Destination DiningA weekly guide to dining in a different U.S. city, just in time for the summer travel season. If you’re traveling to Chicago …
Chicagoans like it when the rest of the country talks about Chicago. In my 20 years covering the city’s restaurants, I’ve watched with curiosity (and mostly amusement) whenever our food scene gets pulled into the national conversation. Like the time Jon Stewart ragged on deep dish pizza. Or when Anthony Bourdain sanctified a hot-dog stand. With “The Bear” returning for a fourth season this week, images of Italian beefs, elevated trains and photogenic Chicago chefs once again enter the zeitgeist. If watching “The Bear” or visiting the birthplace of the new pope inspires you to come to Chicago this summer, your timing couldn’t be better. We’ve just updated our list of the 25 best restaurants in Chicago with three new entries. Many establishments featured on the show can be found on our list, including Kasama and Avec, as well as Loaf Lounge in Avondale, featured on our best bakeries in America list, which serves the very chocolate cake featured in the first season of “The Bear.”
An unexpected Hawaiian spot in the northern suburbsNew to our 2025 Chicago list, and the restaurant I’m most excited to shout from the mountaintops is Da Local Boy Cafe, a one-year-old Hawaiian restaurant in Highwood. If I could sum up my criteria for a great restaurant into one pithy aphorism, it would be “expectations exceeded.” My first bite here was a pork belly marinated in calamansi juice and ponzu, chargrilled and served with rice and macaroni salad. Whatever the gastronomic equivalent of a double take is, I did it. From there, the hits kept coming: A poke bowl that achieved a Goldilocks-level balance of well-dressed and well-seasoned, perfect grilled beef short ribs, and chicken fried in sweet rice flour, rendering the exterior crisp and chewy. My biggest compliment for Da Local Boy? I’ve been back four times. 320 Green Bay Road (Highwood Avenue), Highwood
Are you there, Margaret? It’s me, KevinMy colleague Brett Anderson first wrote about Dear Margaret in Lakeview for The Times’s 2022 Best New Restaurants national list, no doubt contributing to the difficulty of securing a table at this 36-seat restaurant. (Reservations are made available 60 days in advance, but seatings after 8:30 p.m. are easier to score.) So when my wife and I decided on a whim to drop by the French Canadian restaurant on a recent Saturday, we knew it’d be a toss up. Good news for us: They could squeeze us in. Bad news: Another party had that table exactly one hour later. What followed was a thrilling 45-minute tour of charcuteries, housemade breads, salads and meaty mains, the culinary equivalent of listening to a podcast at 1.5x speed. No, it didn’t feel rushed. And yes, we enjoyed every minute. P.S. Those pommes frites are as delicious as people say. 2965 North Lincoln Avenue (West Wellington Avenue), Lakeview
An Italian restaurant that can only exist in ChicagoDaisies, the last new entrant on our 2025 Chicago restaurant list, is an Italian restaurant that could only exist in Chicago. By that, I don’t mean the red-sauce Italian American joints that line Chicago’s Taylor Street, but a restaurant that can serve agnolotti with Polish flavors (beets, dill), or fritto misto with the Midwest’s beloved cheese curds. The moment it all clicked for me was when I encountered Shrimp De Johnge on the menu, a dish that hasn’t been popular in Chicago since the 1970s. In classical terms, Shrimp De Jonghe is a garlicky and soggy jumble of baked shrimp and breadcrumbs. The fact that Daisies revived it for modern times with prawns as wide as an outstretched palm? And made it refined and beautiful with just the right amount of garlic? I’ve been a fan ever since. 2375 North Milwaukee Avenue (West Fullerton Avenue), Logan Square For your itineraryDon’t let us stop you from your obligatory Navy Pier visit or heading to the top of Willis Tower (the former Sears Tower; Chicagoans hate the “new” name, too). But for new-to-Chicago visitors, I’ll never stop recommending the Architecture Boat Tour, a 90-minute cruise along the Chicago River where you’ll admire the architectural splendors of our city’s skyline. Another fabulous reason to visit Chicago this summer: The Grant Park Music Festival, now through Aug. 16, serves up live outdoor performances of classical music at the magnificent Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The best part? It’s free. Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note at here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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