Boka Restaurant Group is one of the most influential hospitality collectives in the country, including Chicago stalwarts like Swift & Sons, Alla Vita, and Girl & the Goat as well as major players in Los Angeles, New York, and Florida. In comparison with these high-volume, high-gloss concepts, the Lincoln Park flagship seems an outlier. It’s a gussied-up American restaurant from an earlier era, when diners expected the servers to be dressed in tailored suits. Boka offers both a tasting menu and an à la carte menu, and if you’re sharing dishes, they offer to split every plate. That’s class. Don’t miss the fresh pasta strands in a creamy, umami-heavy sauce of Parmesan, nutritional yeast, and black truffles. Or the dish that made chef Lee Wolen’s name: a dry-aged duck, its iron-rich meat rare in a crackling skin nubbly with spices. Pastry chef Meghan McGarvey is a big talent, judging by the piercing sunshine she brings to a citrus Pavlova to finish the meal. 

Price: $$$$
Address: 1729 N. Halsted St.
Website: bokachicago.com