The Best Restaurants in Chicago

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It’s nonintimidating fine dining, and the whimsy never fatigues, nor does the meal drag.

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The Publican follows a simple logic: (1) find the highest-quality oysters, fish and pork and (2) stay out of the ingredients’ way.

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Sushi here is the freshest fish around.

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Lula Cafe remains a highlight of Chicago’s culinary scene

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Henri is to realize that it’s not just luxury the restaurant traffics in, but retro luxury

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Mercat is a great place for vegetarians to dine because the expansive tapas menu has such a strong vegetable selection

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And, of course, you eat steak. Mastro’s wet-ages theirs for 28 days, cooks them in a 1,500-degree broiler, and serves them nude on sizzling 400-degree plates with nothing but clarified butter and parsley.

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I will say this: If you can't stomach (ha!) the Tripe Florentine here, you are officially excused from having to try it again, ever. You probably won't find a better version anywhere.

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save some room for a footlong éclair filled with coffee custard or the boozy baba cake, which is drenched tableside with your choice of three different rums.

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Even if you don’t know the couple personally, it’s natural to feel a bond with their restaurant and its trajectory, which mirrors Chicago’s growth—and growing pains—as a major restaurant scene

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food that actually tastes good

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Though Naha has been open since 2000, it feels as fresh as the spring vegetables chef-owner Carrie Nahabedian rotates in to her seasonally focused New American menu

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A warm blueberry-almond financier with a ginger-almond ice cream sandwich still haunts my dreams.

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NoMI Kitchen has a pared down menu and prices to match, but the restaurant’s elegant food and ambience endure.

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The wine list is more than double the size of the menu, with a broad variety of American, Austrian, French, and Australian bottles along with more than a dozen half bottles and by-the-glass options. The servers are ...