Birria with all the fixings Photo: Jeff Marini Birrieria Zaragoza 4852 South Pulaski Avenue Archer Heights Mexican $ Get your goat at this institution of birria, the heady Mexican stew typically made with meat from the aforementioned animal. Juan Zaragoza started making the stuff in this storefront in 2007, and since then he’s garnered … Read more
Pan-seared whitefish Photo: Jeff Marini For 14 years, Vie has endured a stream of backhanded compliments: “I can’t believe this restaurant is in the suburbs!” “It’s totally worth the drive!” As if there were some unwritten rule against opening a top-level restaurant outside the city limits. Enough already. Vie is a terrific restaurant, full stop. … Read more
White tuna tacos Photo: Jeff Marini To be clear: Arbor is a weird restaurant. It’s in an office building, on the second floor, and accessible only by an escalator. The cement-walled dining room has no windows to the outside, giving the place the distinct air of a Scandinavian minimalist’s idealized version of an institutional mess … Read more
Seared cabbage Photos: Jeff Marini Should you be inclined to ask, the owners of this sunny Logan Square cafe will happily tell you the name and location of the farm or dairy or mill that produced every ingredient in your perfectly burnished croissant, your sumptuous canelé, or your fluffy buckwheat-molasses muffin. But you don’t have … Read more
Bucatini with pecorino and clams Photo: Anna Knott Brian Huston’s American restaurant is the kind of down-to-earth Chicago neighborhood café that has communal seating and a rum cocktail named for WGN weatherman Tom Skilling. Huston (Evanston Township High School class of 1989) is a protégé of Paul Kahan and has a knack for pushing wham-pow … Read more
Photo: Anna Knott When it first opened in 2015, Band of Bohemia pronounced itself a “culinary brewhouse.” Except, one issue: The food didn’t quite live up to the astoundingly good beers. (Brewer Michael Carroll was, in a previous life, the head baker at Alinea, so he knows his way around yeast.) Since then, however, the … Read more
Lobster pie Photos: Jeff Marini Acadia 1639 South Wabash Avenue South Loop Contemporary $$$$ A world, if not that many miles, away from the thrum of the West Loop stands Ryan McCaskey’s consistently excellent haute dining den. McCaskey is an unabashed proponent of tweezer food, creating dishes with focused flavors and sculptural visual appeal. … Read more
From far left: bulgogi; Dak sauce wings; spicy barbecue pork bowl Photo: Jeff Marini Dak 1104 West Granville Road Edgewater Korean $ When this magazine set out on a mission a few years back to find the greatest chicken wings in the city, it jarred a few readers that the winner was not a … Read more
Beef Wellington Photos: Jason Little and Nick Murway Swift & Sons 1000 West Fulton Market West Loop Steakhouse $$$$$ It’s not a stretch to call this gleaming, neo-retro West Loop steakhouse from Boka Restaurant Group magical. As in: There’s an actual magician who can be summoned to your table and reel off mind-blowing card … Read more
From left: steamed pork-and-leek dumplings; beef skewers; fried chicken-and-cabbage dumplings; shrimp skewers Photo: Jeff Marini Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings 2002 South Wentworth Avenue Chinatown Chinese $ Dumplings, as far as the eye can see. The several dozen varieties on offer at this sleek Chinatown destination are a beautiful sight indeed. QXY grew out of … Read more
