Every Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago for 2026

Chef Grant Achatz’s two-Michelin-starred institution is a total sensory experience. In 2016, the Lincoln Park stalwart underwent a massive renovation, swapping its dark, sexy interior for an airy, timeless space. Though Alinea’s tasting menus will set you back $325 to $495 a person, every course is a theatrical masterpiece delivered with flawless service: Prepare for lots of dry ice, exotic fruits and playful servingware. End the evening with one of Achatz’s signature helium taffy balloons, which fill the dining room with smiles and high-pitched laughter.

Address: 1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

Opening hours: Daily 5-10pm

Expect to pay: There are three different experiences, which start at $325 per person and go all the way up to $495 for the Alinea Kitchen Table

Curtis Duffy plunged back into Chicago's dining scene with Ever, a fine-dining beacon that offers a prix-fixe menu of eight to 10 courses focused on proteins from land and sea that are whipped into edible masterpieces. Almost as impressive as the fare is the dimly lit, seriously sexy dining room, designed by James Beard Award-winning architects LSA. Dubbed Duffy's "creative obsession," Ever promises an unparalleled dining experience that's refined, ambitious and intense—with a price tag to match.

Address: 1340 W Fulton St, Chicago, IL 60607

Opening hours: Tue-Sat 5-10pm

Expect to pay: $325 per person

Former Oriole chefs Tim Flores and Genie Kwon debuted their modern Filipino-American concept Kasama back in 2020 with a roster of casual daytime dishes like lumpia Shanghai and mushroom adobo alongside confections like apple hand pies, truffle croissants and ube-huckleberry Basque cake. The pair eventually tapped into their fine-dining roots to launch a dinner tasting menu, paying homage to classic Filipino dishes with inventive riffs like maitake and mussel emulsion adobo and a decadent shaved ice dessert course. Can't grab a reso for the tasting menu? Don't hesitate to brave the Saturday morning lines for breakfast sandwiches and pastries (or just order ahead for pickup).

Address: 1001 N Winchester Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Opening hours: Wed 9am-3pm; Thu-Sun 9am-3pm, 5:30-9pm

Expect to pay: $325 per person for the tasting menu

No Chicago foodie's checklist is complete without Oriole, a West Loop restaurant from Noah Sandoval. The $325 tasting menu is filled with clever, beautiful, indulgent bites that allow guests to be swept up in the experience. If we may offer just one piece of advice, it's this: Don't look up the menu before visiting; allow each plate to be a surprise, as the kitchen intended.

Address: 661 W Walnut St, Chicago, IL 60661

Opening hours: Tue-Sat 5-9:30pm

Expect to pay: $325 per person, or $375 for the kitchen table

This intimate Lincoln Square restaurant is led by executive chef Bradyn Kawcak. Atelier, which translates from French as “a workshop or studio, especially one used by an artist or designer,” is undoubtedly the product of its artists’ work. Kawcak transcends traditional American fare by incorporating global zest.

Address: 4544 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Opening hours: Tue-Thu 5-9pm; Fri, Sat 5-10pm

Expect to pay: $185-$210 per person

In its more than 20 years on Halsted Street, Boka has racked up a trophy case worth of accolades, including one long-standing Michelin star and a handful of Jean Banchet Awards. But we prefer to let chef-partner Lee Wolen’s impeccable techniques—on everything from chilled beef tartare and roasted Hokkaido scallops to the showstopping dry-aged duck—do the talking.

Address: 1729 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

Opening hours: Mon-Thu, Sun 5-9pm; Fri, Sat 5-10pm

Expect to pay: Tasting menu is $195 per person; a la carte menu is also available

Opened at the tail end of 2023, chef Norman Fenton's Cariño rapidly ascended to the peak of Chicago’s culinary scene, culminating in one of the highest honors: a Michelin star. Fenton showcases ancient Latin American ingredients through modern techniques and whimsy—like a ravioli stuffed with puréed huitlacoche laze in truffle beurre blanc and garnished with fried corn silk. Not sold on upscale dining? Cariño also offers a more affordable and casual taco omakase experience, where guests can enjoy corn tortillas filled with wagyu, Alaskan king crab, duck confit and other elevated ingredients while vibing to curated tunes.

Address: 4662 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Opening hours: Wed-Sun 6pm-midnight

Expect to pay: $200-$220 per person for tasting menu; $125 for taco omakase

The self-proclaimed "most unlikely of Michelin-starred restaurants," EL Ideas is situated in Douglas Park and aims to take the stuffiness out of the fine-dining experience by removing the barrier between diners and chefs through an open floor plan. Think of it like a dinner party at a new friend's home—if that friend served a 10-plus course dinner (and the most innovative take on Wendy's French fry-Frosty combo).

Address: 2419 W 14th St, Chicago, IL 60608

Opening hours: Thu, Sun 6-8pm; Fri, Sat 6-11pm

Expect to pay: $185 per person

Translating to "love" in Danish, Elske is an appropriate name for a venture from husband-and-wife team David and Anna Posey. Take the guesswork out of the experience and order the semi-affordable tasting menu, priced at $140 per person, then sit back and prepare to be wowed by the unbelievably precious New American fare with Danish influences. Best to save room for Anna’s delightful desserts, like a sunflower seed parfait with sour honey, licorice and bee pollen.

Address: 1350 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60607

Opening hours: Mon, Thu 5:30-9pm; Fri 5:30-10pm; Sat 5-10pm; Sun 5-9pm

Expect to pay: $140 per person for the tasting menu; a la carte menu is also available

Located in Lincoln Park, Esmé is the first solo restaurant from chef Jenner Tomaska (Next) and his wife/business partner Katrina Bravo. It’s billed as a reimagined take on fine dining and a sort of love letter to the community-building power of art: Local artists are spotlighted for special tasting menus of bold, inventive dishes that play with themes from their work. Each installment partners with a local artist, and if you take a look at the art on the walls, most of it is for sale.

Address: 2200 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614

Opening hours: Wed-Sun 5-9pm

Expect to pay: $265-$295 per person, depending on the day

Chef Jacob Potashnick's West Town restaurant, Feld, was the only Chicago restaurant to earn its first Michelin star in 2025. Most ingredients used at this "relationship-to-table" eatery are sourced from locations within a four-hour radius. The $225 tasting menu features seasonal highlights like fried artichokes with lemon verbena and vinegar powder, and badger flame beets grilled over cherry wood embers.

Address: 2018 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Opening hours: Wed, Thu 7-10pm; Fri, Sat 5-11pm

Expect to pay: $225 for the tasting menu

James Beard Award-winning chef Zachary Engel (Shaya, Zahav) moved from New Orleans to Chicago to open Galit in 2019, debuting a Middle Eastern menu stacked with everything from malabi with pumpkin and pepita brittle to lobster dusted with house-made za'atar flowers. During the pandemic, Galit pivoted to its family-style, prix-fixe format, allowing guests to order from a customizable four-course menu. Don't miss out on the restaurant's next-level wine list, where you'll find bottles from Palestine, Armenia and beyond. 

Address: 2429 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Opening hours: Tue-Thu 5-9pm; Fri, Sat 5-9:30pm

Expect to pay: $115 per person for the family-style menu

There’s no shortage of Indian restaurants in town, but until 2022, none had been as ambitious as Indienne. Chef-owner Sujan Surkar, who also helped open Rooh, reimagines traditional South Asian recipes through a modern lens. He presents four degustation menus filled with inventive dishes like scallop xec xec with miso, golden Kaluga caviar and young garlic. It’s a fine-dining Indian experience, set in a stylish industrial-chic space, that elegantly captures the essential flavors of the vast subcontinent.

Address: 217 W Huron St, Chicago, IL 60654

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 5-9pm, Fri-Sat 5-9:30pm

Expect to pay: $135-$155 per person

Celebrated sushi chef B.K. Park serves an extensive omakase menu at this small West Loop restaurant, which fetches $215 a head. The menu, which is sprinkled with pieces of sashimi and nigiri, fluctuates with the seasons and includes indulgent morsels like king crab with shiro bata sauce and Hokkaido scallop with Granny Smith apple. The sushi counter boasts just 12 seats (there are an additional 10 seats behind it in the dining room), and each seating is around two hours. No need to rush—the chefs are trained to keep things moving at a comfortable pace.

Address: 731 W Lake St, Chicago, IL 60661

Opening hours: Wed-Fri 5:45-10:30pm; Fri, Sat 4-10:30pm

Expect to pay: $215 per person

After outgrowing its Pilsen digs, Moody Tongue moved west to a sprawling, 28,600-square-foot space in 2019, giving the brewery more room to play. The intimate 28-seat restaurant within the space offers a 10-course tasting menu based around seasonal ingredients, paired with the latest culinary-inspired beers from Moody Tongue brewmaster Jared Rouben. For fine-dining fans who also love craft beer, it's a heavenly match.

Address: 2515 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60616

Opening hours: Wed-Sat 4:30-10pm

Expect to pay: $175 per person

Team Alinea opened this experimental West Loop restaurant in 2011 to showcase themed menus that rotate every few months—from French to vegan to homages to famed chefs. The name reflects Grant Achatz's desire to constantly start over and reinvent the menu. Diners can expect all-out theatrics in plating and presentation, making each experience a memorable one.

Address: 953 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607

Opening hours: Wed-Sun 5-10pm

Expect to pay: Varies based on menu, but generally around $225-$305 per person

If you're driving down Ashland Avenue looking for this fine-dining legend, you might just miss it—unless, of course, you know what you're looking for: An inconspicuous storefront that could just as easily be a neighborhood dive bar. The infamous restaurant showcases chef Michael Carlson's cooking in a lively and boisterous setting. Psst: It's good form to bring a bottle of booze or a six-pack of beer for the kitchen.

Address: 1466 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Opening hours: Wed-Sat 6-9pm

Expect to pay: $205-245 per person

Andrew Zimmerman's warm, elegant West Loop stalwart is a destination for constantly changing dishes like wagyu beef tri tip with Asian pears; foie gras custard and cabbage; and lemon doughnuts with grapefruit curd and cardamom. The bar program, under Keith Meicher, turns out well-balanced drinks, while the globe-trotting wine list highlights bottles you likely won't find elsewhere. 

Address: 123 N Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60661

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 5-9pm; Fri-Sat 5-10pm

Expect to pay: $185 per person for the tasting menu

Topolobampo ("Topolo" for short) is the most sophisticated and upscale of Rick Bayless's restaurants. As with all of the celebrity chefs' restaurants, the products used here are local and seasonal. So whether you're eating from the marisquera (sustainable seafood bar) or choosing one of the platillos fuertes (usually a protein—hen, lamb, lobster—dressed in a complex, chili-based sauce), you know you're eating the best the season has to offer. An ever-changing menu means it's hard to predict exactly what will be on offer day to day—but because Bayless is involved, it never really feels like a gamble.

Address: 445 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654

Opening hours: Wed, Thu 6-11:30pm; Fri, Sat 5:30-11:30pm

Expect to pay: $95-$185 per person for the tasting menu