BEST NEW RESTAURANT
Lettuce Entertain You’s West Loop restaurant has quickly become a go-to destination for al fresco dining and summertime vibes. The popularity is in part due to its rooftop patio, which is decked with cozy couches, lush greenery, and even heated igloos during winter. CJ Jacobson supplies ramped-up Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, such as hummus, kebabs, and housemade Stracciatella.

Dark Matter Coffee, with its Star Lounge Coffee Bar, offers a small artisan company with amazing fair-trade coffees from Central and South America.

BEST OUTDOOR DINING
The most-visited patio in town needs little introduction. Come early (dogs are welcome) or expect to wait a while as the line is sometimes hours long. Those who tough it out are rewarded with tacos, margaritas, whisky, and a prime spot for people watching. A second location is at Hotel Zachary across from Wrigley Field.

BEST RESTAURANT TO TAKE A NEW CLIENT
Since winning season four of “Top Chef” in 2008, Stephanie Izard has been one of the city’s most popular chefs. Her original restaurant, Girl & the Goat, is still tough to reserve as fans continue to flock in to try bold, signature dishes like oven-roasted pig face and goat empanadas. Izard capped off her quick rise to fame with a Best Chef: Great Lakes award in 2013. She’s since expanded her Chicago footprint with acclaimed restaurants Duck Duck Goat, Little Goat Diner, and Cabra.

BEST FANCY HAPPY HOUR
The Aviary is what happens when the people behind one of the world’s best restaurants (Alinea) open a cocktail bar: revolutionary drinks that excite every sense and a mixology show behind the fenced in “cocktail kitchen.” It’s a must for any cocktail fan passing through the Windy City, and who can even try to get into the tiny cocktail bar the Office underneath.

BEST HOT DOG
A Chicago-style hot dog is a can’t-miss while visiting the Windy City, and eaters don’t have to leave downtown to check out the most beloved local chain in the area for dogs, Italian beef, addictive milkshakes, chocolate cake, and much more for cheap.

BEST NEARBY PIZZA
The Malnati Chicago Classic: Chicago is synonymous with deep dish pizza and Lou Malnati’s famed pies are a glorious overload of cheese and carbs that no true Chicagoan is ashamed of loving. The Malnati Chicago Classic takes it to the next level with a layer of lean sausage patty atop an oh-so-good buttercrust.

MOST BEAUTIFUL (INSTAGRAM-WORTHY)
Chicago steakhouse culture was turned on its ear when this Gold Coast jewel combined uniquely chef-driven meat dishes with a sultry scene in fall 2015. Acclaimed chef Danny Grant brought his talents back from South Beach to fire up the wood-burning hearth where his team churns out the lavish cuts steakhouse fans expect as well as creative twists including towers of roasted seafood, sauternes soaked foie gras, and the 40-ounce “Eisenhower” cut for $175. The wine and bubbly selections are also top-notch, all served in a gorgeous space jammed nightly with partying A-list locals, so if blowing a good chunk of the expense account isn’t in the cards the downstairs bar and patio is also there for a more affordable night.

BEST RESTAURANT FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION
Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas’ three-Michelin-starred avant garde fine dining institution is quite simply one of the world’s best restaurants. Food obsessives make pilgrimages from around the globe to the 10-year-old Lincoln Park restaurant to experience Achatz’s emotional, interactive and expensive tasting menus, which play out in a recently renovated backdrop that now features three distinct dining options. It clocked in at No. 34 on the most recent World’s 50 Best List in 2018 and was among Eater National’s best restaurants in America. Dishes predictably change often on the tasting menus, but the edible balloon and tabletop dessert are among those that put it on the world stage.

BEST LOCAL SANDWICH
Rick Bayless, celebrity chef and an ambassador of Mexican cuisine, is a household name. His cochinita pibil torta — only available on Wednesdays — is served on crusty bread spread with black beans and achiote paste, layered with pickled onions and habanero salsa, and finished off with juicy strands of a slow-roasted suckling pig.