With one of the largest courtyards in the city, Piccolo Sogno is a wonderful place for lunch or dinner if you feel like enjoying original Italian cuisine.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
When we arrived in Chicago about twenty years ago after a cross-country trip that began in Seattle, my then-girlfriend and I headed to the nearest pizza place and ordered two slices of what’s known as “junk” pizza.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that it was the most productive slice of pizza I’ve ever tasted. Perhaps we will only create the culinary delights that awaited us if we have the slightest idea of our next gastronomic excursion.
Two decades later, a lot has changed in Chicago: the Sears Tower is now named after a certain Willis; the Cubs won another World Series; and a super-bright (recently restored) object nicknamed “The Bean” became, at most overnight, Chicago’s most prominent object.
What it has not replaced is food. In fact, it’s probably even higher now. So if you know this writer’s culinary roots (I grew up in a country known for eel jellies, bloodless red meat pies, and “mushy” peas), here are some recommendations: familiar places, maybe others less, to know what to eat while you’re there. in Chicago (aside from hot dogs, steak sandwiches, and deep-dish pizza):
Twin Anchors looks like one of those places to eat or taverns in the Chicago community that only locals know about. There’s a homey, charming vibe, but it’s been enjoyed for decades through each and every one of them, from Frank Sinatra to Goldie Hawn. Why do they come? Perch or sea bream? The name of the restaurant is misleading. You can order a grilled fish sandwich or fried fish, but the restaurant is best known for its slow-cooked ribs. Open daily. Check the schedules on the online page. Price: $31 (for a full slice of ribs); $22 (half slab)
Little Goat Diner’s tonkatsu is one of the most productive sandwiches eaten in Chicago.
Boka Restaurant Group
In a city with as diverse a culinary offering as Chicago, it seems ridiculous to call it the “best sandwich. ” Worse yet, pushing towards the most sensible a position that is not strictly a sandwich shop. Do I care? And I probably wouldn’t either, after trying Little Goat Diner’s Tonkatsu, an obscenely large, perfectly breaded red meat cutlet, caressed with tonkatsu sauce, kewpie, and pickled vegetable salad, all wrapped in fluffy white bread. Open every day, starting at 8 amPrice: $19
The giant cream omelet in a hobo style skillet is served at Lou Mitchell’s in 565 W. Jackson Blvd.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
If you’re downtown and ask a local for a fancy breakfast spot, they’ll actually go up this Chicago establishment because it’s likely close to your hotel, and if you’re a political junkie, appreciate the fact that almost every aspiring President, Illinois governor, mayor, etc. , prevents squeezing the meat here. Is it, as advertised, the “best breakfast on the planet”? They’ve been here for 101 years, so they’re going to have to do anything. Bien. No ordering one of their “fluffy and giant” omelettes is like visiting the Louvre for the first time and opting to leave out the Mona Lisa. There are about twenty offers. I have a comfortable place to eat smoked salmon and onions. Open from Wednesday to Sunday. Check the schedules on the online page. Price: $18. 25 for smoked salmon and onion; Prices start at $13. 95 for a plain tortilla.
Sliced beef brisket and coleslaw are a dish at Smoque BBQ in the city’s northwest.
Ken Goodman
I can’t give an objective opinion on Smoque, one of the most popular fish fry places in the city. My ideas are still clouded by a recent trip, towards the end of the pandemic, where I was nevertheless freed from the soft smells of my own kitchen to taste someone else’s food. I ate with the unabashed enthusiasm of Cookie Monster. And I continued eating dinner – eating dinner so much that I thought I was going to do it. . . . . But don’t let that stop me. The food is rich and delicious, but for the sake of your long-term health, it’s probably more productive to enjoy it just once every two weeks or so. Everything is fine, but I have a comfortable place for the sliced brisket. sandwich, which comes with coleslaw and garnish. Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 11 a. m. m. Price: $20
Pappardelle Con Cinghiale is served at Piccolo Sogno in West Town.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
If you owned Chef Tony Priolo’s restaurant, you could rename it “Piccolo Segreto” (Little Secret) because it has one of the most beautiful hidden gardens in the city. Its sun-drenched courtyard makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a place to eat in the Tuscan countryside. Priolo takes his cuisine seriously. He grew up on the northwest side. His Sicilian-American grandmother, accompanied by little Tony, took three buses to get to all the places she needed to shop. He spent time reading cooking in the Tuscan town of Artimino, Italy.
“She taught me that it’s very important to get the right ingredients, whatever it takes,” Priolo said of her grandmother. “Because Italian cuisine is simple. So if you start by getting the best ingredients, you might not be wrong.
Every time I stop by Piccolo Sogno, I order the same thing: pappardelle con cinghiale (wild boar ragu) because it reminds me of why I fell in love with Bella Toscana all those years ago. Open every day. Check the online page for hours. Price: $30
I rarely eat fried bird because I’m a middle-aged father and have two young children. But if the World Cup was about to end and I couldn’t find a French cake, I’d probably run to that little Broadway store with the tangerine awning and shove as many pieces of poultry into my mouth as I could imagine before the lights went out. outside. My friends tell me that bird wings are the most productive: they’re served with the “bold” sauce, which is the most productive balance of sweet and spicy, a sauce that never overwhelms the taste buds. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a. m. Price: $12. 95 (for five wings)
Parents of young children who live on or near the north side of town are familiar with this place. The rest of the people at Frasca, who are part of the 4-star restaurant group, are intelligent. They offer a relaxed and cozy atmosphere with quality Italian food, and here’s the smart component: a kid’s meal is free, as long as you place your order before 6 p. m. So come later, if you don’t like seeing the munchkins with a finger stuck in their nose a moment before. You’re moving on to your vanilla ice cream. Many people come here for the bruschetta, cold cuts, and cheese plates. I’m Italian and I’m picky about pasta. Is it like what Nonna did in Capri?No, but that’s okay. Serve me the rigatoni with Italian sausage, tomato cream, peas and ricotta and I’ll happily go home. Open daily. Check the online page for schedules. Price: $21
I grew up in England in the 1970s and early 80s, when a sandwich consisted of white or “wholemeal” bread with a thin layer of butter and a single slice of ham or cheese (rarely both). Manny’s Ruben sandwich is to better understand why the colonists left England in the first place and to see if the Americans have since developed a more flexible jaw hinge to accommodate such a colossal sandwich. So, yes, Congressman, come to Manny’s for the MEAT! A Reuben comes with its choice of corned beef, pastrami, turkey pastrami, or roast turkey, roasted with Swiss cheese and kraut, served with 1000 house-made dressing, pickles, and mustard. Open daily, starting at 8 a. m. m. Price: $21. 95
The Milanesa torta at XOCO restaurant.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Okay, I lied, there’s some other sandwich that rivals the tonkatsu at the Little Goat Diner. In fact, I’m thinking about it now, after eating a bunch of lettuce topped with six unflavored tomatoes and a few stale croutonsThe sandwich, made at one of celebrity chef Rick Bayless’ restaurants clustered in Clark, is everything my salad wasn’t: crunchy, juicy, just the right mix of sweet and savory, decadent; I have to stop. Try the torta milanesa (a Mexican sandwich made on the comal): crispy chicken, artisanal Jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, cilantro cream, red onion, napa cabbage, avocado and tomatillo salsa, black bean spread. Open Tuesday through Saturday. Check the schedule. Price: $15
If you like meals served with a fun twist, order saganaki (flambéed cheese) at Greek Islands Restaurant.
Anthony Vazquez, Sun-Times
Are you looking for a romantic place tucked away on a quiet street, offering you an experience that takes you on that long-ago summer adventure in Mykonos?You’re on site. Hold on to your glass of ouzo because at any moment a waiter will come up, pull out a lighter and shout “Opa!” while the saganaki (Greek cheese) shortly lights up. But that’s why you came here: to laugh (and eat). Even the locals enjoy the show. My Polish-Greek colleague, Tina Sfondeles, tells me that today saganaki (originally a Chicago dish) can be discovered even in the Old Country. It’s like visiting Dad in Florence and finding an Italian meat stall next to the Duomo!Tina recommends the Chicken Shishkabob: two juicy skewers of lemon-marinated poultry breast and, of course, the Flaming Saganaki. Open Tuesday to Sunday. Check the online page for schedules. Price: $19. 95 (chichkabob); $9. 50 (Saganaki)
Jonathan Goldsmith at his Chicago pizzeria, Spacca Napoli, at 1769 W. Sunnyside. The restaurant was recently voted one of the most productive pizzerias in the world for 2023, according to the Italian ranking of the “50 most sensible pizzas. “
Provided
There are dozens and dozens of places to eat smart pizza in Chicago. But Spacca Napoli has it all: an ever-changing menu that’s as authentically Italian as anywhere else in the city. The wine comes from the island of Ischia in southern Italy and the mozzarella di bufala comes from the province of Caserta, just north of Naples. And the location, on the corner of the Ravenswood and Sunnyside neighborhoods, is lovely. A must-try: the undeniable but delicious Bufalina: a base of mixed San Marzano tomatoes, creamy (and perfectly tart) mozzarella di bufala, new basil and pecorino gran cru. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a. m. Price: $20
Tacos from Big Star Taco. You will never be able to eat one.
Punctual hospitality
Tell someone who lives in Chicago that you’re a Big Star fan and they’ll immediately recommend a dozen tacos that make better, “more authentic” tacos, and with a less frustrating hipster crowd (at least in Wicker). Park location). Sure, but few lunch places make me crave perfectly seasoned red meat and grilled pineapple every time I’m within a two-mile radius of the kitchen. All of the tacos are delicious, but especially the al pastor, which comes with marinated red meat shoulder, grilled pineapple, grilled onion and cilantro. Open every day. Check the online page for times and other locations. Price: $6 consistent with taco
A few years ago, I was walking through the Pilsen neighborhood, after seeing a re-enactment of Christ’s last days taking position in the streets. It was a long day and I had developed a big appetite. I put away my journalist wallet and immersed myself in this Puerto Rican restaurant. There I ate my first Jibarito, a giant sandwich with fried green plantains instead of bread and more mayonnaise than the legal one. My colleague, Sun-Times photographer Pat Nabong, is also a big fan of jibarito. She recommends the roasted suckling pig with rice. Open daily. Check the online page for schedules. Sandwich Price: $13. 79
Full disclosure, I have never been here. My colleague David MacKay presented me with one and only one suggestion for a place to eat. So it has to be good, right? What variety of shiny, tickly caviar does David recommend? David works in public radio. So on a limited budget. David recommends something I’ve never heard of: a Chicago-style Italian pulled lamb sandwich, with peppers, provolone cheese, juice, and house-fermented giardiniera.
“The lamb is cooked to perfection and balanced by the tasty homemade giardiniera,” says David. “The bun was perfectly fluffy and fluffy, able to hold a giant amount of juice. So you have to grab this knife and fork. Open them every day. Check the online page for schedules. Price: $16.
If you’re one of those people wondering whether to eat bacon or turkey sausage, rye toast, or biscuits, you might not like this Hyde Park institution. In Valois (pronounced Valoyz), things are going full speed. You order at one end of the counter, and miraculously, your food is ready when you get to the other end. And bring cash or get ready to use the ATM. But it’s hard to beat the plain vibe of a position that attracts locals, tourists and, occasionally, his favorite son, Barack Obama. My colleague Ellery Jones recommends finishing Everything Omelette. Open daily, from 6 a. m. to 3 p. m. Price: $10. 95
(Prices are subject to change)
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