Chicago for foodies

Best restaurants

Chicago's Loop is not where most food writers send you, and that is exactly the reason to eat here. The dozen rooms below sit within a few blocks of one another between Adams, Monroe, Madison and Jackson, close enough that you could walk the whole list in a lunch hour and still argue about which door to open first. The mix is honest to what the neighborhood is: a century-old German dining room, two deep-dish counters that made the city's name, a hotel dining room built for people who want breakfast at 07:00, a couple of quick Middle Eastern and Asian counters wired for the lunch rush, and a handful of Italian rooms that hold the evening after the offices empty. Skip the tourist mile on Michigan and eat in the working Loop instead; the food is better, the addresses are easier to find, and the hours line up with a real day of walking. Every claim below (every street number, every closing time, every cuisine) is cited to a verifiable source. Use the phone numbers to book; use the addresses to walk.