25 of the best restaurants in Lincoln Park, Chicago

Regularly lauded as the best restaurant in Chicago, if not the country, Alinea lives up to the hype. One of only 13 restaurants in the country to achieve three Michelin stars, it deserves its place in your "must-try" list. Chef and mastermind Grant Achatz delivers a well-orchestrated ride that plays with textures and temperatures while remaining grounded in season, flavor and flawless execution. The menu is constantly changing, so you never know what dish will steal the show when you’re in the audience.

Esmé means beloved in French, and former Next chef Jenner Tomaska and his wife and business partner Katrina Bravo have designed this Michelin-starred restaurant as a love letter to Chicago and its creative culture. They regularly collaborate with local artists, exhibiting their pieces in the restaurant and developing tasting menus inspired by their work with a portion of the proceeds benefiting a charity of their choice. 

James Beard Award-winning chef Zachary Engel (Shaya, Zahav) serves a $98 four-course, choose-your-own-adventure menu to give you a tour of Middle Eastern cuisine with an emphasis on Midwestern ingredients. Start with hummus and salatim—traditional Levantine snacks and spreads including pickles and eggplant—before moving on to coal-roasted dishes such as turkey shawarma with cherries. Galit also offers an expansive selection of Middle Eastern wine and makes its own gazoz, a fruit- and herb-infused soda popular in Israel.

A mainstay in Chicago's vast food scene, Boka has been serving inventive seasonal American fare for more than a decade. Chef Lee Wolen is the mastermind behind balanced dishes like roasted veal sweatbread, grilled lion's mane mushroom with sprouted lentils and whole roasted dry-aged duck with strawberry and duck heart sausage. Order a la carte or go all in on an eight-course tasting menu.

If you’re after a table at this New American spot in the former Nookies space on Halsted, you’ll first have to queue up in front of the host stand, where your dinner order is taken in one go. There's no traditional sit-down service here, so after you're led to a table, drinks can be reordered via QR code. The menu features ever-changing seasonal dishes like beef tartare with smoked onion aioli, mafalde with Manila clams and a delicious whole butterflied mackerel. End the night with irresistable white sesame ice cream topped with peach jam.

With exposed brick and plasma-screen TVs, Pequod's is firmly a neighborhood bar. But Pequod's is a bar that serves some of the best pizza in the city. The signature pan pizza is ringed with caramelized cheese, and slices are massive—one piece makes a meal.  Add veggies to lighten it up a bit, or go all in, with the sausage pie, dotted with perfectly spiced, Ping-Pong ball–size pieces of seasoned ground pork.

Look closely for the signs or you’ll miss this cozy restaurant tucked next to a pond within Lincoln Park. Reservations are required for chef César Murillo’s seasonal tasting menu, which features gorgeously presented and perfectly crafted dishes like cornish hen with sage pesto and black truffle and smoked lamb shoulder with a cauliflower puree. Splurge on the cocktails as you won’t want to miss the gin-based, bee pollen-infused Bumble Blossom. 

With an assortment of breads, tasty sandwiches and a popular weekly pizza night in its repertoire, this airy Lincoln Park bakery-cafe certainly has range. But Floriole’s soul is its French pastry, skillfully executed by owner Sandra Holl. Among our favorite offerings are the canelés, petite, fluted cakes with caramelized exteriors and custardy cores flavored with vanilla and rum. Another showstopper is the lovely gateau basque, a sweet, almond meal-rich cake filled with pastry cream and tart berries and baked till it's golden.

Sushi's the name of the game at Juno. Under the watchful eye of chef BK Park, you'll find immaculate sashimi, restrained maki and creative takes on Japanese classics. Yes, everything looks beautiful and you'll want to spend time admiring what you've ordered, but don't take so many Instagram photos that you forget to actually eat your food.

The theory goes like this: The first time you eat at this unassuming Greek spot, you may try the gyro salad—well-spiced slices of meat sitting atop simple greens—and you’ll think: “Not bad.” But according to the cultish customer base that swears by this place, it’s on your third visit—when you order the juicy kalamata chicken, the vinegary Greek fries or the flaky spanakopita—that the spell is cast.

Batter & Berries is one of the best breakfast spots in town, specializing in French toast. If you can't decide on just one flavor, get the flight, which includes slices with caramel sauce and lemon zest and is served with a housemade maple butter you’ll want to spread on everything. The breakfast expertise expands to waffles, straight-up breakfast cakes and hearty deconstructed omelets as well.

By day, Bocadillo Market is a stylish place to swing by for a cup of coffee, browse a small selection of Spanish olive oils and ingredients or sample the restaurant's namesake dish: the bocadillo. Piling toppings like serrano ham, smoked lamb, Spanish chorizo and eggplant (vegetarians, that one's for you) into crispy baguettes, these Spanish sandwiches are perfect for a hearty lunch. But as tasty as Bocadillo Market's lunch options are, Chef James Martin's family-style dinner menu is where the concept truly shines. The seasonal menu items are intended to be shared, so be sure to invite along a crew to help devour the duck confit paella.

Fancy takes on British pub fare, ranging from fish and chips to pot pies, plus the mild curries and chutneys of Anglo-Indian cuisine fill the menu of one of the hottest restaurants in the city. A recent additon to the Hogsalt Hospitality empire, Armitage Alehouse is an ode to 1920s British pubs, with an interior lined with antique oil paintings, ornate sconces and other vintage touches. Cocktails like the alehouse tonic, a refreshing elixir with marigold, and the gin-based Singapore sling round out the creative libations at this newcomer that feels like a relic of years passed.

Hotel Lincoln transformed one of its suites into an intimate dining experience. The restaurant centers on a six-seat sushi bar serving a $140 omakase, featuring 17 exceptional pieces of sustainably fished nigiri ranging from bluefin to uni. Start your meal at Sushi Suite 202’s six-seat bar with a cocktail made by the bartender to suit your tastes and linger afterwards in the living room style lounge, which features a cozy couch and side tables perfect for holding another drink.

Transport yourself to a world unlike any other at this cute Lakeview cafe. 2d Restaurant is an immersive, made-for-social-media attraction sporting a comic book-inspired aesthetic. The 1,600 square-foot space features hand-drawn black and white artwork, inspired by Paris, on its walls and furnishings. You’ll probably have to brave crowds before getting inside (or make a reservation to avoid the line) but tough it out because the rewards are airy, fluffy mochi donuts. They come in a variety of fun flavors, including strawberry cheesecake and s’mores, and go well with a cup of the Vietnamese-style coffee brewed using a special phin filter. You can also check out 2d Restaurant at Time Out Market Chicago, the culinary and cultural hub in Fulton Market.

Try contemporary spins on Greek dishes such as filo-wrapped shrimp served with spicy mayo and a burger topped with spicy buffalo mozzerella or embrace traditional fare with chicken souvlaki skewers and a seafood medley orzo. The 50-seat spot is divided into two dining areas and you can also grab a seat at the bar and take advantage of happy hour specials on Greek wine and beers and cocktails, such as the Mykonos Mule made with rum and Greek honey liqueur.

Named for owner Mitchell Abou Jamra’s grandmother and channeling her warm hospitality, Evette’s combines Lebanese and Mexican cuisine, with dishes like chicken shawarma served over fries drizzled with cucumber yogurt, and tacos stuffed with gyro meat and halloumi. You can also enjoy a plate of garlic and feta fries or a flaky malawach wrap while doing some people-watching from a stool at the plant-lined window.

Take a trip to Spain at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!, which offers an extensive menu of pintxos and tapas, including chorizo-wrapped dates, spicy potatoes with tomato aioli and piri-piri fried chicken thighs. Gather in the covered all-season patio to share paella and a pitcher of house-made cava or passion fruit sangria and finish with natilla flan topped with saffron caramel. Reservations are recommended for lunch and dinner, but walk-ins can grab a spot in the lounge for a daily happy hour from 4–6 p.m.

The Old World, dimly lit wine cellar atmosphere and live classical and flamenco guitarists makes Geja’s Cafe a reliable date night destination. Get cozy and cook your way through a four-course meal that starts with a Gruyere cheese fondue with breads, fruits and vegetables and continues with your choice of proteins including beef tenderloin, lobster and chicken breast served with eight dipping sauces. The intimate experience ends with Belgian chocolate fondue and marshmallows for roasting.

MingHin vet Danny Fang and his partner, Cuiwen Chen, bring authentic Hong Kong-style dim sum to Lincoln Avenue with this sleek dining destination. The restaurant's specialties include shrimp dumplings, barbecue pork buns and pan-fried pot stickers. Make a trip on the weekends to get your fill of glossy pork turnovers, saucy short ribs and oil-dappled corn cakes.

These Mexico-by-way-of-Korea tacos are pretty tasty have been a staple of Clark Street for years. Soft corn tortillas piled with soy-marinated beef short rib, grilled pork carrying the earthy flavors of gochujang or plump shrimp rolled in panko and fried are sure to be a new flavor adventure. Solid bibimbap is a vibrant notable, and the kimchi fries (cheese fries topped with pork belly and kimchi “salsa”) are one thing on the menu truly charting new territory.

The folks at Blue Door Farm Stand are obsessed with seasonality, and they work with their suppliers to ensure every menu is packed with peak produce. Taste the difference in dishes such as brussels sprouts and kale salad tossed with maple-tahini dressing and shrimp poblano spaghetti with zucchini and spinach. The rustic dining area, which is spread across two floors, is filled with sunlight and adorned with farmhouse-chic furniture, making it an ideal destination for brunch with friends or a dinner date.

A menu of made-from-scratch dishes spotlighting seasonal Midwestern fare has made Gemini a neighborhood standby for more than a decade. Start your meal light with tuna crudo with fresh blueberries before moving onto hearty dishes like steak frites with bordelaise. Make sure to also order a few of Pauly Graves’ signature cocktails like the Squirtsky Draft made with grapefruit vodka, lime and cold-pressed grapefruit juice. It’s perfect for sipping on the restaurant’s dog-friendly sidewalk patio. 

Summer House Santa Monica is the closest you'll get to the West Coast without hopping on a plane. The menu is light and bright, with dishes including ahi tuna and watermelon tostadas served with housemade chips and kale salad with grilled avocado. Save some room for fresh-baked sea salt chocolate chip cookies or double-banana toffee pie.