1. food and drink
2. desserts and baking

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DINING
101
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By Kevin Pang
Summer 2014
CHICAGO
DINING
101
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Chicago!
Like any world-class city, Chicago presents two simultaneous
versions of itself: one as described by the hotel concierge, the
other inhabited by those who call it home. The former is
defined by deep dish pizzas, cheese-caramel popcorn and
architectural cruises in an area triangulated by Willis Tower, the
Field Museum and the John Hancock Center. The Chicago of
Chicagoans consists of three-flat buildings, beanbag toss on
sidewalks, Goose Island Green Line, rib tips grilling on
aquarium smokers and
tamale-selling abuelas.
Contents
Both Chicagos are valid
INTRODUCTION
representations of the city.
■ Luxury dining
3
But many out-of-towners
■ Proletariat food
4
only hear about one.
■ “Yuppie dining”
5
So what does it mean to
■ International
6
eat like a Chicagoan?
Here, now, is our attempt
ITINERARIES
to encapsulate our city’s
■ Chicago’s Greatest Hits 1 8
restaurant scene, a
■ Chicago’s Greatest Hits 2 10
Chicago beyond what’s
■ River North (no car)
12
perpetuated by guide■ Expense Account
14
books and old “Saturday
■ South Side
16
Night Live” skits.
■ International
18
Note on itineraries: Call
ahead/check website first to
confirm hours of operation
[email protected]
Twitter @pang
C
Gene’s Sausage
Shop
Old-world Polish butcher
that’ll fulfill your sausage
dreams
Itinerary: INTERNATIONAL
D
19
Lao Sze Chuan
The restaurant that
popularized regional
Chinese in Chicago
Get: Double-smoked snack
sausage (kabanosy), knackwurst, chicken noodle soup
5330 W. Belmont Ave.,
773-777-6322; 4750 N. Lincoln
Ave., 773-728-7243
genessausageshop.com
Note: Lincoln Square location
features great rooftop beer
garden.
E
Chopal Kabab &
Steak
Get: Cumin lamb, Tony’s
three-chili chicken,
twice-cooked pork, hot pot
Multiple locations, original
restaurant at 2172 S. Archer
Ave., 312-326-5040
tonygourmetgroup.com
Note: Owner Tony Hu has a
string of regional Lao
restaurants, including Lao
Beijing and Lao Shanghai in
same complex.
F
San Soo Gab San
Crowd-pleasing Korean
tabletop barbecue
Meat-first Indian/
Pakastani BYOB
Get: Kalbi (beef short
ribs), bulgogi (marinated
beef), kimchee zigae
(spicy kimchee/pork stew)
Get: Grilled goat chops,
chili chicken
2240 W. Devon Ave.
773-338-4080
chopalkababsteak.com
Note: Overdosed on meat?
Consider vegetarian
Uru-Swati a half-mile west at
2629 W. Devon Ave.,
773-262-5280
5247 N. Western Ave.
773-334-1589
Note: Don’t wear cashmere,
unless you want it to smell
like barbecue forever.
Proletariat food
1
Mile
94
57
An example of square-cut
pizza.
C
95TH
A
87TH
PULASKI
CICERO
83RD
WESTERN
B
D
94
GARFIELD
E
Get: Pimm’s Cup, Pilsen
Fish House Punch
55
Underground VFW Hall
ambience, with punch
on draft
HALSTED
1227 W. 18th St.
312-526-3851
punchhousechicago.com
F
COTTAGE GROVE
90
Note: Punch House
(drinks) is part of the
Dusek’s (restaurant) and
Thalia Hall (live shows)
triumvirate.
and slice beef in-house daily.
Origins of the gyro
sandwich are hotly disputed
among a handful of Greektown restaurant magnates
along South Halsted Street,
but all acknowledge it was
introduced to America via
Chicago sometime in the
mid-’60s. As for pizza, there’s
this false belief that Chicagoans exclusively consume deep
dish pizzas. More representative of Chicago’s pizza
preference is the thin-crust
sausage and cheese party cut:
Instead of standard triangleshaped wedges, the pie is cut
crisscross into squares.
STONY ISLAND
What is the food of
Chicago’s Everyman and
Everywoman? Each neighborhood has its say. In
Lakeview, it might be a pub
serving a two-handed
cheeseburger. On the
Southwest Side along
Cermak Road, it’s the fry
houses selling breaded
shrimp by the paper bag.
You’ll hear the phrase
“tip-link combo” uttered on
the South and West sides,
shorthand for rib tips and hot
links found in barbecue
takeouts.
Most ubiquitous of all is
the corner grill, found in
almost every neighborhood,
that’ll serve a Chicago-style
hot dog (mustard, neon
relish, onions, pickle, tomato
slices, sport peppers, celery
salt). Italian beef — the
irresistibly sloppy bomb of
roast beef, hot peppers and
jus-soaked roll — is Chicago’s
Everyman sandwich, and
finer purveyors (Johnnie’s,
Al’s #1, chains like Portillo’s
and Buona Beef ) still roast
94
90
294
55
CERMAK
Punch House
DETAIL
AREA
31ST
290
Chicago
F
ROOSEVELT
90
Note: Second location now open in Three Oaks, Mich.
964 W. 31st St., 773-523-7437, pleasanthousebakery.com
Get: Chicken balti pie, premium pasty, deluxe gravy chips
Blue-collar English food with farm-to-table sensibility
E
Pleasant House Bakery
17
Itinerary: SOUTH SIDE
INTRODUCTION
4
18
Itinerary: INTERNATIONAL
INTRODUCTION
3
A
Luxury dining
La Chaparrita
Supermarket taqueria of
the highest order
2500 S. Whipple St.
773-254-0975
Get: Crispy tripe and al
pastor tacos, tepache
(fermented pineapple drink)
Note: The supermarket makes
its own longaniza sausage,
which it sells by bulk.
B
94
EL
90
DEVON
E
F
ST
ON
94
FOSTER
290
LAWRENCE
55
CICERO
C
BELMONT
LN
CO
LIN
WESTERN
C
DETAIL
AREA
Chicago
Lake
Michigan
M
ILW
AU
Smak-Tak
KE
E
Homey Polish cooking
in lodge setting
Note: Translation means
“taste-yes!”
G
290
DE
N
94
CANAL
5961 N. Elston Ave.
773-763-1123
smaktak.com
Chicago
A
CERMAK
26TH
55
MICHIGAN
Get: Pierogis, hunter
stew, stuffed cabbage
rolls
Mile
90
O
B
D
1
We begin with restaurants
at the top — tops in creative
verve, critical acclaim and
price tag. First some context:
Fine-dining in Chicago
during the ’70s was shaped
by chefs like Jovan Trboyevich and Jean Banchet, whose
cooking philosophies were
ensconced in the school of
classic French. Then came
Charlie Trotter in 1987, who
sourced exotic ingredients
and preached farm-to-table
kitchen before it was en
vogue. Trotter’s kitchen
produced a coterie of
Chicago’s most influential
chefs today.
Among them is Grant
Achatz, the man responsible
for guiding our city’s
restaurants to a new stratum
of ambition. When he
opened Alinea in 2005, his
cooking garnered praise that
went beyond local adulations. Ruth Reichl, in
Gourmet magazine, called it
the best restaurant in the
country. Where Trotter’s
preached refinement and
tradition, Achatz’s food was
altogether exacting, playful,
interactive and theatrical,
influenced by Spain’s
avant-garde cooking movement (for example, a green
taffy balloon dessert
suspended with helium).
For this genre of restaurant, where diners can expect
to pay $400 and up per
person, Alinea continues to
be the standard-bearer.
Others, like L2O, Sixteen,
Tru, Spiaggia and Grace,
shoot for multi-Michelin-star
status. Any international
gourmet with a passing
familiarity of Chicago’s
dining scene will reference
these restaurants first.
One level down in pricing,
but with no less decorum, are
Chicago’s famed steakhouses.
Gibson’s, Gene & Georgetti’s
and Morton’s have long been
the go-to beef emporiums for
business suits and conventiongoers. Here you’ll find
chicken Vesuvio, a Chicago
invention — bone-in chicken
with potatoes sauteed in
white wine, garlic and olive
oil, then roasted until crisp.
Note: Cash only. Friday is
all-you-can-eat fried
smelts night.
8433 S. Pulaski Rd.
773-735-2050
vitoandnicks.com
Get: House special pizza
(sausage, mushroom,
green pepper, onion)
Classic Chicago
thin-crust pizza
B
Vito & Nick’s
Note: Why are the French
fries so good? (They’re
fried in beef fat.)
2116 W. 95th St.
773-445-7218
Get: Half-pound cheeseburger with grilled onions
Legendary burger
restaurant that still
butchers its own beef
A
Top Notch
Beefburgers
Note: Always ask for barbecue
sauce on the side.
Uncle John’s: 8249 S. Cottage
Grove Ave., 773-952-6236,
Dat Donut: 8251 S. Cottage
Grove Ave., 773-723-1002
datdonut.com
Get: At Uncle John’s, rib tips
and hot links. At Dat Donut,
ask for anything fresh from
the fryer.
South Side Chicago-style
barbecue next to 24-hour
doughnut shop
D
Uncle John’s BBQ
and Dat Donut
For lack of a better term, we
use “yuppie” in its literal sense
— restaurants frequented by
young, urban professionals.
This covers a wide swath of
establishments, to be sure, but
by our definition these
restaurants: 1) offer beverage
programs; 2) have changing
menus that reflect ingredient
seasonality; 3) are “buzzy”
spots covered by media; and
4) charge around $100 for
‘Yuppie’ dining
dinner for two (by Chicago
standards, this is considered a
midtier price). Restaurants
that fit that bill include: Girl &
The Goat, Lula Cafe, The
Publican, Hopleaf, The Purple
Pig, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba, Sunda,
Balena, so on and so forth.
The overwhelming majority
of these restaurants are on the
North Side, though in recent
years, restaurants like
Nightwood and Dusek's have
thrived south of Roosevelt
Avenue.
Diners eating al fresco at the Purple Pig.
TERRENCE ANTONIO JAMES / TRIBUNE PHOTO 2010
Note: The five flavors of the
rainbow cone are chocolate,
strawberry, Palmer House
(vanilla with cherries and
walnuts), pistachio and orange
sherbet.
9223 S. Western Ave., 773-2387075, rainbowcone.com
Get: The rainbow cone
The official ice cream of
Chicago summers
C
Original Rainbow
Cone
15
Itinerary: EXPENSE ACCOUNT
INTRODUCTION
6
16
Itinerary: SOUTH SIDE
INTRODUCTION
5
International
C
One in every five Chicagoans is of Mexican descent,
representing more Latinos
than people from any other
country. The largest groups
reside on the Southwest Side,
in Pilsen and Little Village,
neighborhoods where
taquerias and carnicerias
abound.
Mexicans are responsible
for Chicago’s most robust
street food scene (in a city
where regulations all but stifle
the culture), and it can be
found Sundays at Maxwell
Street Market, a mile southwest of the Loop. You also
can’t mention Mexican food
in Chicago without a hat tip to
Rick Bayless, who elevated
the cuisine to four-star status.
He practically owns the entire
block of Clark Street between
Hubbard and Illinois streets
with his trio of popular
restaurants, in descending
levels of formality: Topolobampo, Frontera Grill and
Xoco.
After English and Spanish,
Polish is the most-spoken
Blackbird
The restaurant that
began West Loop’s
fine-dining boom
Get: For lunch, pork belly
or whitefish sandwich.
Menu changes often for
dinner.
Goat chops at Chopal Kebab
& Steak.
language among Chicagoans.
Some of the most popular
restaurants for the Chicago
Polonia can be found along
Milwaukee Avenue on the
Northwest Side (Smak-Tak,
Staropolska, Red Apple).
Pockets of ethnic communities produce vibrant and
compact restaurant rows. The
milelong stretch of Devon
Avenue between California
and Damen avenues is home
to 40-plus Indian and
Pakistani restaurants. The
Chinese represent the largest
Asian ethnicity in Chicago,
with a bustling variety of
mostly Cantonese food
619 W. Randolph St.
312-715-0708
blackbirdrestaurant.com
Note: The $25 three-course
lunch is the best 4-star
restaurant deal in town.
JOHN J. KIM / TRIBUNE PHOTO
Grace/Alinea/L2O/Sixteen/EL Ideas/Spiaggia
The most adventurous, expensive, Michelin star-chasing
restaurants in town
Get: Most of these restaurants have set tasting menus.
H EL Ideas: 2419 W. 14th St.,
312-226-8144, elideas.com
E Alinea: 1723 N. Halsted
St., 312-867-0110,
alinearestaurant.com
G Sixteen: 401 N. Wabash
Ave., 312-588-8030,
sixteenchicago.com
D Grace: 652 W. Randolph
St., 312-234-9494,
grace-restaurant.com
F L2O: 2300 N. Lincoln Park
West, 773-868-0002,
L2Orestaurant.com
I Spiaggia: 980 N. Michigan
Ave., 312-280-2750,
spiaggiarestaurant.com
Note: Reservations will need to be secured months ahead.
C
Margie’s Candies
Three Dots and a Dash
E
BRIAN CASSELLA / TRIBUNE PHOTO
WACKER
B
3324 N. California Ave.
773-279-9550
hotdougs.com
D
ORLEANS
River
North
C
CLARK
Get: Foie gras and
duck sausage hot
dog, or whatever
owner Doug Sohn
recommends
A
E
ILLINOIS
MICHIGAN
KINZIE
OHIO
1/4
Miles
Lake
Michigan
294
90
Navy
Pier
55
290
Chicago
DETAIL
AREA
90
CHICAGO
Note: Come during lunch, and sit at the mahogany bar. Listen to
old-timers tell stories.
Gourmet hot dog
purveyor
500 N. Franklin St., 312-527-3718, geneandgeorgetti.com
Get: Chicken alla Joe, broiled petite strip steak
(restaurant closes for
good Oct. 4, 2014)
Old-school Chicago steakhouse since 1941
13
Itinerary: RIVER NORTH (no car)
WESTERN
290
Chicago
ROOSEVELT
Itinerary: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS 1
D
G
MICHIGAN
RANDOLPH
8
Gene & Georgetti’s
KINZIE
C
D
94
A
OHIO
Hot Doug’s
B
90
A
RANDOLPH
CHICAGO
1/2
Note: Open 10:30
a.m.-4 p.m. Monday to
Saturday, cash only.
Expect hour-plus lines.
LAKE SHORE DRIVE
Old-school ice cream parlor
Mile
Xoco
The tiki bar,
updated for the
craft cocktails
crowd
I
B
Get: Turtle sundae, turtle
split
JASON LITTLE / PHOTO FOR REDEYE
Get: Puka Puka
Punch, Dead
Reckoning
90
294
Mexican-inspired street
foods
435 N. Clark St.
312-610-4220
threedotschicago.com
Chicago
55
Get: Churros, choriqueso,
woodland mushroom torta,
Mexican hot chocolate
1960 N. Western Ave.
773-384-1035
and 1813 W. Montrose Ave.
773-348-0400
margiesfinecandies.com
Note: Psst. The entrance is in the alley behind the building on
Hubbard St.
800 N. Michigan Ave., 7th
floor, 312-239-4030,
hyatt.com
Note: The only brunch in
town with brioche French
toast and sushi.
290
K
CL NORTH
YB
O
U
RN
Get: The weekend
brunch
DETAIL
AREA
90
F
AR
E
94
CL
Park Hyatt hotel
restaurant with
spectacular Michigan
Avenue view
FULLERTON
HALSTED
NoMI Kitchen
A
449 N. Clark St., 312-661-1434;
opening summer 2014 at
1471 N. Milwaukee Ave.,
rickbayless.com
Note: Western Avenue location
open since 1921, has higher
charm factor but longer lines.
Itinerary: EXPENSE ACCOUNT
Note: River North location
closed Sunday and Monday.
14
INTRODUCTION
7
options in Chinatown (Archer
and Wentworth avenues on
the South Side). On the North
Side, Argyle Street between
Sheridan Road and Broadway
features a cluster of Vietnamese restaurants. The Filipino,
Korean and Middle Eastern
restaurant scenes in Albany
Park are, by comparison,
more insular, catering to their
countrymen (some menus
don’t have English translations). But if you seek cuisine
that won’t compromise
authenticity, Albany Park
boasts the most diverse array
of international restaurants in
Chicago. (Bridgeview isn’t
part of Chicago but is another
hub of top-notch Middle
Eastern restaurants.)
Italian restaurateurs made
Little Italy (Taylor Street) and
the Heart of Chicago
neighborhood (Oakley
Avenue between 24th and
26th streets) into red-sauce
gravy central. A handful of
reliable German restaurants
exist in Lincoln Square. Pub
food is ever present in
Beverly, home to the annual
South Side Irish Parade.
Puerto Ricans settled in
Humboldt Park, where the
jibarito (steak sandwich with
fried plantains in place of
bread) garnered much fame
at Borinquen restaurant.
B
Steakhouse with dry-aging room
on site
The Hungarian
style pancake
at Smak-Tak!,
a Polish
restaurant on
the northwest
side.
Get: 55- or 75-day dry aged rib-eye
steak, 40-day prime steak burger
ALEX GARCIA /
TRIBUNE PHOTO
2005
N
E
GD
O
H
David Burke’s Primehouse
616 N. Rush St., 312-660-6000
davidburkesprimehouse.com
Note: Dry-aged steaks can be
purchased for home grilling.
1633 N. Halsted St.
312-867-3888
balenachicago.com
Get: Squid ink pasta with
sea urchin and crab, fennel
sausage pizza
Sophisticated, contemporary Italian worth
donning your Sunday
best
The greasy spoon, upscaled
for beautiful people
Au Cheval
B
C
Balena
KEDZIE
Get: Italian beef with
hot peppers (ask for it
“dipped”), lemon ice
(Across the street from
each other)
90
55
Chicago
290
90
DETAIL
AREA
Note: 21 and over only.
5148 N. Clark St.
773-334-9851
hopleaf.com
BELMONT
Get: Whatever beer
the server recommends, Montrealstyle beef brisket
Mind-boggling
selection of Belgian
and other rare beers
FOSTER
Al’s #1 Italian Beef and Mario’s
Italian Lemonade stand
Chicago
94
CLARK
Classic Chicago
sandwich plus icy
lemon chaser
RANDOLPH
C
90 DIVERSEY
94
1
Mile
A
NORTH
Yusho
D
90
B
Get: 2x fried
chicken, okonomiyaki, chawanmushi
(if they have it),
takoyaki
D
Al’s: 1079 W. Taylor St
312-226-4017,
Mario’s: 1068 W. Taylor St.
A
290
Inventive Japanese
small plates
Note: Park on the street, not the lot, if you plan on visiting both
places. Mario’s closes for the winter.
94
ROOSEVELT
2853 N. Kedzie Ave.
773-904-8558
yusho-chicago.com
WESTERN
Get: Chopped chicken liver,
duck heart hash, cheeseburger (skip the bacon)
Note: Closed
Tuesday, dinner only
except Sunday, noon
to 8 p.m.
ASHLAND
800 W. Randolph St.
312-929-4580
auchevalchicago.com
RACINE
Note: Dinner only, reservations suggested.
DE
N
HALSTED
Note: Dinner lines can be
ridiculously long, so visit during
lunch or after 11 p.m. (open
until 1:30 a.m. most nights.)
OG
E
E
Hopleaf
11
Itinerary: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS 2
Itinerary: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS 2
10
12
Itinerary: RIVER NORTH (no car)
Itinerary: CHICAGO’S GREATEST HITS 1
9
A
The Purple Pig
Mediterranean-inflected
communal small plates
The Publican
MONTROSE
A
Pork, oysters, beer hall
Get: Ceviche trio, sweet corn
tamales, guacamole, tortilla
soup
837 W. Fulton Market
312-733-9555
thepublicanrestaurant.com
445 N. Clark St., 312-661-1434
rickbayless.com
Note: Dinner only Monday to
Friday, weekend brunch.
Reservations suggested.
M
ILW
AU
KE
E
C
Eataly
G
94
C
Chicago
290
55
G
G
OHIO
G
River
North
G
The
Loop
G
Navy Pier
Lake
Michigan
G
Garrett Popcorn
Habit-forming popcorn
Get: Chicago mix (cheese
and caramel combo)
Multiple locations,
garrettpopcorn.com
Note: Last-minute stragglers
can pick up popcorn at O’Hare
Terminal 3.
90
294
Miles
1/2
90
Chicago
94
Miles
2
87TH
G
57
COTTAGE GROVE
E. JASON WAMBSGANS / TRIBUNE PHOTO 2013
94
G
90
STATE
Note: There are 23
“restaurants” inside
here. Walk around first
before committing.
G
90
BELMONT
MICHIGAN
43 E. Ohio St.
312-521-8700
eataly.com
RANDOLPH
Near West
Side
CANAL
Get: Nutella crepes,
affogato (gelato plus
espresso, located on
first floor), prosciutto
bar (second floor)
B
KINZIE
D
An Italian foods
department store
CHICAGO
LASALLE
Note: Limited reservations.
Line up here at 4:30 p.m. if you
plan on dining. Closed Sunday
and Monday.
Get: Charcuterie, farm chicken,
any of the seafood offerings
DETAIL
AREA
94
C
ASHLAND
Rick Bayless' raucous and
signature Mexican restaurant
HALSTED
Note: Prime foot traffic
location + no reservations
= super busy
D
WESTERN
500 N. Michigan Ave.
312-464-1744
thepurplepigchicago.com
Frontera Grill
CALIFORNIA
Get: Roasted bone
marrow, jowl bacon-duck
egg sandwich,
milk-braised pork shoulder
B
94