Latest Chicago restaurant reviews

Taking up residence in the former Winchester space, the Michelin-starred modern Filipino-American concept is from husband-and-wife team Tim Flores and Genie Kwon (Oriole).  The vibe: An intimate, ultra-popular spot in the Ukrainian Village that always has a long line during the daytime. The food: During the daytime, Kwon’s pastries and options like chicken adobo and a killer breakfast sandwich cause lines to form down the block. But at night, Kasama transforms into a 13-course fine dining experience full of bold and exciting flavors. The drinks: The daytime drinks like an ube latte are balanced and fresh, and for dinner, a $195 beverage pairing is well worth the splurge. Time Out tip: If you're coming during the day, order ahead online. This way, you'll skip the long line and walk right inside to pick up your order. When the weather permits, head to one of the nearby parks to eat outside. 

I often find myself the minority in conversations where people argue that pasta is meant for home cooking. “Why go out and pay $18 for something I can make myself?” they ask. Maybe because I love delicate handmade tagliatelle as much as red sauce-drowned, bottomless pasta bowls at Olive Garden. No matter what side of the argument you fall on, Joe Frillman’s noodle-centric Logan Square spot makes a compelling argument for going out for pasta—if only for a single, beguiling bowl of tajarin. But let me back up. Earlyish on a weeknight, the mister and I were seated without a wait at one of the low wood tables lining a built-in bench opposite a long, minimalist bar. The space (which formerly hosted dearly departed Analogue) has a narrow, crowded front dining room. The still-intimate back room offers a bit more space and overlooks a serene patio. The vibe here is casual and relaxed, with lots of brick and wood accentuated by cheerful veggie watercolors by Frillman’s sister Carrie. I started with the cucumber spritz, a bright, easy-drinking, tequila-spiked salve to Chicago’s 105 percent humidity. The sweet-meets-earthy beet old-fashioned was a clever, more direct route to washing away the day’s woes, especially when sipped alongside fried shiitakes and cheese curds, which oozed just enough inside. We dunked them in tangy tarragon ranch, basking in churched-up taste memories of our Upper Midwestern college days. Our second starter, silky duck fat-cooked carrot rillettes, was...

If you ask an honest-to-god Chicagoan to name their favorite deep dish pizza, chances are they'll point you to Pequod's, where the signature pan pies are ringed with caramelized cheese and the slices are massive—one piece makes a meal. The vibe: With exposed brick and plasma-screen TVs, Pequod's is firmly a neighborhood bar. The food: The signature pan pizza is ringed with caramelized cheese, and slices are massive—one piece makes a meal. The drinks: Add veggies to lighten it up a bit, or go all in, with the sausage pie, dotted with perfectly spiced, Ping-Pong ball–sized pieces of seasoned ground pork. Time Out tip: Pequod's is always busy (for good reason), so we recommend making a reservation if you plan on dining in. Updated with reporting by Lauren Brocato

“You’re our advertising right now,” a server joked while uncorking a bottle of wine for my dining partner and me on a recent visit to Dear Margaret, a French-Canadian restaurant near the border of Lincoln Park and Lakeview. We were tucked into a cubby-like space at the front of the restaurant, our table framed by a window draped with gauzy blinds facing out onto Lincoln Avenue, where passersby might be able to sneak a look at our meal. There probably wasn’t enough foot traffic at 9pm to allow for many chance glimpses, but still—I’ll happily serve as advertising for Dear Margaret, which has provided some of my favorite dining experiences of the past year or so.  Helmed by executive chef Ryan Brosseau (Le Sud; Table, Donkey and Stick) and owner Lacey Irby, Dear Margaret opened in early 2021 as a takeout-only venture, when COVID-19 closures left indoor dining off the table. I’m told Dear Margaret’s food stands up well as takeaway, but I can’t imagine eating it anywhere other than the sweet little restaurant itself. Warm and nearly always bustling, it’s the type of place that gives you a good feeling the instant you step inside, with wide-paneled wooden flooring, honeyed lighting and a smattering of homey decor befitting of its namesake—Brosseau’s grandmother, the muse behind the restaurant’s French-Canadian menu.  Brosseau also draws inspiration for the menu from his upbringing in the agricultural reaches of southern Ontario, a region not entirely unlike the Great Lakes...

Restaurant review by Amy Cavanaugh While we were driving to dinner at Boka last weekend, my dinner date confessed: “All I want to eat for dinner is chicken.”  “You’re in luck,” I said. “Lee Wolen is a god of chicken.” When the Boka Group overhauled its ten-year old flagship restaurant earlier this winter, it made a few key changes. It revamped the space so it’s unrecognizable from its previous, staid incarnation—now, there’s a huge moss- and plant-covered wall (designed by former Time Out dining editor Heather Shouse’s Bottle and Branch horticulture company) with paintings of elegantly dressed-up animals; a bar area that feels like a boisterous brasserie, with dark leather, brick walls and dim lighting; and portraits of Bill Murray and Dave Grohl as generals. Bartender Ben Schiller had already departed for the Berkshire Room, and he was replaced with Tim Stanczykiewicz (GT Fish & Oyster, Balena), who handles the list of crowd-pleasing cocktails that don’t overpower the food, like a bee’s knees. And it brought in chicken god Lee Wolen, formerly chef de cuisine at the Lobby, to take over for GT Fish & Oyster’s Giueseppe Tentori. At the Lobby, Wolen’s star dish was a roasted chicken for two, a dish brought to Chicago from New York’s NoMad (the sister restaurant to Eleven Madison Park, where Wolen was a sous chef). It’s a different dish at Boka, but it’s still a knockout—lemon and thyme brioche is stuffed under the skin, then the breasts are roasted and the legs confited,...

Translating to "my namesake" in Spanish, Mi Tocaya is a term of endearment that chef Diana Dávila has bestowed upon her neighborhood Mexican restaurant in Logan Square. Dávila recreates childhood memories through her food, offering guests a lineup of soul-warming dishes like duck carnitas and fish in mole rojo. The guac, which is dusted with chile ash, is still on the menu, and a slate of cocktails rounds out the mix (the Ancestral Old Fashioned is brilliantly balanced and truly unique). The following review was published in 2017. Plenty of new Mexican restaurants have set up shop in Chicago over the last couple of years, but Mi Tocaya in Logan Square is one to watch. Upon opening the menu at this buzzy, modern eatery, your eyes will go straight to the tacos (and you should order a few of those), but the antojos section is where you’ll find chef Diana Dávila’s best work, like the timeless fish con mole and the lobster-studded esquites. Start with an order of the house guacamole, which is showered in smoky chile ash and served with a generous helping of warm tortilla chips. The peanut butter y lengua appetizer—braised beef tongue with peanut butter salsa, pickled onions and grilled radish—is another crowd pleaser for first-timers and adventurous eaters alike. (Even if you're not a huge tongue fan, we recommend giving this dish a go.) A table of four hungry diners should be satisfied with three to four shareable antojos. Just know that you won't find typical Mexican-American...

Of all things, it was a fried corn silk garnish that made me well up during the fourth “Ravioli” course at Cariño, Uptown’s spectacular Latin American tasting menu restaurant from co-owner/executive chef Norman Fenton.  What’s maybe more noteworthy about this dish, in which al dente ravioli stuffed with puréed huitlacoche laze in truffle beurre blanc beneath a wave of corn foam, is that truffle isn’t rained on top like dollar bills. Rather it’s deployed subtly to enhance the corn smut’s woodsy, fermented qualities. Adorning the bowl’s edge with dehydrated corn and “popped” sorghum, the corn silk looked like little singed hairs. It tasted grassy and toasty, unlocking a childhood taste memory of eating ineptly shucked, grilled corn on the cob with butter. This stuck with me as I unearthed the grain’s diverse expressions one by one, then in a chorus—buttery, minerally, toasty, earthy like mushrooms, gently acidic, sweet as if sun dried. And I cried, just a little.  This was one of countless moments that solidified my sense that Cariño might be the best dining experience in Chicago right now, and a redemption of the tasting menu, which too often feels like it’s reaching for Michelin stars to the point of wanton tedium. Yes, you’ll find some fine-dining hallmarks: molecular gastronomy, occasional Wagyu and a truffle or two. Yes, there’s a hint of chef-bro one upmanship, namely a dessert in which a perfectly fried churro is doubly overpowered by foie gras mousse and a spiced...

“Is there a rule that at a certain hour every River North restaurant has to change their soundtrack?” my dining companion asked me as club-like beats started playing in the background at Tanta right at 9pm. At first glance, the new Peruvian restaurant feels like just another River North restaurant—a huge colorful mural on the wall lends a festive vibe, there’s a long bar where guys in suits are drinking vodka on the rocks and the restrooms are located downstairs. But once you move away from the bar and start eating and ordering off the cocktail menu, things at Tanta feel different. It’s more serious, more delicious, and the crowd skews older, with most tables filled with several generations. Tanta is the third American restaurant from Peruvian celebrity chef Gastón Acurio and his first in Chicago. Acurio has more than 30 restaurants around the world, including La Mar in San Francisco (a New York location of La Mar closed last month). He also has Lima’s Astrid y Gaston, which is on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. It’s also his third Tanta—there are already outposts in Lima and Barcelona. It may be because of this that Tanta is strong right out of the gate—service is prompt and knowledgeable and despite a few minor quibbles, chef Jesus Delgado’s kitchen is turning out dishes that are nuanced and thoughtful. Peruvian cuisine draws on influences from cultures that emigrated to the country, especially Japan and China, and Tanta’s menu reflects flavors and techniques from...

Beyond the whole eating-for-survival thing, what endears so many of us to food on a deeper level is its ability to tell a story. In Tzuco’s quenching ceviche verde, for example, you can almost taste pure, cold Pacific Ocean in pearlescent slivers of hamachi, which are paired with three expressions of cactus, a plant that thrives in the most unforgiving locales. The prickly flora is served cured, iced and juiced with mint, lime and a whisper of serrano chile. Together, the elements sing of Mexico’s varied bounty. Each bite I savored at Tzuco seemed to smack of deeper meaning, sparking curiosity about the storied place that inspired this restaurant and its name, along with its famed chef/owner who has roared back into Chicago’s dining scene following an 18-month hiatus. Chef Carlos Gaytán hails from Huitzuco, a town in southwestern Mexico aptly named for the Nahuatl word “huixochin,” meaning plants with abundant thorns. When he was 20 years old, he came to the U.S. on a borrowed passport and worked his way up from dishwasher and cook to eventual chef/owner of Mexique, his French-infused Mexican restaurant that helped make him the first Mexican-born chef to receive a Michelin star. Vowing he’d be back again one day, Gaytán closed the award-winning destination in 2018 and left town to open a restaurant in Playa del Carmen. He made his triumphant return late last year with three eateries that showcase the breadth of Mexican gastronomy. Commanding the entire southwest corner of...

The core of Mott St.'s menu is Korean, but influences from other Asian cuisines are littered throughout. You’ll sit down to options such as jumbo everything wings, pork-shoulder-stuffed cabbage and udon noodles with marinated cod roe and kimchi. The ballyhooed Mott Burger is also as good as advertised—an East-meets-West creation packing double patties, sweet potato shoestrings, miso butter onions, American cheese, dill pickles, pickled jalapenos and hoisin aioli. The following review was published in 2013. If you sit in the back half of Mott St, you’ll be dining next to shelves stocked with Cholula hot sauce, jars of beans, tea…and a box of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch. Is that a dessert ingredient? Nope, it’s breakfast for “the early crew,” our server told us. With little storage space in the kitchen, Mott St has constructed a pantry within the dining room. The front half of the restaurant features a bar and two- and four-top tables, and there’s a communal table in back. Add in huge windows, materials sourced from Craigslist and pulsing music, and the room has an energy that makes you want to stay all night. Everyone—the enthusiastic and knowledgeable servers, the kitchen staff, the twenty- and thirtysomething diners, apparently even that early crew—is having a ball at chef Edward Kim’s playful new Asian restaurant, which opened a month ago not far from his much-lauded Ruxbin. But while the vibe may be relaxed, the level of cooking is anything but casual.  The Asian night...

Part restaurant and part nightclub, Tao Chicago is the latest outpost of the Asian-inspired concept that boasts locations in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York. Downstairs, you can sample extravagant takes on dishes like Chilean sea bass, lobster wontons, and Peking duck underneath the gaze of a 16-foot statues of the Buddhist deity Quan Yin. On the second floor, an ornate 1,000-person capacity club attracts sought-after DJs and guests willing to wait in line (or splurge on bottle service) to snag a spot on the crowded dance floor.

There’s a reason Lula has been a Chicago staple for more than two decades. Chef-owner Jason Hammel and his team present dishes made with the freshest seasonal ingredients, and it shows—from pastries to turkey sandwiches to roast chicken, everything you'll eat here tastes like it's been thoroughly iterated and perfected. The following review was published in 2011. There are a million steaks in this world, and not one quite like Lula's. Slices of flat-iron pattern a plate, semolina gnocchi tucked here and there. It is not steakhouse food. And it is definitely not that strange genre of Italian steakhouse food. This is a steak strewn with kimchi whose heat and crunch is compulsive. Specks of fried sardine pop with brininess, riffing on the fermented cabbage’s funk. It sounds strange, doesn’t it? It’s anything but. Aesthetically, it’s striking. Technically, it’s accomplished. It’s a dish that is very much of its parts: the high quality, consciously sourced, thoughtfully prepared beef; the rustic housemade pasta; the commitment to canning (kimchi); the penchant for small, sustainable fish (sardines). These are the traits that, for more than a decade, one has come to describe as being soLula. But this steak is more than that. It’s a dish that, in its inspired flavor combinations, is greater even than the sum of its very great parts. And it’s not just the steak. On recent visits to Lula, dish after dish pushed the envelope from interesting to exciting. I had a bite that combined...

Taking up residence in the former Winchester space, the Michelin-starred modern Filipino-American concept is from husband-and-wife team Tim Flores and Genie Kwon (Oriole).  The vibe: An intimate, ultra-popular spot in the Ukrainian Village that always has a long line during the daytime. The food: During the daytime, Kwon’s pastries and options like chicken adobo and a killer breakfast sandwich cause lines to form down the block. But at night, Kasama transforms into a 13-course fine dining experience full of bold and exciting flavors. The drinks: The daytime drinks like an ube latte are balanced and fresh, and for dinner, a $195 beverage pairing is well worth the splurge. Time Out tip: If you're coming during the day, order ahead online. This way, you'll skip the long line and walk right inside to pick up your order. When the weather permits, head to one of the nearby parks to eat outside. 

I often find myself the minority in conversations where people argue that pasta is meant for home cooking. “Why go out and pay $18 for something I can make myself?” they ask. Maybe because I love delicate handmade tagliatelle as much as red sauce-drowned, bottomless pasta bowls at Olive Garden. No matter what side of the argument you fall on, Joe Frillman’s noodle-centric Logan Square spot makes a compelling argument for going out for pasta—if only for a single, beguiling bowl of tajarin. But let me back up. Earlyish on a weeknight, the mister and I were seated without a wait at one of the low wood tables lining a built-in bench opposite a long, minimalist bar. The space (which formerly hosted dearly departed Analogue) has a narrow, crowded front dining room. The still-intimate back room offers a bit more space and overlooks a serene patio. The vibe here is casual and relaxed, with lots of brick and wood accentuated by cheerful veggie watercolors by Frillman’s sister Carrie. I started with the cucumber spritz, a bright, easy-drinking, tequila-spiked salve to Chicago’s 105 percent humidity. The sweet-meets-earthy beet old-fashioned was a clever, more direct route to washing away the day’s woes, especially when sipped alongside fried shiitakes and cheese curds, which oozed just enough inside. We dunked them in tangy tarragon ranch, basking in churched-up taste memories of our Upper Midwestern college days. Our second starter, silky duck fat-cooked carrot rillettes, was...

If you ask an honest-to-god Chicagoan to name their favorite deep dish pizza, chances are they'll point you to Pequod's, where the signature pan pies are ringed with caramelized cheese and the slices are massive—one piece makes a meal. The vibe: With exposed brick and plasma-screen TVs, Pequod's is firmly a neighborhood bar. The food: The signature pan pizza is ringed with caramelized cheese, and slices are massive—one piece makes a meal. The drinks: Add veggies to lighten it up a bit, or go all in, with the sausage pie, dotted with perfectly spiced, Ping-Pong ball–sized pieces of seasoned ground pork. Time Out tip: Pequod's is always busy (for good reason), so we recommend making a reservation if you plan on dining in. Updated with reporting by Lauren Brocato

We've rounded up the best chefs in the city to join us at Time Out Market Chicago, a culinary and cultural destination in the heart of Fulton Market. The 50,000-square-foot space houses more than 15 kitchens, three bars and one drop-dead gorgeous rooftop terrace—all spread across three floors. Our mission is simple: Bring Time Out Chicago to life with the help of our favorite chefs, the ones who wow us again and again. You'll find delicious dumplings from Qing Xiang Yuan, mouthwatering burgers at Gutenburg, fried chicken from Art Smith's Sporty Bird and extravagant milkshakes from JoJo's shakeBAR. If you're thirsty, sit down at one of the Market's bars to enjoy a menu of local beer, a robust wine list or a creative seasonal cocktail. And keep an eye out for events, concerts and artwork within the Market throughout the year—we're keeping our calendar packed with things to do.

The core of Mott St.'s menu is Korean, but influences from other Asian cuisines are littered throughout. You’ll sit down to options such as jumbo everything wings, pork-shoulder-stuffed cabbage and udon noodles with marinated cod roe and kimchi. The ballyhooed Mott Burger is also as good as advertised—an East-meets-West creation packing double patties, sweet potato shoestrings, miso butter onions, American cheese, dill pickles, pickled jalapenos and hoisin aioli. The following review was published in 2013. If you sit in the back half of Mott St, you’ll be dining next to shelves stocked with Cholula hot sauce, jars of beans, tea…and a box of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch. Is that a dessert ingredient? Nope, it’s breakfast for “the early crew,” our server told us. With little storage space in the kitchen, Mott St has constructed a pantry within the dining room. The front half of the restaurant features a bar and two- and four-top tables, and there’s a communal table in back. Add in huge windows, materials sourced from Craigslist and pulsing music, and the room has an energy that makes you want to stay all night. Everyone—the enthusiastic and knowledgeable servers, the kitchen staff, the twenty- and thirtysomething diners, apparently even that early crew—is having a ball at chef Edward Kim’s playful new Asian restaurant, which opened a month ago not far from his much-lauded Ruxbin. But while the vibe may be relaxed, the level of cooking is anything but casual.  The Asian night...

Hummus, falafel, shakshuka, labneh—hell—even pita. You will have no doubt already experienced many of the dishes on Galit’s broad-spectrum Middle Eastern menu. But this Lincoln Park newcomer from James Beard award-winning chef Zachary Engel (Shaya, Zahav) is where you go to revise the standard for how they should taste. My date and I posted up at the long slab of a bar at first, where bar manager Olivia Duncan presides over the mostly low-octane cocktail lineup. In the bittersweet Shrub Don’t Shrug, puckering rhubarb is reduced with green cardamom, sugar and vanilla, then cut with champagne vinegar and aperol for an appetite-stirring sipper. My date, who has a food allergy, was immediately won over as Duncan listed the safe options without so much as a pause; her Orange You Glad cocktail was savory and low-proof, with saffron-infused vermouth and tonic syrup. Then Duncan wordlessly closed out our bill just in time for the host to walk over and guide us to our seats—the quiet, seamless sort of hospitality that cushions you without you knowing it. Sadly that was the sole service highlight; we received one duplicate order that resulted in an awkwardly long exchange, while two other dishes didn’t show up at all. (Our server brought them later, making up for it with free dessert.) Our glasses sat empty for long stretches. At first, I chalked this up to our location—tucked in a perimeter booth in the private dining area lit by the dim, yellowish cast of a Marriott conference...

Restaurant review by Amy Cavanaugh While we were driving to dinner at Boka last weekend, my dinner date confessed: “All I want to eat for dinner is chicken.”  “You’re in luck,” I said. “Lee Wolen is a god of chicken.” When the Boka Group overhauled its ten-year old flagship restaurant earlier this winter, it made a few key changes. It revamped the space so it’s unrecognizable from its previous, staid incarnation—now, there’s a huge moss- and plant-covered wall (designed by former Time Out dining editor Heather Shouse’s Bottle and Branch horticulture company) with paintings of elegantly dressed-up animals; a bar area that feels like a boisterous brasserie, with dark leather, brick walls and dim lighting; and portraits of Bill Murray and Dave Grohl as generals. Bartender Ben Schiller had already departed for the Berkshire Room, and he was replaced with Tim Stanczykiewicz (GT Fish & Oyster, Balena), who handles the list of crowd-pleasing cocktails that don’t overpower the food, like a bee’s knees. And it brought in chicken god Lee Wolen, formerly chef de cuisine at the Lobby, to take over for GT Fish & Oyster’s Giueseppe Tentori. At the Lobby, Wolen’s star dish was a roasted chicken for two, a dish brought to Chicago from New York’s NoMad (the sister restaurant to Eleven Madison Park, where Wolen was a sous chef). It’s a different dish at Boka, but it’s still a knockout—lemon and thyme brioche is stuffed under the skin, then the breasts are roasted and the legs confited,...

“You’re our advertising right now,” a server joked while uncorking a bottle of wine for my dining partner and me on a recent visit to Dear Margaret, a French-Canadian restaurant near the border of Lincoln Park and Lakeview. We were tucked into a cubby-like space at the front of the restaurant, our table framed by a window draped with gauzy blinds facing out onto Lincoln Avenue, where passersby might be able to sneak a look at our meal. There probably wasn’t enough foot traffic at 9pm to allow for many chance glimpses, but still—I’ll happily serve as advertising for Dear Margaret, which has provided some of my favorite dining experiences of the past year or so.  Helmed by executive chef Ryan Brosseau (Le Sud; Table, Donkey and Stick) and owner Lacey Irby, Dear Margaret opened in early 2021 as a takeout-only venture, when COVID-19 closures left indoor dining off the table. I’m told Dear Margaret’s food stands up well as takeaway, but I can’t imagine eating it anywhere other than the sweet little restaurant itself. Warm and nearly always bustling, it’s the type of place that gives you a good feeling the instant you step inside, with wide-paneled wooden flooring, honeyed lighting and a smattering of homey decor befitting of its namesake—Brosseau’s grandmother, the muse behind the restaurant’s French-Canadian menu.  Brosseau also draws inspiration for the menu from his upbringing in the agricultural reaches of southern Ontario, a region not entirely unlike the Great Lakes...