The Twenty Five Best Tables in Chicago

01

★★★ West Loop

Smyth

Chicago's only three-star kitchen: John Shields and Karen Urie Shields cook boundary-pushing seasonal menus, some of it from their own garden.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~10 min

Three Michelin stars

Smyth · entry 01 of 25Close

West Loop · Three Michelin stars · Entry 01 of 25

Smyth

Contemporary, Creative

Our critics' score

95

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Chicago has exactly one three-star restaurant, and it sits behind a plain door on Ada Street with almost nothing written on it. That is the first thing Smyth tells you about itself, and it turns out to be the whole story.

John Shields and Karen Urie Shields build their menus around what the farm they work with is actually doing that week, so the food arrives without the usual luxury vocabulary — no shopping list of expensive nouns, just startling technique pointed at whatever is ripe. Courses land quietly and then refuse to leave your head for a year.

It is the most ambitious cooking in the city and the least interested in applause. Come to be surprised, not reassured.

Michelin recognition: Three Michelin stars in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, creative. Our position of 01 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 10 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

40/40

Room

19/20

Welcome

19/20

Value

17/20

02

★★ Lincoln Park

Alinea

The room that made Chicago a dining destination, and still the most theatrical tasting menu in the country.

Cuisine

Creative

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~18 min

Two Michelin stars

Alinea · entry 02 of 25Close

Lincoln Park · Two Michelin stars · Entry 02 of 25

Alinea

Creative, Modern

Our critics' score

94

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Every city has the restaurant that put it on the map. Alinea is the rare one that never coasted on it — two decades in, dinner here still behaves like a performance, right down to the curtain call.

The easy critique is that the theater does the work. Sit through a full menu and the opposite becomes obvious: the sleight of hand only lands because the fundamentals underneath are immaculate, and this kitchen has the discipline to cut anything that is merely clever.

Budget the entire evening, and bring people who will play along. Alinea rewards an audience, not a crowd.

Michelin recognition: Two Michelin stars in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: creative, modern. Our position of 02 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Lincoln Park, roughly 18 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

39/40

Room

19/20

Welcome

19/20

Value

17/20

03

★★ West Loop

Ever

Curtis Duffy's return, and the most technically exact cooking in the city. Its service won Michelin's Outstanding Service Award.

Cuisine

Creative

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~9 min

Two Michelin stars

Ever · entry 03 of 25Close

West Loop · Two Michelin stars · Entry 03 of 25

Ever

Creative, Modern

Our critics' score

92

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Curtis Duffy has done this before, lost it, and come back to do it again — and you can taste the second act in every plate at Ever. Nothing here is loose.

This is the most precise cooking in Chicago: sauces measured to the gram, plates built like architecture, a dining room moving at exactly the speed it intends. Michelin gave the floor team its Outstanding Service Award, and one dinner explains why — the service is choreographed to the point of being invisible.

If you want a meal with no rough edges anywhere, this is the booking. Just don't expect it to be casual about it.

Michelin recognition: Two Michelin stars in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: creative, modern. Our position of 03 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 9 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

39/40

Room

18/20

Welcome

19/20

Value

16/20

04

★★ West Town

Kasama

A bakery by day and a two-star tasting menu by night — the first Filipino restaurant anywhere to hold a Michelin star, promoted to two in 2026.

Cuisine

Filipino

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~16 min

Two Michelin stars

Kasama · entry 04 of 25Close

West Town · Two Michelin stars · Entry 04 of 25

Kasama

Filipino, Contemporary

Our critics' score

91

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Queue for a pastry at nine in the morning and you are standing in the room that, twelve hours later, serves one of the two best tasting menus in the city. Kasama runs both, and neither feels like the other one's side project.

It was the first Filipino restaurant anywhere in the world to hold a Michelin star, and in 2026 it took a second — earned by treating the cuisine as something to explore rather than translate for anyone's comfort. The Filipino pantry shows up inside dishes built with full tasting-menu technique, and never as a costume.

The bakery is the easy way in; the dinner is the reason to plan ahead. Do both, in that order, on separate days.

Michelin recognition: Two Michelin stars in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: filipino, contemporary. Our position of 04 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Town, roughly 16 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

38/40

Room

18/20

Welcome

19/20

Value

16/20

05

★★ West Loop

Oriole

Luxurious, low-lit and quietly confident; a tasting menu that never oversells itself.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~11 min

Two Michelin stars

Oriole · entry 05 of 25Close

West Loop · Two Michelin stars · Entry 05 of 25

Oriole

Contemporary, American

Our critics' score

91

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Oriole is what happens when a restaurant has nothing left to prove and knows it. You come down a service corridor, a door opens, and the volume of the entire city drops by half.

The menu is luxurious without being loud about it — the kind of dinner where the most expensive thing on the plate is rarely the best thing on the plate. Pacing is the real skill here: three hours pass and you never once look for a clock.

Save it for the dinner that has to go well. It always does.

Michelin recognition: Two Michelin stars in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, american. Our position of 05 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 11 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

38/40

Room

18/20

Welcome

19/20

Value

16/20

06

★ River North

Indienne

The most assured Indian tasting menu in the Midwest, and the easiest starred room to reach from the Loop.

Cuisine

Indian

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~5 min

One Michelin star

Indienne · entry 06 of 25Close

River North · One Michelin star · Entry 06 of 25

Indienne

Indian, Contemporary

Our critics' score

90

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Most Indian tasting menus in this country spend their energy apologizing for the format. Indienne doesn't, and that confidence is why it earns its place here.

Spice is handled as precision work rather than heat — layered, timed, dialed to the course instead of poured over it. The room is polished, the portions are considered, and the whole thing sits five minutes from the Loop, which makes it the easiest starred meal in Chicago to actually reach.

A very good first stop for anyone who thinks they already know what this cuisine does at this level.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: indian, contemporary. Our position of 06 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. River North, roughly 5 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

38/40

Room

18/20

Welcome

18/20

Value

16/20

07

★ West Loop

Elske

A hearth, a courtyard and Nordic restraint — for the money, the best-value starred menu in town.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~10 min

One Michelin star

Elske · entry 07 of 25Close

West Loop · One Michelin star · Entry 07 of 25

Elske

Contemporary, American

Our critics' score

89

out of 100

Why it's on the list

There is a hearth burning in the dining room and a courtyard out back, and between those two facts Elske has quietly become the smartest money on this list.

The cooking is Nordic in temperament — restrained, faintly austere, deeply seasonal — without ever turning cold. What stays with you is how much flavor the kitchen pulls out of so few moving parts.

Take the tasting menu, sit by the fire in February or outside in June, then look at the bill. It is the least punishing check of any starred room here.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, american. Our position of 07 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 10 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

37/40

Room

18/20

Welcome

18/20

Value

16/20

08

★ Lincoln Park

Esmé

Rotating artist residencies frame the room; the cooking outshines the concept.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~17 min

One Michelin star

Esmé · entry 08 of 25Close

Lincoln Park · One Michelin star · Entry 08 of 25

Esmé

Contemporary, Creative

Our critics' score

88

out of 100

Why it's on the list

The art on the walls at Esmé changes every few months, and the menu changes with it. Normally that kind of concept is a restaurant hedging its bets.

Then the food arrives and the gimmick evaporates. The cooking is disciplined, produce-led and genuinely inventive, and the rotating residency ends up doing the one job it should — giving you a reason to come back in spring and find a different restaurant in the same room.

Plan for the second visit as much as the first. That is the entire design.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, creative. Our position of 08 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Lincoln Park, roughly 17 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

37/40

Room

17/20

Welcome

18/20

Value

16/20

09

★ West Loop

Mako

B.K. Park's omakase: twenty-odd pieces of nigiri, no theater, no misses.

Cuisine

Japanese

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~10 min

One Michelin star

Mako · entry 09 of 25Close

West Loop · One Michelin star · Entry 09 of 25

Mako

Japanese, Sushi

Our critics' score

86

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Twenty-odd pieces of nigiri, no smoke, no story, nobody narrating the provenance of your fish for four minutes. B.K. Park simply feeds you.

The rice is warm, properly seasoned, and shifts from piece to piece depending on what it is carrying — the detail that separates real omakase from expensive sushi. The pace is brisk in the way it is meant to be: you eat each piece the second it is set down.

Sit at the counter or don't bother. This is the most focused hour of eating in the West Loop.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: japanese, sushi. Our position of 09 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 10 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

36/40

Room

17/20

Welcome

18/20

Value

15/20

10

★ Lincoln Park

Galit

The warmest starred room in the city. Go with four and order most of the menu.

Cuisine

Middle Eastern

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~19 min

One Michelin star

Galit · entry 10 of 25Close

Lincoln Park · One Michelin star · Entry 10 of 25

Galit

Middle Eastern, Mediterranean

Our critics' score

86

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Galit is the warmest starred dining room in Chicago, and it isn't close. Bread lands first, the table gets loud, and the fine-dining posture never shows up at all.

The menu runs on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking meant to be torn apart and passed around, which is a rare thing to find with a star attached. The hummus alone would justify the drive; the work coming off the grill is what keeps you in the chair.

Come with four people and order most of the menu. Any smaller and you are missing the point.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: middle eastern, mediterranean. Our position of 10 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Lincoln Park, roughly 19 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

36/40

Room

17/20

Welcome

18/20

Value

15/20

11

★ Lincoln Park

BOKA

Lee Wolen's kitchen is the city's most reliable special-occasion booking.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~17 min

One Michelin star

BOKA · entry 11 of 25Close

Lincoln Park · One Michelin star · Entry 11 of 25

BOKA

Contemporary, American

Our critics' score

85

out of 100

Why it's on the list

When a friend asks where to take someone for an anniversary and you only get one answer, the answer is BOKA. It has been the right answer for years.

Lee Wolen's kitchen turns out contemporary American cooking with no weak seat in the house and no off nights — the roast chicken is a local benchmark, the room is handsome without being stiff, and the service reads your table instead of performing at it.

Reliability is badly underrated as a virtue. This is the most reliable special occasion in the city.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, american. Our position of 11 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Lincoln Park, roughly 17 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

36/40

Room

17/20

Welcome

17/20

Value

15/20

12

★ West Loop

Sepia

A converted 1890s print shop, and cooking with nothing to prove.

Cuisine

American

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~8 min

One Michelin star

Sepia · entry 12 of 25Close

West Loop · One Michelin star · Entry 12 of 25

Sepia

American, Contemporary

Our critics' score

84

out of 100

Why it's on the list

An 1890s print shop with its bones left intact, and a kitchen that has never once chased a trend through the door. Sepia has been quietly excellent for so long that people forget to mention it.

The cooking is American, seasonal and unfussy in a way that takes real nerve at this level — dishes arrive looking like themselves. It is also eight minutes from the Loop, which makes it the most sensible pre-theater reservation in Chicago that still holds a star.

Go when you want to eat well and actually talk. The room is built for conversation.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: american, contemporary. Our position of 12 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 8 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

35/40

Room

17/20

Welcome

17/20

Value

15/20

13

★ River North

Topolobampo

Four decades of regional Mexican research on one menu, a four-minute ride from the Loop.

Cuisine

Mexican

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~4 min

One Michelin star

Topolobampo · entry 13 of 25Close

River North · One Michelin star · Entry 13 of 25

Topolobampo

Mexican, Regional

Our critics' score

84

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Four decades of research into regional Mexican cooking, compressed onto one menu, four minutes from State and Madison. No other restaurant in the country has that résumé.

Rick Bayless's kitchen treats moles and regional preparations as living traditions rather than museum pieces, and the sourcing is fanatical enough to justify what it costs. The dining room is generous and just formal enough to suit the food.

If you have only ever met Mexican food as a cheap lunch, consider this the correction.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: mexican, regional. Our position of 13 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. River North, roughly 4 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

35/40

Room

17/20

Welcome

17/20

Value

15/20

14

★ West Loop

Next

The premise changes every season; the standard doesn't. Tickets are prepaid.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~11 min

One Michelin star

Next · entry 14 of 25Close

West Loop · One Michelin star · Entry 14 of 25

Next

Contemporary

Our critics' score

82

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Next tears down its own identity every few months — cuisine, menu, sometimes the century — and sells tickets for it like a concert. Nobody else in America has run that trick this long without dropping it.

The premise shifts; the standard does not. Whatever the kitchen is inhabiting this season has been researched to an obsessive degree and is executed by people who could be doing something far easier.

Buy the ticket before you know what the theme is. That is the correct way to use this restaurant.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary. Our position of 14 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 11 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

34/40

Room

16/20

Welcome

17/20

Value

15/20

15

★ South Loop

Moody Tongue

A tasting menu paired course-by-course with the brewery's own beer, argued for well enough that you stop doubting it.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~14 min

One Michelin star

Moody Tongue · entry 15 of 25Close

South Loop · One Michelin star · Entry 15 of 25

Moody Tongue

Contemporary, American

Our critics' score

81

out of 100

Why it's on the list

A tasting menu paired course by course with beer sounds like a novelty until the third course, when you stop noticing there is no wine list.

The brewery makes everything in your glass, so the pairings are built rather than chosen — a beer designed backwards from a dish is a luxury almost no restaurant on earth has. The room is dim, low-key, and considerably more serious than the concept suggests.

Bring the friend who insists beer can't do this. Watch it happen to them.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, american. Our position of 15 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. South Loop, roughly 14 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

34/40

Room

16/20

Welcome

17/20

Value

14/20

16

★ Lincoln Square

Atelier

Twelve seats, one seating, and a calibrated tasting menu built on nearby farms.

Cuisine

American

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~24 min

One Michelin star

Atelier · entry 16 of 25Close

Lincoln Square · One Michelin star · Entry 16 of 25

Atelier

American

Our critics' score

80

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Twelve seats. One seating. Cancel late and someone else is eating your dinner.

Atelier calibrates its menu to a handful of nearby farms and rewrites it as the season turns, and at that scale the kitchen can make decisions no larger restaurant could afford — nothing has to survive a second service, so nothing is built to.

It is twenty-four minutes from the Loop and worth every one of them. Book well ahead; there is no walking in.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: american. Our position of 16 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Lincoln Square, roughly 24 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

34/40

Room

16/20

Welcome

16/20

Value

14/20

17

★ Uptown

Cariño

Norman Fenton's menu runs on Mexican and Japanese technique with a hip-hop soundtrack — worth the ride north.

Cuisine

Mexican

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~28 min

One Michelin star

Cariño · entry 17 of 25Close

Uptown · One Michelin star · Entry 17 of 25

Cariño

Mexican, Contemporary

Our critics' score

79

out of 100

Why it's on the list

A hip-hop soundtrack, a tasting menu, and no apparent tension between the two. Cariño is the most fun anybody in Chicago is having with a Michelin star.

Norman Fenton runs Mexican technique through a Japanese lens, and it works because both traditions are handled with real fluency rather than borrowed for effect. The room is small, loud in the right way, and staffed by people who seem genuinely pleased you came.

It is the longest ride on this list. Take it anyway.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: mexican, contemporary. Our position of 17 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Uptown, roughly 28 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

33/40

Room

16/20

Welcome

16/20

Value

14/20

18

★ West Town

Feld

New in the 2026 guide with a star and a Green Star: farm-to-table cooking with sustainability built into the sourcing.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~16 min

One Michelin star

Feld · entry 18 of 25Close

West Town · One Michelin star · Entry 18 of 25

Feld

Contemporary, Farm to table

Our critics' score

79

out of 100

Why it's on the list

New in the 2026 guide with a star and a Green Star in the same breath, which almost never happens. Feld earned both by treating sustainability as a sourcing problem rather than a marketing one.

The menu is short, farm-led and closely argued — you can taste the reasoning behind why a vegetable is on the plate and why it has been left largely alone. Nothing here is decorative.

Catch it now, while a table can still be had on a normal amount of notice.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, farm to table. Our position of 18 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Town, roughly 16 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

33/40

Room

16/20

Welcome

16/20

Value

14/20

19

★ Wicker Park

Schwa

Punk-rock fine dining. Bring your own bottle, book by phone, expect the unexpected.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~18 min

One Michelin star

Schwa · entry 19 of 25Close

Wicker Park · One Michelin star · Entry 19 of 25

Schwa

Contemporary, Innovative

Our critics' score

77

out of 100

Why it's on the list

You book by phone. Somebody may or may not pick up. Bring your own bottle, because there is no list, and don't expect the meal you get to resemble the one anyone else describes.

Schwa was doing punk-rock fine dining long before anyone had the phrase for it — the cooks run the room, the music is loud, and the plates are as technically serious as anything in the city while pretending very hard not to be.

It is the least polished starred meal in Chicago and one of the most memorable. Those two facts are related.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, innovative. Our position of 19 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Wicker Park, roughly 18 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

32/40

Room

15/20

Welcome

16/20

Value

14/20

20

★ Douglas Park

EL Ideas

An open kitchen with no barrier at all between cooks and diners — the most personal starred meal in Chicago.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Price

$$$$

From Loop

~16 min

One Michelin star

EL Ideas · entry 20 of 25Close

Douglas Park · One Michelin star · Entry 20 of 25

EL Ideas

Contemporary, Creative

Our critics' score

77

out of 100

Why it's on the list

There is no barrier at all between the kitchen and the table at EL Ideas. The chef hands you the plate, tells you what it is, and stands there while you eat it.

That format could easily curdle into a stunt. Instead it turns dinner into something closer to being cooked for at someone's home — assuming the home held a Michelin star and sat unmarked in the middle of Douglas Park.

Bring your own bottle, one seating, and everyone winds up in the kitchen before the night ends. It is the most personal meal on this list.

Michelin recognition: One Michelin star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, creative. Our position of 20 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Douglas Park, roughly 16 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

32/40

Room

15/20

Welcome

16/20

Value

14/20

21

Bib Logan Square

Daisies

Bib Gourmand and Michelin Green Star: farmer-driven pasta that never turns worthy.

Cuisine

Italian

Price

$$

From Loop

~18 min

Bib Gourmand

Daisies · entry 21 of 25Close

Logan Square · Bib Gourmand · Entry 21 of 25

Daisies

Italian

Our critics' score

75

out of 100

Why it's on the list

A Bib Gourmand and a Green Star on the same restaurant is a hard trick, because eating virtuously is usually expensive and rarely much fun. Daisies solves it with pasta.

The grain and the produce come from farms this kitchen has genuine relationships with, and the menu never once turns into a lecture about it. The noodles do the talking; the sourcing is simply why they taste the way they do.

The best proof here that a restaurant can be serious about its supply chain and still be somewhere you'd happily spend a Tuesday.

Michelin recognition: Bib Gourmand and a Michelin Green Star in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: italian. Our position of 21 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Logan Square, roughly 18 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

32/40

Room

15/20

Welcome

15/20

Value

13/20

22

Bib West Loop

Girl & The Goat

Stephanie Izard's Randolph Street original — still loud, still packed, still delivers.

Cuisine

Contemporary, American

Price

$$$

From Loop

~7 min

Bib Gourmand

Girl & The Goat · entry 22 of 25Close

West Loop · Bib Gourmand · Entry 22 of 25

Girl & The Goat

Contemporary, American

Our critics' score

74

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Years into its run on Randolph, still a wait, still loud enough that you lean across the table to talk. Girl & The Goat could have settled into being a tourist stop and flatly refused.

Stephanie Izard's menu is built for sharing and for appetite — big, spiced, unafraid of the offcuts, generous in a way fine dining rarely allows itself. The kitchen still sends out plates that startle people who have been coming for a decade.

Order more than you think you need. Everyone does.

Michelin recognition: Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: contemporary, american. Our position of 22 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. West Loop, roughly 7 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

31/40

Room

15/20

Welcome

15/20

Value

13/20

23

Bib River North

Frontera Grill

The à-la-carte way into the Bayless kitchen, and the closest Bib to the Loop.

Cuisine

Mexican

Price

$$

From Loop

~4 min

Bib Gourmand

Frontera Grill · entry 23 of 25Close

River North · Bib Gourmand · Entry 23 of 25

Frontera Grill

Mexican

Our critics' score

74

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Frontera is the à la carte door into the same operation as Topolobampo, at half the ceremony and a fraction of the commitment.

The cooking is regional Mexican held to the same sourcing discipline as its starred neighbor, served in a bright, noisy room full of people who came for lunch and stayed for a second margarita.

Four minutes from the Loop, and the best value on this list for anyone who wants cooking of this pedigree without planning their month around it.

Michelin recognition: Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: mexican. Our position of 23 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. River North, roughly 4 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

31/40

Room

15/20

Welcome

15/20

Value

13/20

24

Bib Logan Square

Longman & Eagle

Whiskey, duck-fat fries and six rooms upstairs if the night runs long.

Cuisine

Gastropub

Price

$$

From Loop

~21 min

Bib Gourmand

Longman & Eagle · entry 24 of 25Close

Logan Square · Bib Gourmand · Entry 24 of 25

Longman & Eagle

Gastropub

Our critics' score

72

out of 100

Why it's on the list

A gastropub with a whiskey list long enough to become a problem, and six rooms upstairs for when it does. Longman & Eagle has been solving Logan Square's late nights for years.

The Bib is not sentimental. There is real ambition behind a menu that reads casual, and the duck-fat fries are the most quietly famous thing in the neighborhood.

Go late, order something you can't pronounce, and treat the room key as an exit strategy.

Michelin recognition: Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: gastropub. Our position of 24 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Logan Square, roughly 21 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

30/40

Room

14/20

Welcome

15/20

Value

13/20

25

Bib Logan Square

Lula Café

The neighborhood restaurant every city wants and few get.

Cuisine

American

Price

$$

From Loop

~20 min

Bib Gourmand

Lula Café · entry 25 of 25Close

Logan Square · Bib Gourmand · Entry 25 of 25

Lula Café

American

Our critics' score

72

out of 100

Why it's on the list

Every city claims a great neighborhood restaurant. Lula is the real version — the place people move to Logan Square partly to live near.

Decades in, it still cooks to the season, still turns out a brunch worth queuing for, and still prices itself like it wants regulars rather than occasions. That combination is far harder to sustain than a tasting menu.

It is the last entry on this list and the one you would end up at most often. That is not a demotion.

Michelin recognition: Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Chicago guide. Cuisine as listed by the guide: american. Our position of 25 is editorial — the guide does not rank its selections. Logan Square, roughly 20 minutes from State & Madison by car; for current hours, menu and reservations, go to the restaurant's own site.

Our score

Cooking

30/40

Room

14/20

Welcome

15/20

Value

13/20