A Chicago Culinary Bucket List, from Deep-Dish to Chocolate Cake

These dining experiences should be at the top of your food bucket list.

Folks come from all over the world to visit Chicago. A big, brassy metropolis, teeming with cultural amenities and one-of-a-kind attractions, people come to marvel at the architecture, to walk along the ocean-sized lake, to attend Lollapalooza, and to lose themselves at The Art Institute. They also come to eat. Chicago has always been a world-class dining city, but its reputation as a gastronomic epicenter has really calcified in recent years, with the arrival of the Michelin Guide, the James Beard Foundation Awards, and the endless onslaught of splashy new openings from big-name chefs. It’s not all glitz and glamour, though. No matter its scope and size, Chicago is the kind of big city that still feels miraculously modest—here, coveted tasting menus can be found on the same blocks as mom-and-pop taquerias and frills-free hot dog stands. There’s room on the plate for all of it.

And it’s all part of the cultural DNA here, where bucket list-worthy dining experiences run the gamut from breakfast sandwiches to decadent steaks and speakeasy-style tiki cocktails. Such a list would prove endless and insurmountable, even to Chicagoans who call this city home, but if you must narrow it down, there’s an elite batch of restaurants, bars, and cafes that really capture what it means to eat in Chicago these days. Consider this your ultimate bucket list of can’t-miss foods in this can’t-miss city.

Daisies Chocolate Croissant
Chocolate Croissant | Courtesy of Daisies, Photo by Mara Faye

Pastries at Daisies

Logan Square
Any place gutsy enough to incorporate neon-green relish into a croissant is one worth visiting, which is what makes Daisies such a singular requisite. Ever since the pasta-centric restaurant first opened in 2017, under seasonally savvy chef/owner Joe Frillman, it’s remained a staple on the restaurant front—the kind of beloved community fixture that’s come to embody the notion of a neighborhood cornerstone. That sentiment has only emboldened upon Daisies’ more recent reopening in a new Logan Square location, which saw the addition of executive pastry chef and partner Leigh Omilinsky. The pasta still shines as bright as ever, but it’s her pastries—like that aforementioned Chicago-style hot dog croissant—that have really gone viral. While that hot dog creation was a limited-time special, it’s indicative of the kinds of buttery innovations one can expect from the bakery portion of the restaurant, like a hockey puck-shaped croissant filled with Irish cream mousse, another one inspired by a chicken sandwich, and a super-sized cream puff filled with PB&J fixin’s.
 

PQM Maple Breakfast Sausage
Maple Breakfast Sausage | Courtesy of Publican Quality Meats, Photo by Maddy Cox

Anything meaty at Publican Quality Meats

West Loop
Once upon a time, there were two modern-day titans of butchery in Chicago. There was Publican Quality Meats, the can-do-no-wrong butcher shop and cafe from the peerless minds behind The Publican and avec. And there was The Butcher & Larder, a game-changing venture from Rob Levitt. In a city infamous for its love of meat, they are celebrities of the form. So when they joined forces, and Levitt became the head butcher and chef at PQM, The Avengers of cured meat was born. Today, the bustling West Loop shop is the pinnacle of charcuterie and meaty ingenuity, spotlighting Levitt’s expertise as a butcher and a sandwich savant. On any given day, you can expect to find a butcher case brimming with locally sourced, house-butchered meats, both cured and otherwise, available as an exemplary charcuterie platter, or stacked between bread. There’s mortadella with Burrata and pistachio butter on sesame sourdough. There’s porchetta with marinated fennel on focaccia. You can’t go wrong, no matter how you slice it or stack it.

Pancakes at Lula Cafe

Logan Square
Dating back to 1999, way before “farm-to-table” was common nomenclature, Lula Cafe has been an enduring pioneer. That’s thanks to Jason Hammel, the visionary behind Lula’s beloved all-day menus, buzzy brunch, and quirky comfort foods. With the release of The Lula Cafe Cookbook last year, it put the Logan Square icon back in the spotlight in new ways, highlighting everything from brown butter turmeric granola to gemelli pasta with short rib ragu. And yet, it’s one of the simplest items that really captured the allure of the restaurant. Lula’s buttermilk pancakes look straightforward, but they’re a master class in sublime simplicity and quality over quantity. Thick and fluffy, enrobed in local maple syrup, they’re the stuff of breakfast dreams.


 

Loaf Lounge | Photo by Garret Sweet

The Bear Chocolate Cake at Loaf Lounge

Avondale
Chicago isn’t lacking for movies and television shows set in its midst, but rarely does a show capture the authentic atmosphere and ecosystem of the city quite like The Bear. The series, which featured the brutally honest trials and tribulations of life working at an Italian beef restaurant, captured the obsessive gaze of Chicagoans and out-of-towners alike, and aside from a mild obsession with the show’s lead actor, the real star of the show was the chocolate cake. A feat of fudgy goodness, this multi-layered beaut is the handiwork of Sarah Mispagel, a seasoned pastry chef who served as a consultant for The Bear, and whose confections stole the show. Along with her husband Benjamin Lustbader, she owns Avondale’s recently opened Loaf Lounge, where the same cake from the show is on the menu. Made with Valrhona, from the cake itself to the glistening ganache, and studded with thick and fluffy layers of chocolate frosting, it’s got the look of pure Americana in all its decadent glory. Portillo’s chocolate cake shake, eat your heart out.

Kasama Restaurant
Kasama Restaurant

Breakfast Sandwich at Kasama

Ukrainian Village
You might think that there's only so much one can do with a seemingly simple egg sandwich, but Kasama has proved that within simplicity lurks great creativity and yes, even divinity. The egg, a perfectly textured lightly souffled square. The sausage, an exquisitely meaty caramelized homemade longganisa patty. The cheese, a gooey slice of American. And, finally, the bread, a sliced-open airy potato roll. And if you know what's good for you, add a hash brown to the stack, perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The result is guaranteed to brighten up any Chi-town morning.

Courtesy of Three Dots and a Dash

Tiki Cocktails from Three Dots And A Dash

River North
This subterranean tropical temple has been tunneling into our hearts since 2013. And a decade later, Three Dots has established itself as one of the premiere cocktail lounges in all of Chicago—and beyond. The recipe is escapism. It could be the dead of winter, or the heat of summer, but it’s perennially a perfect paradise inside. Under the tipsy tutelage of beverage director Kevin Beary, the menu reads like a tropical travel itinerary filled with Polynesian classics and boozy novelties, all served up in dazzling, whimsical vessels that range from barrels and skulls to an octopus. Rum is king, and while you really can’t go wrong with any of the tipples, some standout staples include the namesake Three Dots and a Dash (a blend of aged Martinique rhum agricole, aged guyana rum, lime, orange, falernum, and allspice), the Trader Vic Mai Tai (aged Barbados rum, aged Fijian rum, overproof Jamaican rum, Curacao, lime, almond orgeat), and seasonal specials like Coffee Grog, a caffeinated punch of rums, Creole shrub, espresso, coconut, and cinnamon.

Pequod’s  pizza
Pequod’s

Deep-dish pizza

Multiple locations
Is it actually pizza? Or is it a tomato and cheese casserole? Yes. Labels be damned, we can all agree that this unapologetically thicc, Chicago-born legend is also unabashedly delicious. And both locals and newcomers delight in the fact that no two pies are the same, from lauded chains like Giordano’s, Pizzeria Uno, Lou Malnati’s, and Gino’s East to smaller neighborhood operations like The Art of Pizza, and Bartoli's, try to catch ‘em all. Though if you have limited time (or a limited waistband), be sure to prioritize Pequod’s in Lincoln Park—the crisped, caramelized edges of their crusts are without parallel—or the newer Millie’s Pizza in the Pan, a ghost kitchen-turned-restaurant that makes a limited number of pitch-perfect pies each day.

Photo courtesy of Superdawg

Chicago-style hot dogs

Multiple locations
Leave it to a city built on meat-packing to produce the world’s perfect hot dog: An all-beef frankfurter plopped into a steamed poppy seed bun and “dragged through the garden,” as they say, collecting a hoard of yellow mustard, neon-green relish, chopped white onions, tomato wedges, spicy sport peppers, a dill pickle spear, and a shake of celery salt in its wake. Just as important as what’s on it is what’s not on it: ketchup. Get yours at a plethora of Chicagoland stands, quick-serve outposts, and even sit-down restaurants, each spot more colorful and charming than the last. Standouts include Fatso’s Last Stand, Superdawg Drive-in, Wolfy’s, Gene & Jude’s, Dog Haus Biergarten, Lulu’s, Jimmy’s Red Hots, The Duck Inn, Scatchell’s Beef, Portillo’s, Byron’s, and the Wiener Circle, where the staff famously serves their char dogs with a side of expletive-streaked sass.

Courtesy of Calumet Fisheries

Smoked Shrimp at Calumet Fisheries

South Deering
This humble Far South Side fish shack has been marinating and smoking their prime seafood over specially selected oak logs onsite since 1948 and, unlike pretty much everything else in this crazy precious world, little about their award-winning process has changed. The menu runs deep, of course, but the shrimp, tender and bursting with briny succulence, remains an absolute no-brainer.

Sun Wah Barbecue Restaurant
Sun Wah Barbecue Restaurant

Off-menu Beijing duck dinner at Sun Wah BBQ

Uptown
Gather up your poultry posse and prepare to sink your collective teeth into this Uptown fixture’s not-so-secret signature dish: a gut busting, multicourse bonanza showcasing an entire duck, freshly roasted and sporting a layer of ultra succulent, crispy skin, carved tableside for your mouthwatering pleasure by the family-run spot’s expert staff. If you don’t know, now you know.

The Loyalist Burger
Burger | Courtesy of The Loyalist, Photo by Galdones Photography

Burger at The Loyalist

West Loop
In the pantheon of lauded Chicago burgers, two West Loop icons reign supreme. Basically the Taylor Swift and Beyoncé of burgers, Au Cheval and The Loyalist have long dominated the conversation, earning accolades near and far—and attracting crowds that treat the restaurants like big-ticket concerts. Both are good, but The Loyalist deserves a slight edge for the added ingenuity behind it (and the fact that it’s the handiwork of celebrity chefs John Shields and Karen Urie-Shields). In looking to replicate the Americana burgers of his youth, Shields opts for fluffy sesame-seed buns, grinds his beef in-house, presses thin patties on the griddle, and serves it all with onion mayonnaise and charred onions. Simple, sensational, and well worth the wait.

GGA NY Strip Sliced | Photo by Marcin Cymmer

W.R.’s Chicago Cut at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse

Gold Coast
Steakhouses are to Chicago what pubs are to London—they’re entrenched in the city’s dining DNA. From old-school joints populated by schmoozing politicians to newfangled glitz at see-and-be-seen hot spots, the city’s steakhouse scene is also as deep and diverse as it is meaty. For a taste of true-blue Chicago, opt for the signature W.R.’s Chicago Cut—so named for former Chicago Tribune food critic William Rice—at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse. An icon in the Gold Coast, and routinely the highest-grossing independent restaurant in town, the steakhouse was the first in the country to get its own USDA certification program, ensuring the utmost in Prime beef. The 22-ounce W.R.’s Chicago Cut, a richly marbled bone-in rib-eye, is the cream of that crop, especially when paired with a double-baked potato and Brussels sprouts with maple-bourbon butter.

Superkhana International
Superkhana International

Butter Chicken Calzone at Superkhana International

Logan Square
The word “fusion” gets thrown around with reckless abandon, but if there’s one restaurant in town threading the needle effectively, it’s Superkhana International. The vibrant Logan Square beacon, a partnership between chefs Yoshi Yamada and Zeeshan Shah and Lula Cafe’s acclaimed Jason Hammel, is a restaurant that specializes in contemporary Indian cuisine, to put it mildly. We’re talking paneer-flecked pizzas, green chile naan, and masala-spiced bolognese. But the crowning achievement is the butter chicken calzone, an almost audaciously over-the-top dish that enrobes buttery, gravy-rich chicken thighs in a naan-like crust, alongside mozzarella and Amul cheeses for added molten effect. It’s all brushed with ghee before baking in a scorching oven and emerging as the comfort food of your fusion fantasies.

Mussels at Hopleaf

Andersonville
Among the best beer bars in Chicago, Hopleaf has become as revered for its gussied-up pub grub as it is for its Belgian brews. An Andersonville keystone since 1992, and more reliably consistent than the postal service, the bar has stood the test of time for its timeless atmosphere, its sprawling beer selection, and its dynamic food menus. But amidst the seasonal eats, the Belgian-style mussels are one specialty that hasn’t budged. And for good reason: huge, bubbling crocks of PEI mussels arrive steamed in either Belgian wit bier or Lambic, enriched with butter, and accompanied by crispy frites and aïoli. It’s an oldie but a goodie.

Big Star Patio
Big Star Patio | Courtesy of One Off Hospitality

Patio tacos at Big Star

Wicker Park
When patio weather strikes in Chicago, that means one thing: a collective beeline to Big Star. From the folks behind Publican Quality Meats, this Wicker Park sensation is a honky-tonk homage that keeps things casual and convivial over taco platters and margarita pitchers—while the expansive patio is packed to the gills with Chicagoans from every walk of life. Big Star has since grown bigger, with a Wrigleyville location and a seafood-centric spin-off in West Town, but it’s the Wicker Park OG that deserves top billing on any local bucket list.

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Brad Japhe is a freelance journalist with a wicked case of the get-up-and-gos. He enjoys his whisky neat and his IPA hazy. Although currently under quarantine on the Big Island of Hawaii, he’s usually found at the junction of food, booze, and travel. Follow him @Journeys_with_Japhe.

Elanor Bock is a contributor for Thrillist.

Matt Kirouac 
is a travel writer with a passion for national parks, Disney, and food. He's the co-founder and co-host of Hello Ranger, a national parks community blog, podcast, and app. Follow him on Instagram.