It must suck to have gluten intolerance in 2025, particularly if you’re the sort who likes to wait in a big, dumb line. Chicago this year was all about elusive and purportedly mind-blowing bagels, thin-crust pizza, and croissants. Plus a few other things. Here’s what I’m seeing.
It’s Raining Bagels
Holey Dough & Co. has orders for its weekend popups vaporize within seconds of being released online. Early this past spring, the lines formed every Saturday at Bungalow by Middle Brow for Beachwater Bagels. Decker’s Sourdough Bagels followed with Saturday popups this fall. Zeitlin’s ditched the popup to open an actual brick-and-mortar deli in Lincoln Park where you can — get this — walk up to a counter and order a bagel without any need for waiting in line or preordering. Hey, that’s the way we used to get bagels when I was a kid!
Flaking Out
I hope you’re wearing comfortable shoes because after waiting in all those bagel lines you are now in pursuit of croissants, preferably those with an Asian twist. The biggest news this year has been Justin Lerias’s Del Sur Bakery, where Filipino flavors are the starting point for some of the city’s finest and most unique pastries. The turon danish with caramelized banana jam gets a lot of love, but I’m personally obsessed with the toasted rice croissant, its nutty flavor enhancing an exemplar of form — shatteringly crisp on the outside and so pillowy soft within you barely notice how much butter you’re consuming. And good news: the lines have abated a bit, particularly during the week. Perhaps the queuers have moved onto the Korean-inspired tteokbokki croissants at Daeji Dough Co.
Thin Is In
Unless you’ve been on a walkabout in the Aussie Bush, you’ve probably heard that thin or tavern-style pizza is storming the country and Chicago is the epicenter. Don’t believe me? Read me. Or read Esquire, which named Pizz’Amici one of the best new restaurants in America.
Up, Down, and All Around
In traditional restaurant design, bars are the hive of buzzed people you cut through to get to the dining room in the back. Now they are anywhere but front and center. Hawksmoor has a perfectly decent bar in its ground floor dining room, but they’d much rather the serious barflies head upstairs in search of Beef & Liberty, which its Brit owners tout as “low-lit and a bit louche” and “the place for Friday night mischief.” Class Act, a new tasting menu restaurant that places all 12 guests each service around one big table like apostles, has a semi-hidden rear cocktail lounge behind two sets of curtains. Called Nightcap, it’s where the meal ends with shots and more cocktails for purchase, but is also accessible though an alley for those who just want to drink. Trino has a basement speakeasy called Laberinto, and just to confuse you, the Peruvian-Mexican restaurant Matilda has one called Clandestino.
Morning, Noon, and Night
Chicago usually adopts national trends lickety split, but it’s taken a while for all-day cafes — so big in L.A. — to get traction. Following the opening of Zach Engel’s Cafe Yaya, other name chefs are getting into the game. Joe Flamm’s Bar Tutto opened this week and look for The Radicle from Joe Frillman and the Daisies team soon.
The Flavor of the Year
Just like everything spice jumped off bagels last year, French onion has fled the soup bowl this year. Sweet, well caramelized onions paired with tangy cheese is a flavor combo that works on anything short of a banana split, though I wouldn’t count it out. I recommend the French onion fondue at La Serre. French onion croissants entice customers at bakeries such as Daeji Dough Co. and Sugar Moon. The fantastic caramelized onion miso labneh dip at Cafe Yaya is Lipton’s French onion dip after finishing school. Even Shake Shack debuted a French onion burger this fall, which makes the trend corporate approved.
And now a couple of useless awards that come with no trophy and no cash prize. Every year someone comes up with a fresh spin on Chicago’s favorite perennial genres — steakhouse and red sauce Italian. Without further ado:
The It’s Not Just About the Steak Award: Trino (with the speakeasy bar) is a steakhouse, sure, but it lets chef Stephen Sandoval play around with pan-Latin flavors in a way that is wholly unique. The picanha is perfectly good, but the crab tostada with avocado, coconut, lemongrass, pistachio, and Asian pear is a thing of tastebud turbo glory.
The Nonna’s Spatula Award: The sorta old-school, sorta up-with-the-times Italian American restaurant of the season is Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian. It has the new chicken parm that everyone’s talking about but also — you guessed it — the new thin-crust pizza.