Chicago · a Restaurant Pro list
The Chicago classics
Fourteen places the city would defend in a fight.
Deep dish and pan, Italian beef dipped, a char dog with the works, smoked shrimp on the river and a cheezborger under Michigan Avenue. Not the best restaurants in Chicago — the ones that are Chicago. Finish the list and you have eaten the city's argument with itself.
- 1
Pizza · Chicago · ★ 4.4 (13,509)
The deep dish most Chicagoans mean when they say deep dish. Sausage laid in a patty, not crumbled.
Order: The Malnati Chicago Classic, buttercrust
- 2
Pizza · Chicago · ★ 4.4 (16,808)
Pan, not deep dish: cheese burnt on purpose into the edge of the pan. Expect to wait; order ahead.
Order: Pan pizza with the caramelized crust
- 3
Hot dog · Chicago · ★ 4.4 (24,902)
The chain that turned Chicago's beef stand into a place people fly in for. This is the River North original.
Order: Italian beef, dipped, hot; a chocolate cake shake
- 4
Italian · Chicago · ★ 4.1 (2,798)
Taylor Street since 1938. The dipped beef sandwich that every other beef is measured against.
Order: Beef, dipped, hot and sweet, standing at the counter
- 5
Hot dog · River Grove · ★ 4.7 (13,885)
No ketchup, no seats, no menu to speak of. Mustard, relish, onion, sport peppers, fries piled on the dog. Cash only.
Order: Two depression dogs with fries on top
- 6
Hot dog · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (6,860)
Carhops since 1948 under two neon hot dogs on the roof. The pickled green tomato is the tell.
Order: A Superdawg, in the box, in your car
- 7
Hot dog · Chicago · ★ 4.4 (836)
Char-grilled Chicago dogs from a stand that is famous for how it talks to you after midnight. Go for the dog; stay for the show.
Order: A char dog, late
- 8
Hot dog · Chicago · ★ 4.6 (9,930)
The Polish sausage sandwich was born on Maxwell Street in 1939 and this is the stand that claims it. Open all night.
Order: The Maxwell Street Polish with grilled onions
- 9
American · Chicago · ★ 4.6 (4,937)
The West Loop breakfast counter at the start of Route 66, since 1923. The line moves.
Order: Eggs in the skillet; the free Milk Duds while you wait
- 10
Seafood · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (2,447)
A fish shack on the 95th Street bridge, smoking over oak since 1948. No tables. The Blues Brothers jumped this bridge.
Order: Smoked shrimp and a smoked chub, eaten on the hood of the car
- 11
Barbecue · Chicago · ★ 4.1 (3,625)
South Side barbecue from an aquarium smoker, the Chicago style nobody else has. Take-out only.
Order: Rib tips and hot links, sauce on the side
- 12
Burger · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (6,154)
Under Michigan Avenue since 1964, the tavern behind the curse and the sketch. The bun is the recipe.
Order: A double cheezborger, no fries — chips
- 13
German · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (5,335)
Open since 1898 and holder of Chicago's liquor licence number one, issued the day Prohibition ended.
Order: Wiener schnitzel and a Berghoff root beer
- 14
Dessert · Chicago · ★ 4.6 (1,397)
The 1921 ice-cream parlour where the Beatles ate after a show. The fudge comes in its own pitcher.
Order: A hot fudge sundae in the clam-shell dish
