Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
River North captures most of the expense-account diners, but the neighborhoods to the west of downtown—Bucktown, Wicker Park, and Logan Square—are where some of the city's most innovative dining occurs. With concepts like the vegetarian-friendly MANA, the pork-heavy Bristol, and dessert-focused Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, West Side restaurateurs serve great food without looking like they're trying too hard. Pick a ’hood and wander on foot—good eating won't be hard to find.
To the east lies Lincoln Park, named for the lakefront park it borders. Often a first stop for recent Chicago transplants moving to the city as well as the permanent residence of families inhabiting pricey brownstones, the popular neighborhood is definitely worth exploring. From a food perspective, it's host to several of Chicago's best restaurants, including Alinea and Boka. On commercial thoroughfares such as Clark, Halsted, and Armitage, you can spend an afternoon bouncing back and forth from great restaurants and cafés to hip shops.
What began as a pandemic baking project for furloughed chefs Sarah and Ben Lustbader evolved into this bakery and sandwich slinger. The vibe is super-casual, but the sandwiches—anchored by homemade breads and accented with ingredients like pickled eggplant and confit tomatoes—belie the owners' fine-dining backgrounds. The chocolate cake here attained overnight cult status when it appeared on Chicago-based chef dramedy The Bear.
Chicagoans got a sweet deal in 2022 when Mindy Segal, one of the city's best pastry chefs, opened her eponymous shop, where the focus is not on fancy-pants plated desserts, but more humble bagels, cookies, and breakfast pastries. If you see a line forming along Milwaukee Avenue in the early hours, it's likely locals out to get their morning croissant or bialy fix.
If you thought sausage gravy was as creative as biscuit toppings get, you obviously haven’t been to Bang Bang. The buttery, fluffy specimens here serve as a base for an assortment of tasty accompaniments, like herbed ricotta with roasted seasonal veggies. Cap it off with a slice of pie from the rotating selection. On fine days the large, tree-fringed yard is the place to be.
