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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.
Locals worship Lula Cafe, a neighborhood favorite that has been serving modern, seasonal dishes (and a cult-favorite brunch menu) in a spacious location with counter seating and an intimate dining room since 1999. The food is stellar, with menus that change frequently and champion farm sources. If you want to take home a memento of this special space, grab a copy of chef/owner Jason Hammel's Lula Cafe Cookbook on your way out.
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.
Bright-yellow walls and a soundtrack of classic house music make for a convivial atmosphere at this daytime spot, a favorite with students from nearby DePaul University for its menu of carb-y breakfast dishes hearty enough to fuel diners till dinner.
This all-day counter service spot crosses Lebanese and Mexican flavors with some kooky notions (halloumi tacos, baklava crumbled over an ice cream sundae), to fun and tasty results. It’s situated in cheerful digs a stone’s throw from Lincoln Park Zoo—a good place to walk off overindulgence guilt.
Division Street has long been a prowl of night owls but with the growing number of spas and boutiques in the area, not to mention the many work-from-home locals, this neighborhood needed a good breakfast and lunch spot. Milk & Honey exceeds expectations with hearty, healthful breakfasts and creative sandwiches at lunch—grab a seat on the sidewalk café in warm weather or in near the fireplace in cooler temperatures.
A long-running fixture on Division Street in Humboldt Park---also known as the Paseo Boricua---family-owned Nellie’s is especially popular on weekends, when locals come out in droves for the generously sized breakfast and brunch dishes. It’s a good place to sample a jibarito, the Puerto Rican contribution to Chicago’s sandwich pantheon: it’s an assemblage of grilled meat and toppings surrounded by flattened, fried plantains.
Morning or afternoon, there's a buzz in the air at the first U.S. outpost of a Ukraine-based third-wave roaster—and it's not just all the caffeine. Since debuting in 2024, the petite corner café has fast become a neighborhood favorite for its cool, minimalist vibe, an excellent selection of baked goodies like chocolate-dipped croissants, and potent brews made from beans roasted in the motherland.
A 1920s-era marble bar salvaged from a Milwaukee drugstore anchors this darling dining room in Humboldt Park, where the young and young at heart flock for old-fashioned sodas and malts. No mere one-note, the shop also serves an all-day breakfast menu, warm and cold sandwiches, and tempting pastries.
