Top 5 Places to Eat Your Mother-in-Law (a corn-roll tamale with chili, usually in a hot dog bun, sometimes with cheese) Fat Johnnie’s Johnny O’s Henry’s Drive-In Donald’s Famous Hot Dogs George’s —David Hammond
Top 5 Classic Food and Drink Joints in Hyde Park Valois Medici on 57th Woodlawn Tap Morry’s Deli Salonica —David Hammond
Top 5 New Restos 42 Grams Parachute Salero Tête Charcuterie Bohemian House —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Restos for Vegetarians Bar Pastoral Lula Café Found (Evanston) Raw Masada —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Finger Foods Potato bing bread (Parachute) Focaccia di recco (Current) Chickpea panisse (Travelle) Empanadas (5411 Empanadas) Churros w/ hot chocolate (Dusek’s) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Crab Cakes Sophie’s at Saks Shaw’s Crab House Tortoise Club Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse Brown Bag Seafood Co. —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Muffins Lemon glazed angel food cake (Beatrix) Straw-nana gluten-free muffin (Little Goat) Belgian dark chocolate muffin (HendrickX Belgian Bread Crafter) Blueberry muffin (Bad Wolf Coffee) Carrot muffin (Raw) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Sandwiches Smoked trout sandwich with fennel, honey, mascarpone, lavender (The Winchester) Crispy braised beef sandwich with horseradish, havarti, mustard, caraway (Green Door Tavern) Veggie panini with ramp Marcona almond pesto, pickled fresno peppers (La Sirena Clandestina) Artichoke, burrata, pine nut-mint pesto sandwich (Nico Osteria) Return of the Gyro (Publican Quality Meats) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Cauliflower Dishes Roasted cauliflower with jalapeno pesto, parmesan, candied lemon, bread crumbs (Summer House Santa Monica) Charred cauliflower, roasted mushrooms, carrot cider purée, green olives, arugula, pine nuts (Bar Takito) Cauliflower steak with quinoa, grapes, pine nuts and chili (Boka) Roasted cauliflower with pickled cherry peppers, bagna cauda and parmigiano (Nellcôte) Slow-roasted cauliflower with beluga lentils, caramelized onion, mango and cucumber raita (Longman & Eagle) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Neighborhood Restos Unite Urban Grill Owen & Engine Shokran Bread & Wine La Sirena Clandestina —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Resto Reincarnations Spiaggia Boka Acanto Juno Ceres’ Table —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Chefs to Watch Jake Bickelhaupt (42 Grams) Chris Gawronski (Acanto) Jim Papadopoulos (Bohemian House) Seth Moliterno (The Lobby) Stephen Wambach (Allium) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Ice Cream Desserts Lavender honey ice cream brownie sandwich with peanut butter bombe (Owen & Engine) Italian Stallion, ricotta ice cream, candied pistachios, dark chocolate, cannoli shells (Jove T’s Ice Cream at David Burke’s Primehouse) Peanut butter, fresh blackberry and pretzel frozen custard jackhammer (Andy’s Frozen Custard) Tropical coconut and ube ice cream sundae with caramelized jackfruit, pineapple and coconut (Embeya) Halo-halo with avocado and sweet corn cheddar, and ube-macapuno ice creams, sweetened condensed milk and red beans (Sunda) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Chocolaty Desserts Nutella baklava (Travelle) Black walnut cake, Bordeaux soaked prunes, mascarpone, frozen Tainori chocolate mousse (Sixteen) Valrhona chocolate sphere, almond praline mousse, black raspberry jam and ice cream (Café des Architectes) Dark chocolate custard, salted caramel ice cream, candied peanuts (Bohemian House) Chocolate ganache, Tuscan olive oil, sea salt, toast (Ada Street) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Fruity Desserts Olive oil cake, strawberries, hibiscus, goat cheese sherbet (Nico Osteria) Pistachio cake with compressed pear and crémeux, blood orange and preserved lemon sorbet (Café des Architectes) Pat bing su, ginger ice, cherry sherbet, red bean, black cherry, mochi (Parachute) Crêpe soufflé with Meyer lemon caramel and pomegranate (Allium) Deep dish apple pie (Chicken Shop) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Sleeper Hits Vegetable cocotte (Tête Charcuterie) Bone-in salmon (Green Street Smoked Meats) Burrata (Spacca Napoli) Fig and gorgonzola tart (Fig & Olive) Aloo padi, Indian panzanella salad (Jaipur) —Amber Gibson
Top 5 Bracing Bowls of Respite for a Long Chicago Winter White Borscht with kielbasa (Podhalanka) Soondubu Jjigae (Cho Jung, Glenview) Hot and Sour Seafood Soup (Go 4 Food) Santouka Ramen (Mitsuwa, Arlington Heights) Ramen (Misoya, Mount Prospect) —Alan Lake
Top 5 Expectation-exceeding Restos that Deserve More Love Cellar Door Provisions Aroy Thai The Winchester Analogue Nha Hang Viet Nam —Alan Lake
Top 5 Salutes to Something Special Dozens of little American flags in the flower boxes on 9/11 (Tavern on Rush) Marquee memorial to Robin Williams the week of August 11 (The Laugh Factory) Sandwich board announcing house-made Thin Mint Ice Cream in honor of Girl Scout cookie sale season (Bobtail) Chestnuts roasting (yes, on an open fire) free to all on the sidewalk at Christmas time (The Four Seasons) Bûche de Noël cakes in the windows at Christmas time (Bennison’s, Evanston) —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Creative Concoctions Toasted hazelnut sandwich on chocolate bread (Fennel & Iris) Cured salmon with peanut butter smear appetizer (for special occasion, Kinmont) Honeydew, cilantro, lime and lemongrass cold-pressed juice (Harvest Juicery) Paw Paw Belgian beer (Moody Tongue Brewing Company) Beet and goat cheese spaghetti (Valentine’s Day, The Flower Flat) —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 House-made Desserts that Feel like Grandma’s Hummingbird Cake (Table 52) Tres leches, BomBon (Pilsen) Blossom water marshmallows (SpritzBurger) Milk chocolate cream pie with graham cracker crust (Bang Bang Pie Shop) Carrot cake (Chicago q) —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Cookbooks with Chicago Ties “Green City Market Cookbook: Great Recipes from Chicago’s Award-Winning Farmers Market” (Agate Midway) “The High-Calcium Low-Calorie Cookbook: 250 Delicious Recipes to Help You Beat Osteoporosis” (Agate Surrey) “Holiday Cookies: Prize-Winning Family Recipes from the Chicago Tribune for Cookies, Bars, Brownies and More” (Agate Surrey) “How To Eataly: A Guide to Buying, Cooking, and Eating Italian Food” (Rizzoli) “America—Farm to Table: Simple, Delicious Recipes Celebrating Local Farmers” (Grand Central Life & Style) —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Saddest Resto Shutterings Hot Doug’s Scoozi! L20 Angel Food Bakery Ann Sather’s on Clark Street —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Hilariously Named Food Places around Chicago Booby’s (Niles) Chubby Wieners Wholly Frijoles (Lincolnwood) Wiener and Still Champion (Evanston) Buns on the Run, Wow Bao’s Food Truck —Dennis Lee
Top 5 Best Places to Get Vegan Pizza Dimo’s Boiler Room Apart Pizza Piece Whole Foods Prepared Food Section —John Wawrzaszek
Top 5 Chicago Craft Foodie Makers Chicagomarket.coop Kolossos Olive Oil Puffs of Doom Chicago Cupcake Bike-a-Bee Honey —Michael Workman
Top 5 Chicago Breakfast & Lunch Trucks Eastman Egg Tamale Spaceship DonerMen Beaver’s Coffee & Donuts 5411 Empanadas —Michael Workman
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