Top 40 Chicago Restaurants Ever

The danger of asking your friends what they consider the best Chicago restaurant ever is that they will tell you. You have to include Barney’s! No, too corny. Maison LaFite, they shoot back. Sorry. No different from Chez Paul or Jacques (which made the cut for its lovely garden). And on and on. What follows is a list of 40 restaurants that epitomize Chicago’s impact on the culinary universe. We gathered them from experience, of course, but also from Chicago’s voluminous files, avid conversations, and old guidebooks. Some get accolades for being game changers, some for grandeur, and even a few for kitsch, but all for memorable dining. Feel free to disagree—all my friends did—and register your complaints in the comments below.

16. Everest
1986-present // South Loop
(French) This bastion of haute owes its success—four stars for 19 straight years—to Jean Joho, the anti-trend chef who shows no signs of letting up.

15. Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!
1985-present // Lincoln Park
(Spanish) “I think tapas-style dining is going to be the next big food experience in the country.” –Richard Melman, president of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, January 1986

7. Ambria
1980-2007 // Lincoln Park
(French) Just when elegance seemed out of favor, this testament to sumptuous dining swept into our lives. We still miss the cloches and the gorgeous dessert cart.