Chicago Dining & Restaurants

Chicago Dine-Around - Progressive Dining Tour

Chicago Dine-Around Progressive Dining Tour Embark on a culinary adventure to Chicago’s finest restaurants. Guests are chauffeured around the city in a stylish coach bus to enjoy the following:
 
Hors D'oeuvres served at the first restaurant.
 
The Main Course at a second restaurant. 
 
Dessert at a third restaurant.
 For reservations, call 312-437-3463 (DINE), or visit us online.

Eating Around the City

Chicago's cosmopolitan makeup is reflected in its plethora of ethnic restaurants. Italian food, ranging from hearty deep-dish pizza (developed in 1943 at Pizzeria Uno) to delicately crafted creations presented at stylish trattorias, continues to dominate a very dynamic scene. In recent years there's been a surge of popularity for New American cuisine. Thai restaurants still thrive, as do ones with a broad Mediterranean slant, many of which serve tapas; and there are still plenty of opportunities to sample more longstanding Chicago cuisines - Eastern European, German, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, even Burmese and Ethiopian. Of course, a number of establishments serve good old-fashioned barbecue ribs, a legacy of Chicago's days as the nation's meatpacker. And no visit is complete without sampling a messy Italian beef sandwich, or a Chicago-style hot dog, laden with tomatoes, onions, hot peppers and a pickle. 

The largest concentration of restaurants is found north and west of the Loop.

  • To the west, Greektown, around Halsted Street at Jackson Boulevard, and Little Italy, on and around Taylor Street, are worth a look.
  • The Near North and River North areas harbor a good number of upscale places.
  • Chinatown, though not pretty, is a predictably good neighborhood for Cantonese and Szechuan food.

Other Thoughts

When it comes to dining, Chicago has it all – and some of the best in the nation. Of course we’re known for our Chicago pizza, hot dogs, beef sandwiches and Midwestern steaks, but we have so much more to offer.

It’s difficult to make dining recommendations in the Chicago area because there are so many to choose from. Be sure to check with your hotel concierge, family, friends and business acquaintances who are likely to know the hot spots.

Here are just a few possibilities:

  • We have Chicago Dining Discount Coupons
  • For a Romantic Dinner for two, try the Signature Room at the 95th located in the Hancock Building, or perhaps Seasons at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.
  • For Excellent Italian, choose Coco Pazzo at Hubbard and Franklin Streets, Rosebud on Rush (near Superior Street) or Vinci at Halsted and Willow Streets.
  • For Mexican, we like Frontera Grill on North Clark Street at Hubbard Street or, for an economical excellent choice, Las Mananitas on Halsted Street south of Addison.
  • If your taste buds are asking for Seafood, you can’t beat Nick’s Fishmarket at Clark and Monroe Streets or McCormick’s & Schmick’s located on Chestnut near Rush Street.
  • Our choices for Fine Steaks include Gibson’s and Tavern on Rush.
  • Chinatown has many fine choices for authentic Chinese Cuisine.

Oh, and back to the Chicago favorites:

  • We recommend Pizzeria Uno and Lou Malanati's for the Best Pizza.
  • For Chicago Hot Dogs and Beef Sandwiches, Portillos (Chicago/suburban locations), as well as Buona Beef and Johnnie’s Beef (suburban locations), are highly recommended.

Restaurant Resources

Chicago Dine-Around Progressive Dinner Tour
Chicago Dine-Around - Progressive Dining Tour
Embark on a culinary adventure to Chicago’s finest restaurants. Guests are chauffeured around the city in a stylish coach bus to enjoy Hors D’oeuvres served at the first restaurant, the Main Course at a second restaurant, and Dessert at a third restaurant. This Progressive Dining Tour brings the culinary spirit to life!

AOL CityGuide Chicago-Restaurants
Foodio54
A directory of Chicago restaurants. What sets this directory apart from normal Yellow Page listings is that users may rate restaurants in their area and then get recommendations for Chicago restaurants, based on what they have in common with other people.
HappyCow's Vegetarian Guide to Chicago's Restaurants
Vegetarian restaurants in Chicago, Illinois, directory of natural health food stores and guide to a healthy dining.
theHipCity.com
Chicago Dining; search over 700 of the Top Restaurants in Chicago.

Illinois Restaurant Association
The Illinois Restaurant Association serves as the primary source of industry information, training and purchasing power for Illinois' foodservice industry. The City of Chicago alone has 642 member restaurants. Browse their database by city, county,  cuisine or restaurant name.
Lunch in the Loop
This is a Chicago based website that gears itself towards all the people that live/work/play in the loop and are looking for a bite to eat.
Metromix Chicago Restaurants
Chicago Metromix site has huge database of restaurants where you can browse by cuisine, location, price range, user rating and other features.
MenuPages Chicago
Chicago Restaurants, Menus, Ratings, Reviews, Chicago Restaurants Guide Now Serving: 3153 Menus for Chicago Restaurants.

MyDiningSpot.com Chicago
A source for local dining and entertainment venues. The focus is on unique Chicag
o restaurants, bars and clubs which are not your typical big chain establishments and define the local character and palate of the city.
Sightseeing Chicago-Dining Listings
Offers a Chicago restaurant guide organized by type of cuisine for restaurants in the City of Chicago. Dining choices range from steakhouses to pizzerias for your special night on the town.
Where the Chicago Locals Eat!
Where the Locals Eat
Top 100 Chicago restaurants of all types with
the best-of winners in any number of dining categories, such as best steakhouse, best deli, best Italian, best seafood and best burger. Find detailed information for directions, maps, reviews, official web site and much other info. You can then order the hard copy guide.

See our Map of North Michigan Avenue Restaurants.


Restaurant Reviews

Per Se
Thomas Keller is back in NY
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Jun 18, 2008



Its great not having to go all the way to California to sample Chef Keller's food. He has broght some of the dishes back from the French Laundry and I for one am...
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Daniel
Nice experience, food not worth the price.
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Oct 7, 2008



Some things positive...we arrived 5 minutes before closing and they still seated us with no problem. Service was pretty good. Food was just not impressive. My boyfriend and I didn't want to...
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Le Bernardin
Wow!
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 17, 2008



This was the greatest dining experience of my life, granted I'm only 29, but I think I'm pretty seasoned in a culinary sense. I went to NYC intent on eating here having heard so many rave reviews. When I entered le Bernadin I was...
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Babbo
Fantastic!
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 17, 2008



We had reservations for 10:15pm on a Sunday and people were still spilling out the door. The tiny bar inside couldn't handle the amount of people waiting. Our service was two sided, our first waiter and the manager were...
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Jean Georges
waste of money
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 22, 2008



Don't believe all of what you read, this place is awful. We dined there on Saturday night and really wished we hadn't. We opted for the tasting menu, apparently the chef's signature dishes, together with the wine...
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Sushi Yasuda
Abysmal Service -- Never Again
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 17, 2008



A fan of Japanese cuisine, I thought I'd give this celebrated sushi place a try. I am a white male and my guest was a black female. I'll give this place the benefit of the doubt and assume that racism...
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Gramercy Tavern
Highlight of our trip
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Oct 7, 2008



I loved it..for a restaurant like this, it was a very relaxed atmosphere with extremely kind and helpful staff. The food was awesome..best duck I've ever had! Dessert was also delicious and they even wrote Happy...
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Bouley
Disappointing
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 17, 2008



Having read some of the reviews and given its status i was really looking forward to this restaurant. Having now been there i am disappointed with the overall experience. Upon arrival myself and my wofe were sat on a...
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Trattoria Trecolori
I Love this Place!
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Oct 15, 2008



I work nearby and have dined here about 6 times in the last year, since discovering it. I love the food and the ambience; the service is excellent as well! The food is consistently good and I'm a bit of a food...
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Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
Different
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Sep 17, 2008



Had excellent egg custard ice cream and also pineapple sorbet. My wife choose red bean ice cream. Turns out this was kidney bean ice cream - just some things that you shouldnt...
read more reviews >>

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