 2. Pat's Pizza
Pizzeria
The awards
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Rank 2. Phil's Pizza
Pizzeria
The awards
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Pizz'amici is a tavern-style pizza shop in West Town, where the thin, cracker-crisp crust gets charred on the bottom and cut into squares. It's a nostalgic room with a pepperoni Negroni on the menu, plus tall focaccia and sausage and peppers for the old-school completists. Tables go quickly, so plan ahead or order carryout, which is easier than winning the lottery and only slightly less crowded.
The awards
- The Infatuation The Infatuation: #10 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- Esquire Esquire: The Best New Restaurants in America
- Eater Eater: The 38 Best Restaurants in Chicago
- The Infatuation #10 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Chicago
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Rank 2. Pizza Matta
Tavern-Style Pizzeria
Pizza Matta is a small Logan Square pizzeria from the team behind Giant and Chef's Special, which tells you the people running it have opinions about pie. You build your own 16-inch pizza from red, white, or green sauce, then pile on things like mortadella or caramelized pineapple, no judgment. Seating is limited, so order online and take the whole project home. Eater has it on its list of Chicago's tavern-style thin-crust spots.
The awards
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Professor Pizza is a casual West Town pizzeria run by a competitive pizza maker, which means the pies come with a résumé. The tavern-style thin crust cuts to cracker-snap, and the deluxe pepperoni gets hot honey and whipped ricotta, as if the sausage needed a little more going on. The Grand Avenue spot adds two more pie styles, and the pizzas turn up backstage at comedy clubs around town. Eater includes it among Chicago's best tavern-style thin-crust spots.
The awards
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Villa Nova is a no-frills, family-run pizzeria in suburban Stickney, the kind of place where the pie arrives square-cut, the way thin-crust tavern pizza is supposed to. The sausage is fennel-forward and left in chunky, meatball-ish clumps, which is a bold choice for a topping and a good one. It's been around forever, so expect regulars who haven't looked at the menu in years. Eater included it among Chicago's best tavern-style thin-crust spots.
The awards
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Rank 2. Vito & Nick's
Thin-crust Pizzeria
The awards
- Time Out #9 · The 25 best restaurants in Chicago
- Eater Chicago’s Best Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza Restaurants
- Eater Chicago’s Best Pizza
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WG Pizzas is a Lakeview tavern-style pizzeria, a spin-off of an old suburban Highwood joint that has been feeding Lake County for ages. The crust is cut thin but keeps a few proud bubbles at the edges, so it lands chewier than the cracker-crisp stuff, closer to what South Side spots turn out. Order online, grab a BLT pie, and mind the monthly chef takeovers, which are a good excuse to pretend you planned ahead.
The awards
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Rank 2. Zarella Pizzeria & Taverna
Tavern-Style Pizzeria
Zarella is a River North tavern-style pizzeria run by the Boka group, which means the thin, cornmeal-dusted pies come with a cocktail menu and a downstairs speakeasy lounge. Two well-known Chicago chefs developed the crusts, and the toppings include mortadella and all-beef pepperoni, so expect River North prices for what is, technically, bar pizza. Eater has named it among the city's best tavern-style pizza spots.
The awards
- Eater Chicago’s Best Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza Restaurants
- Eater The Best Restaurants in River North
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Rank 21. Hubbard Inn
Beer Bar
A self-described "continental tavern" that reads more like an oversized gastropub once you're inside, Hubbard Inn is a big, convivial bar in River North with a serious beer program: around twenty draught handles and nearly as many cans and bottles, skewing craft. If you came for Miller Lite, it's on the menu too, quietly listed at the bottom of the beer page, which is a very polite way to handle the situation.
The awards
- Difford's Guide Difford's Guide: 4 stars · Difford's Guide