Chicago — Places to eat
Skyscrapers over the river, deep dish in hand
- Lou Malnati's (River North) — Buttery-crust deep dish from Chicago's first pizza family
- Giordano's (Prudential Plaza) — Stuffed pizza: cheese packed between two layers of dough
- Pequod's Pizza — Pan pizza ringed with a blackened, caramelised cheese crust
- Vito & Nick's Pizzeria — Old-school tavern pizza: cracker-thin and cut into squares
- Al's #1 Italian Beef (Taylor Street) — Italian beef sandwiches soaked in jus since 1938
- Portillo's (River North) — Chicago dogs, Italian beef and cake shakes under one roof
- Girl & the Goat — Stephanie Izard's goat-forward room that put West Loop on the map
- Au Cheval — The single has two patties; add bacon and an egg
- Frontera Grill — Bib Gourmand regional Mexican from Rick Bayless
- Wildberry Pancakes & Cafe (Randolph St) — Berry-piled pancakes before you hit the Bean
- Garrett Popcorn (Michigan Ave) — Home of the Chicago Mix: caramel and cheese corn together
- Do-Rite Donuts (Randolph St) — Loop donut counter: pistachio-lemon rings and $1 coffee
- Intelligentsia (Millennium Park Coffeebar) — The 1995 Chicago roaster, on home turf
- Cindy's Rooftop — Glass-roofed rooftop above Millennium Park and the lake
- Green Mill Cocktail Lounge — Live jazz every night where Al Capone used to drink
- Gino's East (River North) — Thick deep dish under a wall of scribbles
- Mr. Beef on Orleans — Dripping Italian beef, eaten standing up
- Superdawg Drive-In — A 1948 drive-in watched by giant hot dogs
- Sun Wah BBQ — Uptown Chinese with duck served three ways
- Lao Sze Chuan (Chinatown) — A numbing Sichuan staple in Chinatown
- Ghin Khao — Northern Thai plates under murals and hip-hop
- Giant — Seasonal Midwest cooking, neighbourhood style
- Kasama — Filipino bakery by day, Michelin tasting menu by night
- Alinea — Michelin two-star dinner staged like theatre
- Sawada Coffee — Latte-art champion's first US café
- Goddess and the Baker (LaSalle) — Riverfront café for desserts and sandwiches
- Sweet Mandy B's — Retro bakery of cupcakes and big cookies
- Casa Cactus — Cactus-filled Mexican-style café, horchata lattes
- The Violet Hour — Unmarked door, Prohibition-style cocktail bar