The Best Bistros in Chicago
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The best bistros in Chicago, according to the experts: Esquire, The New York Times, and Michelin Guide have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Creepies comes out on top.
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Rank 1. Creepies
Bistro
The checkered tile floors and art-lined stone walls make it look like a Parisian bistro that wandered into the West Loop and decided to stay. Creepies is a neighborhood French restaurant from the team behind Elske next door, with a concise menu that leans classic and slides Midwestern where it can. The vesper martini landed on Esquire's list of the best in the country, which is not nothing for a place called Creepies.
The awards
- Esquire Esquire: Vesper · The Best Martinis in America
- The New York Times The New York Times: 2026 · The Restaurant List
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
- Esquire Vesper · The Best Martinis in America
- The New York Times 2026 · The Restaurant List
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 2. Hooligan
Neo-Midwestern Bistro
Hooligan is a small Logan Square bistro that cooks the Great Lakes with French technique, which is how you end up with perch under gribiche and pike dumplings in a sauce that sounds like it has a title. The caviar service comes with crispy potatoes and house dip, a very Midwestern way to dress up fish eggs. Dinner only, a la carte or a two-person spread, and every table gets a nightly treat, so cookies and milk may be waiting.
The awards