7 New Restaurants to Try in Chicago

You will notice a number of restaurants on a list of must-try new restaurants in Chicago began as humble pop-ups, borrowing space bars and breweries, coffee shop corners, or even tents under the sun during the city’s various street festivals. That speaks to the latest spark of innovation, care, and commitment that’s spread across the local food scene, where unprecedented times call for all hands (and knives and pans) on deck.

Over the past year, there have been many calls from chefs, food media and fans to “go out and eat” in support of the hospitality and labor industry that was hit hard by Operation Midway Blitz and lingering fears of those who are the heart and soul of it. The success of such businesses, including those listed below, is a testament to Chicagoans heeding the cry to action.

Whether you’re looking for playful food in the West Loop or to level-up your snack game on the North Side; experience a dry-aged seafood omakase or trace the African diaspora on the South, these seven restaurants provide a glimpse into Chicago’s community-centered resilience–and excellent taste.

Jibaritos are a Chicago invention deeply tied to the city's Puerto Rican population, and here, Irizarry and friends fry plantains to a tostone-perfection.

2534 W. Division St.
@smash_jibarito

Another popular pop-up turned fixed establishment, Smash Jibarito remixes the classic American smashburger with Boricua pride. After three years cultivating a dedicated following at the city's myriad festivals like Sueños and Lollapalooza, chef Josean Irizarry recently opened Smash Jibarito in the storied Paseo Boricua in Humboldt Park. For the unfamiliar, jibaritos are a Chicago invention deeply tied to the city's Puerto Rican population, and here, Irizarry and friends fry plantains to a tostone-perfection. The plaintains serve as the bun for a crispy-edged beef patty, fresh shredded lettuce, caramelized onion, house pickles, tomato, a slice of American cheese and sweet aioli. It’s a flavor bomb of salty and sweet. And yeah, I dare you to get it Estilo Animal. (Vegetarian and vegan patty options are also available.) Finally, the casual dining atmosphere and laidback, warm hospitality evoke our fave summer activity: inviting friends over to grill on a beautiful day. What's not to love?

1360 W. Randolph St., Chicago
@creepieschicago

With a name that started as a joke between chefs and IRL partners David and Anna Posey (owners of Elske, next door), Creepies is a neighborhood neo-bistro that is anything but. Creeping, lurking, or even gawking at the table over comes with the territory here: don’t feel weird if another diner asks you what you ordered, because they thought about getting that, too. It’s that sort of establishment.

Start with the warm gougères, airy choux puffs with a molten brie center that arrive drizzled with honey and dusted with parmesan. Follow up with too many vegetable dishes. See: one of the best gem salads in the city, dressed with parsley root, apple and sunflower seeds. Did I mention the tarte flambé and the freekeh crepe filled with peak-season produce (currently artichoke, spring onion and fromage blanc)… I could go on.

Ready for entrees? The roast chicken won’t do you wrong. Its rigorous, three-day prep includes being cured, poached, and roasted, guaranteeing one extremely juicy bird. The whole shebang is anchored by a deeply rich pool of dry white wine sauce reduced with finely chopped chicken livers, shallots, garlic, and fresh herbs. And you’ll want to break the big chip of fried feuille de brick atop the French ravioli, creme brulee-style, instead of simply removing it because it’s much more fun.

5131 N. Damen Ave., Chicago
@kanin.chi

Kanin's main goal is to make a meal of snacks. Here, nurse-turned-chef Julius Tacadena’s marries Filipino heritage with his childhood growing up on the island of Kauai.

There's the bento box of tender slow-roasted pork or classic adobo loco moco. Or perhaps you want a two-scoop, half-pound poke bowl that will run you less than $20. Or you can get as go ham (Spam?) on as much musubi as possible while still pack away an order of ube-banana pudding before calling it a day.

What started as Tacadena's passion project quickly escalated when he met entrepreneur and collaborator Francis Almeda. The latter's Side Practice Coffee is known locally as an incubator for rising talent. (Almeda also helped give life to West Loop’s Drip Collective cafe and community space, and Novel Pizza Cafe in Pilsen.) Kanin keeps it all in the family, from recipes to staff. The storefront also stocks Tacadena’s snack line he shares with his brother, Krackish Snack Co..

But seriously: Let's talk musubi. With seven options available from 9 a.m. until they're sold-out, we understand why folks waited in line in the early pop-up days. The tomato jam and egg and spicy Spam are easy favorites, but it’s the Grand Slam (bacon jam, hashbrown and egg atop a molded boat of rice) you’ll really want to start the day with.

3268 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago
@txatxaclub

Pronounced like “cha cha," this beloved, avant-garde pop-up found its first brick-and-mortar home a few months ago and has already become one of the buzziest all-day cafes in the city. Known for its retro and whimsical approach to plating and communal dining, the cafe takes some of the best elements of Txa Txa’s well-known supper club series, distilled into something appealing to both discerning diners and neighborhood families.

Let Txa Txa take you from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In the morning, expect a rotating selection of savory pastries; a hearty breakfast sando featuring one of the city’s fluffiest egg patties with pork, an umeboshi aioli and salmoriglio; and a morning congee. Come by later for a cocktail or two before dinner, especially for the Tuesday Guest Chef series, the keys to the kitchen are handed over to some of the local food scene’s most exciting and ambitious pop-ups.

111 N. Carpenter St., Chicago
@allwellchi

From the decorated chefs behind Oriole, Noah Sandoval and Larry Feldmeier, comes All Well. Just a few blocks from its predecessor, Sandoval has said All Well is really Feldmeier’s vision: a home away from home that doesn’t sacrifice refined appeal, dynamic cocktails and quality food. It’s fine-but-not-super-fine dining.

The vision is concise and confident for a restaurant that opened in April. Dishes feel very lived in, like those of a friend who doesn’t consider themselves a chef but is really talented in the kitchen when they randomly whip up a meal sans recipe. Beeline for the hearty sandwiches, like the short rib on a horseradish-slathered sesame seed roll or the signature Ham Sandoval (layers of mortadella, serrano ham, nutty raclette cheese and arugula). Meanwhile, raclette-smothered baked potatoes, and more available à la carte will delight on the bar side.

But the draw here is the five course pre-fixe, a slight departure from typical tasting menus. All Well offers options for select courses such as a choice between sablefish with savoy cabbage and miso dashi, or charred wagyu with cucumber salad; candied beets with sake lees and sea buckthorn or marinated bluefin. The third course, a Délice de Bourgogne-stuffed agnolotti in brodo di pollo, and honey butter toast with puffed grains is an absolute knockout.

2456 N. California Ave., Chicago
@jinsei.motto

Omakase dining has been on the rise in Chicago, encompassing everything from traditional Japanese to tacos. Jinsei Motto is all about the dry-aged seafood. Having first popped up in 2022 within CH Distillery, the home of Malört (how very Chicago), chef Patrick Bouaphanh cut his teeth rolling sushi at Mariano’s before getting a gig at Sushi Dokku. The team does things right when it comes to fresh sushi and Japanese cuisine: buy great product, butcher and handle it with care, season it delicately, and serve it at the right temperature. But the hearth here is also put to brilliant use, with flame-kissed sablefish and wagyu pichana punctuating the evening's parade of raw preparations.

1504 E. 55th St., Chicago
@mahari_restaurant

There is somehow still room left on 55th Street in Hyde Park, and Mahari is the latest reason street parking harder to find—the highest of praise for such a worthy-newcomer.

Here, chef Rahim Muhammad and company guide visitors through routes of the African diaspora via dozens of dishes that are vibrant and incredibly memorable, from West African jollof platters to Nigerian suya; the shores of the Caribbean via a widely-praised lamb burger topped with Haitian pikliz, and New Orleans-style etouffée, among much, much more.

A Hyde Park native, Muhummad co-owns the restaurant in the area's eponymous shopping center with his mother Shawn, who makes all the desserts including key lime pie, Monmon bread pudding made with housemade brioche and sweet cream sauce, and sorrel ginger sorbet with brown sugar and mint.

Muhammad’s generation draws inspiration from a complex ancestral past while knowing there are still paths to blaze with their unique vision. His Graze n’Bayou is a delicious surf-and-turf revision, with a tamarind-glaze filet and tangy, savory salmon creole on a bed of butternut squash puree and toasted pistachios. He’s also reimagined calas, created in this country by enslaved peoples likely from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. Originally a sweet rice fritter served with café au lait, Muhammad turned it savory, packing his batter with salmon for a more substantial bite. It all receives a final flourish of roasted salmon skin, mixed green salad with chutney, and a mandarin vinaigrette.