Chief among the genuine farm-to-table movement is Art and Chelsea Jackson’s understated Bridgeport spot, where seasonal produce comes from Pleasant Farms, a network of small farms in and near Chicago. Read more.
After the nervous drive to this BYOB, you see Talbott, the relaxed, warm host/waiter/sommelier. He learns your name, attends to your wine and sets the tone that makes dining a one-of-a-kind experience Read more.
Scoops of ice cream are blended to become dessert and after-dinner drink in one. Butter pecan gets SoCo and praline liqueur and butterscotch-vanilla are doused with Maker’s and spun to smoothness. Read more.
With chocolate cake, pour-over coffee and gooey grilled-cheese sandwiches from chef Remy Ayesh, we can get through even the coldest winter, making this bakery the coziest place to hibernate in Chicago Read more.
Each winter feast begins with hot glogg in the garden before guests hit the buffet, which features ten varieties of herring and hot dishes like Jansson’s Temptation, a creamy potato casserole. Read more.
As much as we love meringue and aioli, this year all other eggy goodness faded in comparison to Cai’s egg-yolk buns. These Chinese breakfast bombs are sweet, creamy, and filled with sugary egg paste. Read more.
Wisma has des Rosiers’s silky soups, hearty sandwiches and sensible entrées (salmon with quinoa), all of it delicious, all of it made with sustainably, and priced as if it were in the suburbs. Read more.
A well-made cocktail was a hard thing to find in Boystown. Thankfully there’s Elixir, which not only shakes mean drinks, but also keeps the crowd in control and the music somewhat low. Read more.
You can char your own soy-chili–marinated meats to perfection on tabletop burners, but not all the work is left to you; the steamed kimchi dumplings are delicate, plump and made in the kitchen. Read more.
Ganji’s massive miche is crusty and cakey; his cranberry-walnut loaf makes the world’s best toast. The best part of this great bread? We hear PQM also sells some meats to go with it. Read more.
As far as we’re concerned, this is a sun-soaked café rather than just a bike shop. How else do you explain the thoughtfully sourced products—from Southport Grocery cupcakes to Mast Brothers chocolate? Read more.
In the three years since Martha Bayne started Soup & Bread, she’s proven that a modest idea—serve free soup, collect tips for hunger charities—can morph into a movement for social change. Read more.
From that one-off Kentucky dinner (rice biscuits, pearl onion soup and mince pie) to the weekday lunch (fried chicken, greens, biscuits c. 1933), Big Jones is making history of any dining plans we had Read more.
From the look of the multicultural, multigenerational throngs that flock to Hu’s restaurants nightly, Rahm could glean some tips on how to achieve universal popularity. Read more.
If you’re lucky, you can snag a couch in the back by the fireplace where you can take in the cool vintage bar, sip some seasonal glogg and check out the friendly neighborhood crowd.
Clubgoers will appreciate the better-than-average drinks at this salsa hot-spot. Order the Chadwick mojito: sweet and gingery with a subtle after bite of habañero pepper: http://tmoutchi.us/13EV7jr Read more.
Cocktails at this revived classic nightspot are competently executed versions of the classics. Order the ginger margarita made with Olmeca Altos tequila: http://tmoutchi.us/13EV7jr Read more.
Always a bit more crowded than I'd wish, but with reason. Incredible beer selection and tasty food like mussels w/frites. Never had a bad beer there, out of dozens I've tried.
Somehow, this Ukrainian Village dive has managed to remain an underground favorite. The local artists and musicians who frequent it hold on to terra firma with cheap drink in hand.
This jazz institution is legendary for three things: it was once a Capone hangout, it’s haunted, and the no-nonsense staff will shush you and the friends who dragged you in during jazz sets.
Sit here: We know it sounds dorky, but seriously, the board games are half the reason to visit this place. Get a spot in the front room to play. Read more.
Drink this: Bartender Paul McGee's cocktail list is rad. Try the Old Square: Old Weller bourbon and a touch of apple brandy, vermouth and benedictine. Read more.
TheWit Hotel’s swank rooftop lounge sports a specialty cocktail menu, a well-curated wine list and Mediterranean small plates. Read more.
Catch a movie or two at the Chicago International Film FestivalMore than 100 films will be shown, but the only one known now is Ed Norton and Robert De Niro’s prison thriller Stone. Oct 7–21 Read more.
Just a drunken stumble from the Grand Red Line station, this sporty brewpub offers six house-brewed beers to sip on. Read more.
Will the combination of Stephanie Izard, rooftop deck and spinning, illuminated goat cause the universe to explode? http://tmout.us/lKTEo Read more.
Joël’s brick-laid courtyard is a respite, a quiet spot where the pâtés are creamy, the Champagne is cold, and you’ll never have to worry about spilling a cosmo on a maxidress. http://tmout.us/maA24 Read more.
Deep-fried black-eyed peas are the perfect drinking snack, steak (dressed in nothing more than brown butter), salads and even doughnuts make sense with the food-friendly cocktails from the bar. Read more.
Out of the way? Yeah. Still a great wine bar? For sure. You’d be hard pressed to find another wine bar with a better list. And even harder pressed to find one with as great a view of the skyline. Read more.
Good-bye, Small Bar Fullerton. Hello, Lincoln Park outpost of this West Loop pub. Read more.
The tongue is poached with spices, and it picks up all those flavors and brings it to the potato hash, which is topped with bone-marrow hollandaise, fried and pickled shallots, and a fried egg. Read more.
This aging South Side Polish dive plugs along thanks to the power of pierogi, plump little pockets of kraut and mushroom or juicy ground beef, made to order and sautéed in butter with nubs of bacon. Read more.
Hit the dance floor when the DJ drops your favorite Gaga or Rihanna. Afterwards, head to the bar room to take down Polish pizza bread, a French loaf with tomato sauce, gobs of mozzarella and ketchup. Read more.
The burgers (three for $12 are mini. The mojitos are minty. And there’s nothing about the name of this place that will make you lose your appetite. Read more.
In nearby Des Plaines is Ssaboo (formerly Hourglass), which lured loyalists from its original Lawrence Avenue location with killer sweet-and-spicy chicken. Read more.
Try the arugula and grapefruit salad, with peppery greens complementing the bittersweet grapefruit, shaved fennel giving depth and toasted pistachios adding crunch. Read more.
The burger, made with Slagel Farm beef, is perfection, and the lollipop wings, breaded chicken drizzled with buffalo sauce and ranch, make eating classic bar grub a more civilized affair. Read more.
Head to the Other Side, where the beer list doesn’t extend far beyond the frat-boy imagination, but is cheap and perfectly suitable against iconic bar food like chicken wings ($5 for ten). Read more.
The corn dog’s not the only cost-effective comestible at this busy hipster hangout; for $5, a Vienna dog with bold pepper jack, creamy garlic aioli and a crisp winter slaw is as satisfying. Read more.
Wednesday equals Toons, the classic Southport Corridor bar whose juicy, hand-formed, half-pound, no-frills Toonsburger is only $4 Read more.
Former Treat chef makes savory pancakes packed with sliced scallions and a saag paneer scramble of fresh spinach and the fresh, tofu-like cheese, accompanied by two puffs of the Indian bread, puri. Read more.
