15 Restaurants To Make You Fall In Love With Chicago Again - Chicago - The Infatuation (2024)

It’s easy to complain about Chicago. Our winters are never-ending, and despite our Second City nickname, we’ve been the front-runner for “the rattiest city in the US” every year for almost a decade. But any time you consider moving to a city with less rodent neighbors or where it’s always shorts season, go to one of these restaurants. Full of charm, nostalgia, and great food, these places make Chicago easy to love again—and they couldn’t exist anywhere else.

THE SPOTS

You shouldn’t wait to eat the delicious seafood here, even if this cash-only shack in South Deering doesn’t have seats. Which means either turning your car hood into a dinner table or eating in your driver’s seat when only snow plows should be outside. The flavorful smoked fish is the main event, and includes salmon, trout, and sturgeon. Order some fried shrimp, too—there’s nothing more picturesque than dunking those crispy morsels into mild sauce while gazing at the 95th Street Bridge.

Open since 1942, this South Loop stalwart has been the lunchtime stomping grounds for many generations of office workers and local politicians. But even if you want nothing to do with downtown traffic, politics, or both, you'll want everything to do with this Jewish deli. It has a ridiculous variety of comforting food like sandwiches, knishes, and matzah ball soup, and you order cafeteria-style from someone whose only job is to make sure you’re getting enough sliced meat in your life. Get something loaded with piles of corned beef and pastrami (a popular combo for their reuben), and add a giant potato pancake for $2.50 extra.

Gene & Georgetti's is full of so many long-time River North regulars that every diner becomes a Chicagoan by osmosis (even transplants from Michigan). It truly leans into its “oldest steakhouse in the city” identity, with vintage posters, old black and white photos, and servers in bow ties zipping around the sea of white tablecloths. And while you’re eating an eggplant parm or slicing into a 21-day-aged juicy steak, don’t be surprised if Frank Sinatra’s “Chicago” starts playing in your head, or literally through the speakers.

Our city is a hub for all sorts of species of pizza, from Detroit pan style to NY slices. But the cracker-thin pies from Vito and Nick’s are quintessentially Chicago. This cash-only Ashburn spot makes incredible tavern-style pies—the crust has a terrific crisp and is the perfect vehicle for their spicy tomato sauce, browned cheese, and all thetoppings your Chicago-loving heart desires. Throw in the very divey space, and it’ll feel like you’re back in the 1940s, when tavern-style was just invented.

Cho Sun Ok so often has people waiting outside, standing in line is basically tradition. But the wait is worth it, and it's also a chance to catch your breath before this nonstop Korean BBQ sprint. The servers ask for your order shortly after you're seated, so have a plan ready (get the bulgogi, galbi, plus japchae and seafood pajeon). And the food appears faster than it takes to drink half a can of BYOBeer. Before you know it, the meat is gone, and the staff is making kimchi fried rice on the grill for “dessert.” It’s an energetic meal, especially when you’re in a room full of chatty regulars, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

This iconic ice cream shop is over a hundred years old, and it looks like it. Margie’s channels the old-school charm of an era where ice cream wasn’t topped with olive oil and flaky salt, but with generous pours of classic hot fudge from gravy boats old enough to have grandchildren. Enjoy a milkshake underneath their bright neon sign outside, or cram into a vintage naugahyde booth while tackling their 25-scoop sundae with friends. By scoop two, you might get so caught up in the whole Margie’s experience that you let out a spontaneous “Ah, Chicago.”

Few local sights are more welcoming than driving up to Superdawg and seeing the giant anthropomorphized wiener couple towering above. But as charming as this classic drive-thru is, it’s the extra snappy Chicago dogs that make this Norwood Park spot an institution. When you’re sitting in your car on a beautiful summer day, windows down, and eating their dogs with signature pickled green tomatoes (sorry, dragged-through-the-garden purists), it somehow makes dodging the potholes on the way worth it.

Sure, pizzas, hot dogs, and Italian beef might be Chicago’s signature dishes, but Sun Wah’s off-menu peking duck dinner deserves a spot on the podium. This Uptown Chinese restaurant has been carving roast birds tableside since 1986, and every course of the duck feast—meaty baos, plates of rice and noodles, light broth made with the carcass—is excellent. When you’re crowded around a lazy susan in the company of good friends, family, and plates of glistening roast duck, few group dinners in the city can compare.

You can get excellent tacos all over Chicago, but if we could teleport to any taqueria whenever we wanted, it’d be La Chaparrita in Little Village. This grocery store-restaurant hybrid has tons of varieties like asada, suadero, lengua, or cabeza, so you can come up with your all-star taco roster. And don’t miss out on their signature tripa—it’s perfectly crunchy and salty, and the tortillas get a quick dip in savory beef broth before crisping up on the griddle. Grab a seat in their colorful dining area, or get something from their take-out window if you’re in a rush.

Biting into a pillowy BBQ pork bun or egg tart (or really anything) from Chiu Quon can make you look like a heart-eyed smiley face emoji. The buns, cakes, and pastries from this cash-only Chinatown bakery are all fantastic, and they’re the main reason we frequently go spelunking in our couches looking for loose bills. Chiu Quon doesn’t have seats, but the counter by the window is the ideal place to dig into your haul. It also guarantees easy access if you need more baked goods or want to branch out into their dim sum menu.

Getting slightly jostled by a friendly server or a neighboring diner is all part of the experience at Le Bouchon, one of the city’s best French restaurants. This tightly packed bistro feels less like a room full of strangers and more like a big communal dinner, whether you’re crammed into a booth with friends and a juicy canard roti, or having a solo meal at the tiny bar with wine and trout wrapped in delicate puff pastry. And while you’re more likely to overhear loving complaints about Chicago’s professional athletes than whole conversations in French, there’s enough artwork with words like "à toute heure" to convince you that Le Bouchon is the Paris of Bucktown.

It’s easy to dismiss Chicago seafood when our closest bodies of water are Lake Michigan and a river we love dying green. But you can find fantastic sushi at this oasis in Chinatown’s 88 Marketplace food court. 312 always has excellent cuts of fish, whether you like simpler nigiri or sashimi, or like your salmon and tuna neatly wrapped in rolls topped with tobiko, salted egg yolk sauce, or chili garlic sauce. Bring some friends to tackle a party platter, and pick out your favorite beer, sake, or soju from 88 Marketplace’s booze aisle—this place is BYOB.

Any neighborhood—in any city—would be lucky to have a spot like Lula Cafe. The farm-to-table dishes are always reliable, whether it's the perfectly roasted chicken or delicious circa-1999 classics like the pasta yiayia. And even when it's busy (which is all of the time), the excellent service always fills us with Midwestern pride. Like with many slices of Chicago, the food scene around Lula has changed for good and bad over the years, but this place is as vital to Logan Square as memories of the infamous Aloha billboard.

Uncle Mike’s Place in Ukrainian Village is appropriately named: it feels like having a meal in a relative’s dining room, if that person loved old flower tiles and made some of the city’s best Filipino breakfast platters. Each comes with a cup of soothing lugaw, garlic rice, eggs, dipping vinegar, and a protein like fatty longanisa or pork tocino. But their giant bangus is the standout: a fried milkfish that’s salty, slightly tart, and crispy. By the time you’re digging into a small complementary side of champorado, you’ll wish every meal ended with a little bit of chocolate rice porridge.

We commonly ask ourselves, “Why do we still live here?” when rent, grocery prices, and the cost of existing always seem to go up. But this Bridgeport fast food joint (and its Red Hot Ranch siblings) helps us realize that a great cheap meal is possible. Armed with just a $10 bill (it’s cash-only), you can get a juicy charred burger or a hot dog, plus some fries. Everything is delicious, but it tastes even better knowing that you still have money left for Bears tickets, a vacation, or a $12 grapefruit.