Chicago’s most famous 24-hour eatery has been a part of Little Italy for more than 80 years, and you know you’re close when you can smell grilled onions in the air. Tourists might be quick to order a Polish sausage, but picky locals go down the street for one of those (see Polish Sausage at … Read more
Visiting this Mexico City–style taqueria, which is attached to a corner grocery store, is a joy, from the colorful papel picado decorations to the housemade pineapple tepache. But all that is just a preamble to the food, and while it’s hard to argue against any of the tacos on the menu, the lengua is justifiably … Read more
For the past four decades, this butcher shop and restaurant has been turning out Chicago’s best gorditas — griddled disks of masa stuffed with meaty fillings. The gorditas here come filled with cheese and beans along with your choice of al pastor, nopalitos (cactus), arrachera (skirt steak), carnitas, or chicken, but the Doña Cuca is what locals … Read more
One has to wonder if this beloved Jewish deli’s popularity with Chicago pols has something to do with the heft of its trademark sandwich. After all, there’s no better way to disarm a rival than to corner them while they’re trying to get their mouth around a nine-ounce pile of shaved corned beef. There’s not … Read more
While the Graziano family’s deli and grocery may feel incongruous with its flashy West Loop surroundings, the shop, which has been in operation since 1937, has held its own as a lunchtime destination. That’s thanks in part to its signature offering, an intricately layered sub named after the owner’s father. Provolone, soppressata, prosciutto, and Genoa … Read more
Butchered and ground in house, this Beverly favorite’s surpassingly juicy griddled beef is much too good for the limp bun that encloses the burgers here. The superior choice is the patty melt, which pairs that delicious meat with jammy grilled onions, sharp American cheese, and crisp buttered rye for an excellent texture and pleasant notes … Read more
Eugene S. Qahhaar’s Calumet Heights restaurant, which he opened in 1973, mostly offered hot dogs and burgers until he decided to add a breaded whitefish sandwich to the menu to shake things up. A fitting addition to a spot called Dock’s (the name is actually an homage to Qahhaar’s father, Dock Meadows), the dish took … Read more
There are 20 kinds of bánh mì on the menu here, and while you won’t go wrong with any of them, there’s an exalted place in the Chicago sandwich pantheon for the Nhu Lan Special (it’s No. 1 on the menu). An airy, crackly baguette, baked on the premises, is smeared with pork pâté and … Read more
Defenders of subtlety, look away: This sandwich — a Bridgeport classic since it was introduced in 1946 — is a two-fister with zero nuance. It’s a big ol’ heap of thinly pounded, breaded skirt steak dunked in a red gravy that quickly eliminates the meat’s crispness and softens the roll, fusing the whole thing into a sloppy flavor bomb. … Read more
The city’s top tortilla manufacturer, El Milagro, which was started in 1950, also happens to run one of Little Village’s best Mexican restaurants. The location on 26th Street is a cafeteria attached to the tortilleria, and diners wait in line for homey dishes like the one-of-a-kind steak tacos. Unlike in other versions around the city, … Read more
