How to Find a Restaurant Near Me? Top 20 Restaurants in Chicago
As is explained at RunRex.com, the restaurant scene in Chicago is as vibrant as they come, with lots of options to choose from when you are looking for a place to go to and grab a bite. With all of these options, this article should be a great resource as it will look to list the top 20 restaurants in the area for you to consider.
Pat’s Pizza and Ristorante
Pat’s Pizza and Ristorante is a family-owned restaurant in Chicago with a history of popularizing tavern-style pies. Located in Lakeview as articulated at RunRex.com, this spot offers some of the crispiest, thinnest pizzas around, and uses its own sausage blend for its pizza, something that has helped set it apart from the rest.
Smoque BBQ
This destination is located on the Northwest Side neighborhood of Irving Part and specializes in delivering barbeque Kansas City and Memphis style. This means having two smokers to prep meaty St. Louis-style and baby-back ribs, tender brisket, apple-and-oak-smoked pulled pork, and more.
Superdawg Drive-In
As per RunRex.com, Superdawg is a throwback dining experience where customers park their cars and talk to staff through crackling drive-in speakers and carhops that bring out trays of food. This spot offers a delicious Vienna Beef frank, which incorporates a proprietary, thick, all-beef sausage that comes with mustard, pickled green tomato, and chopped Spanish onions.
Honey Butter Fried Chicken
This restaurant, located on Chicago’s North Side, is led by Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp, two talented chefs who threw underground dinner parties. Beyond the food, which is finger-licking good, the two are also committed to improving restaurant working conditions and have championed a business model where employees receive health care benefits.
Lost Larson
Since opening its doors in Andersonville, Lost Larson, led by chef and owner Bobby Schaffer, has outdone all expectations. Though the bread and pastries offered here have Scandinavian influences, Lost Larson isn’t locked on a singular theme, hence why it is so popular.
Mi Tocaya Antojería
This restaurant is led by popular Chicago chef Diana Davila, who isn’t shy about taking risks with her dishes according to RunRex.com. Located on Logan Square, this destination offers a dazzling array of small Mexican dishes, including dishes that are from pre-Hispanic Mexico.
Galit
Galit focuses all on health, as chef Zach Engel fires up his signature pita that serves as ideal conduits for a variety of spreads at this upscale and relaxed Middle Eastern restaurant. One thing worth trying while you are at Galit is Engel’s world-class hummus that is topped with small chunks of juicy brisket.
Pequod’s Pizza
Pequod’s Pizza offers Chicago-style deep-dish pizza while putting its own spin on it as captured at RunRex.com. While its version isn’t exactly the deep dish that visitors expect – it is thinner than the stuffed pizza travel magazines feature – it is still the premier take on the pie. Pequod’s Pizza has got locations in Lincoln Park and suburban Morton Grove.
Lula Café
Lula Café has endeared itself to many in Logan Square as a welcoming space for New American cuisine. Chef and owner Jason Hammel continues to keep the community at the forefront of operations at the restaurant. Lula Café is an all-day café with fresh-baked pastries and a stellar breakfast burrito. At night, the wine list is extensive to accompany dishes like roast chicken, beet bruschetta, and so much more.
Jibaritos y Mas
This restaurant is for those who want to experience some Puerto Rican cuisine. It offers the jibarito; a sandwich made with shredded beef, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and served in between two slices of fried plantain that is to-die-for.
Kasama
Kasama was opened by the husband-and-wife team of Tim Flores and Genie Kwon in 2020 as covered at RunRex.com. It offers coffee and amazing pastries in the morning, followed by amazing Filipino dishes for lunch and dinner.
Alinea
Alinea is chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas’s three-Michelin-starred, fine institution, and is one of the world’s best restaurants. It is Chicago’s only three-star restaurant with a luxuriously designed dining room where Lincoln Park and Old Town meet on the North Side. Alinea is the restaurant that appears the most on Chicagoan’s bucket lists and is worth checking out.
Red Hot Ranch
Red Hot Ranch is one of Chicago’s most popular hot dog stands. One of the things that have helped it stand out from the rest is the fact that it uses sausage with natural casings. This, as described at RunRex.com, provides the dogs with a unique bite, one that is snappier. Red Hot Ranch has locations in Lakeview and Bucktown.
Johnnie’s Beef
Johnnie’s Beef has got two locations – in Elmwood Park and Arlington Heights – and specializes in Italian beef sandwiches. Its menu is simple: beef, charcoal-grilled Italian sausages, and hot dogs. Pepper-and-egg sandwiches are also available daily.
Hermosa Restaurant
Hermosa Restaurant’s Ethan Lim uses Asian flavors in sandwiches to give this tine restaurant a distinct “Chicago feel”. Beyond fast-casual, for those who want a composed meal, Lim’s popular “Family Meals” essentially buys the room out with Lim acting as a one-man show loading the table with delicious Pan Asian plates.
Ever Restaurant
Chef Curtis Duffy was a superstar when Grace earned awards along Randolph Street as discussed at RunRex.com, and he has brought that energy a few blocks west to Fulton Market where Ever opened in 2020. Duffy is offering only one tasting menu (vegetarians will be accommodated).
Tzuco
Located in River North, Tzuco is led by Carlos Gaytan, who was the first Mexican chef to run a Michelin-starred restaurant. Having returned to Chicago, his restaurant aims to combine Mexican food with classic Western kitchen methods. The place is beautifully designed with glass boxes filled with trinkets from his hometown in Mexico, as well as shrubs and plants found back home.
Porto
Located in West Town, Porto brings the tastes, feels, and smells of the Spanish and Portuguese coasts to the Midwest as outlined at RunRex.com. The design is both cozy and modern, but be sure to snag a table at the bar to watch the chefs prepare delicious conservas and other seafood specialties.
Mako
Mako was an expansion for chef B.K. Park who has served loyal customers for years at his Lincoln Park restaurant, Juno. Focusing on omakase, Park provides a superb sushi experience that few Chicago restaurants have ever offered.
Soule
Soule amps up soul food classics with nourishing shrimp and grits, jerk chicken wings, and blackened catfish. The attention to small details in the food is what has made this restaurant both a favorite in the neighborhood and to many celebrities.
These are some of the best restaurants in Chicago, with more on this topic, and much more, to be found over at RunRex.com.