Certain names come up time and again whenever foodies discuss the Chicago scene. Alinea tops the pack, wielding three Michelin stars, multiple Beard awards and a regular ranking on Restaurant magazine's world's top 50 list. Dinner here is an event, where courses come in a balloon or capsule or other molecular gastronomy concoction. Blackbird wins raves, especially for its Beard-nominated desserts à la coffee mascarpone and candied hazelnut crepes. Frontera Grill – celeb chef Rick Bayless' signature restaurant – has been serving rustic, mole-sauced Mexican dishes and precision margaritas for more than 25 years. Speaking of booze: the Violet Hour won the 2015 Beard Award for the nation's best bar program, though you'll first have to find the unmarked, graffitied building before you lay your lips on the Armageddon (lemon-and-cinnamon-tinged whiskey) and other delicious cocktails.
Several come-as-you-are restaurants that cook complex comfort foods have surfaced around town. Grab a seat at the counter at Dove's Luncheonette for Tex-Mex plates of pork shoulder pozole (stew) and shrimp-stuffed sweet corn tamales. Scooch into a vintage booth at Little Goat, where Bravo TV's Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard whips up everything from corned-beef-and-kimchi reuben sandwiches to peanut butter Fat Elvis waffles (served all day, by the way). Next door to Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless operates Xoco, his Mexican street-food cafe that griddles warm, crusty tortas and tacos. Longman & Eagle's shaggy vibe belies its Michelin-starred duck egg hash, whopping cheeseburgers and whiskey arsenal.
The city has had an influx of small (40 seats or less) but mighty makers of taste. Queues stretch out the door at Fat Rice ever since Bon Appétit crowned it one of the nation's best new restaurants. It dishes the food of Macau, a whacked-out Portuguese-Indian-Chinese meld. The eponymous 'fat rice' entrée shows the spirit: a bowl brimming with prawns, garlicky sausage, salted duck, jasmine rice and more. Parachute puts an American spin on Korean street food classics – say, mackerel and barbecued onion bi bim bop. The ambiance is like a dinner party in your friend's retro-cool kitchen. Ruxbin is another teeny spot where passionate chefs cook artful dinners.
Fried chicken is having a moment in Chicago. To be fair, Harold's Chicken Shack has been frying at no-frills outlets around town since 1950. But now hipsters are bringing the action to their 'hoods. In Avondale, Honey Butter Fried Chicken comprises double-buttermilk-battered bird sprinkled with smoked paprika, onto which the famed honey butter melts. It's sweet and salty genius. Parson's Chicken and Fish in Logan Square fries its skin hard, so the super juicy flesh underneath comes as a surprise. Everyone consumes at picnic tables under striped umbrellas outdoors; the patio morphs into an ice rink come winter.
Chicago has a superb range of ethnic eats, especially if you break out of downtown and head for out-lying neighborhoods. Humboldt Park unfurls the 'Puerto Rican Passage,' a stretch of Division St packed with island-food cafes. Papa's Cache Sabrosa sits in the thick of it, prime for trying a jibarito sandwich (garlic-mayo-slathered steak between slices of fried plantain 'bread'). Thai and Vietnamese noodle houses steam up windows in Uptown. Nha Hang Vietnam (1032 W Argyle St) is a good one for slurping pho and clay-pot catfish while the portions at Tank Noodle , a mod diner for fried-egg-dripping cheeseburgers; Girl and the Goat, Stephanie Izard's rock-and-roll, mega-popular flavor bender; and RM Champagne Salon , a twinkling spot to sip bubbles.
More than 60 breweries have opened around Chicago in the past three years. The biggest and most badass is Lagunitas . The beer-hall-esque tap room is a bit far flung, but fans make the trek for the free tours, hoppy suds and beer-soaked menu (beer cheese! beer brownies! beer bratwursts!). Revolution Brewing throbs with the young and bearded, and deservedly so for its 'power to the people' ales. Beer geeks likewise get stoked for Half Acre, thanks to its cozy tap room and bargain pours.
You didn't think we'd forget Chicago's bread and butter, did you?
