Try the Montreal-style smoked pastrami from our 100 Best list: The smoked meat of Montreal: thick, hand-cut slices, edges lined with black pepper, the meat gorgeously marbled and fall-apart tender.
Try the calamari from our 100 Best list: Put this calamari stuffed with chicken and pork forcemeat and flavored with Korean chilies and peanuts squarely in that camp.
Try the croque-madame from our 100 Best list: Lush has developed one of the most craveworthy menus of drinking snacks in the city, though this sandwich—ham, cheese, béchamel, egg—is no snack.
Try the steak tartare from our 100 Best list: If you can find a better steak tartare anywhere in town, we’re buying.
Try the duck fat yaki soba noodles from our 100 Best list: A bowl of everything you could ask for: thick, satisfying noodles in mustard sauce, fatty morsels of duck and crunchy slivers of cabbage.
Try the blue-cheese-and-mushroom beignets from our 100 Best list:We went for the cocktails. We came back for these meltingly rich puffs.
Try the Salted-caramel marshmallows from our 100 Best list: Katherine Duncan takes her masterful caramel and folds it into her light marshmallows sweetened with wildflower honey.
Try the Chestnut doughnut from our 100 Best list: It doesn’t get any better, any fresher, any more flavorful, any airier than this.
Try the almond Danish from our 100 Best list: This marble-replete space is a fine room in which to drink a cappuccino and enjoy a danish.
Try the caldo gallego from our 100 Best list: With white beans, potato, spinach, ham and chorizo, it’s every bit as smoky, porky and satisfying as the restaurant’s Cubano.
Try the Posole verde from our 100 Best list: The hearty green hominy stew rules our winters, with its hunks of pork, grassy broth and mess of add-ins alongside.
Try the Baked creamy egg yolk buns from our 100 Best list: These pillowy-soft buns are the standout, pulling open to reveal a warm, sugary, creamy core.
Try the mushroom and kale pie from our 100 Best list: This is one of our favorite openings of the year: It’s understated, authentic and charming, just like this individual savory pie.
Try the fried chicken dinner from our 100 Best list: Dinner is served only Wednesdays & Fridays, but the limited window is worth hitting for some of the best fried chicken around.
Superb cakes, cream puffs, rustic sandwiches and insane brownies make this bakery crucial in Chicago’s culinary scene. Evening hours bring opportunity to enjoy Holl’s creations with wine and beer.
Highlights of the menu include hamachi tartare in delicate little taro-root tacos, tan tan men ramen weighted with herb-packed pork meatballs, and joyful desserts like softball-sized cream puffs.
This Cubano is delicious, and the key to its success is the citrus-garlic-marinated, cumin-rubbed lechon asado and the perfect toasting (whoever is operating the plancha needs a raise).
Pies filled with earthy kale and mushrooms. Fried fish alongside crisp fries, Meyer-lemon tartar sauce. These were assured re-creations of homey British food from this small Bridgeport shop.
Thanks to the puffy, chewy crust; the house-pulled mozzarella; layers of earthy mushrooms; and an obsessive eye for detail, the answer, if your mouth isn’t already watering, the wait is worth it.
