The best restaurant and bar openings in 2016, so far

The Alinea Group’s new restaurant is melding the ideas of fine dining and casual bar. Feel free to show up in a T-shirt and jeans—as the name suggests, the spot is noisy with music blaring, and most seats are at the bar or around a bar surrounding an open kitchen. The food itself is as strong and surprise-packed as what you’ll find at the group’s other spots—the beef broth is an umami bomb with beef cheek and tongue and soft egg in al dente bucatini noodles.

Forbidden Root's been slinging its bottled beers around Chicago for a while, but now it has a shiny brewpub in Noble Square. The bar is the focal point of the spot—a huge square smack dab in the middle of the space, tall and displaying rotating taps. While the beer is clearly the focal point, we're quite happy with the menu, too. The burger has a great giardiniera mayonnaise that brings a nice crunch with crispy and salty fries we just can't get enough of.

I loved Bunny. I will be forever sad that Bunny closed, but at some point it's time to move on and face the facts. And it turns out, the facts are actually in our favor—the space formally known as Bunny was quickly replaced with the Budlong, a fried chicken joint that is quickly becoming the standard for Nashville hot chicken in Chicago. It's ridiculously cheap (meals start at $9) and the chicken is juicy as hell while the skin is crispy with a smoky and warming heat. There's a few more locations on the way, so we're sure we'll be eating the Budlong's chicken for a long time to come.

The well-loved Maria's Packaged Goods has done some upgrading and renovating to turn the space into a place where we could spend all summer. Kimski brings us Korean-Polish fusion eats like the Maria's Standard sausage with soju mustard, a hybrid sauerkraut-slash-kimchi, scallions and an amazingly soft roll. It also made way for a second bar to open beside Maria's, a large indoor seating area, a back patio and a small front patio. While we're sure we'll miss the pies from Pleasant House, we're certain we'll be more than just fine with the Kimski menu.

If you're looking for a place to fill the brewery gap in your Instagram feed that's been haunting you in this beer city, Hopewell's the spot for you. It has the cleanest design and is the most Pinterest-y brewery possibly ever, with light wood, white accents and a simple bar. Focusing on lighter beers, Hopewell does best with its First Lager, a year-round crowd-pleaser, and its Swift IPA, which is bright and citrusy. Sign up for a brewery tour, stop by to play a few board games and order in food from wherever you like. You'll be set for an entire afternoon.

Sixteen on Center is on a roll this year and shows no signs of slowing down—we'll see the Revival Food Hall (that massive Loop lunch hall you keep hearing about) open this summer, too. But the team started out the year by sneakily opening Moneygun, a cocktail bar with 30 classics and bar snacks. It's a good spot to hang for small groups who want to work their way through the menu. Personally, we're big fans of the Pink Squirrel and the Dark and Stormy, but most of the cocktails on the list are solid picks as well.

Adding the back patio to St. Lou's Assembly was the best decision the folks at this restaurant could have made. When you first walk in, be prepared to feel like you've stepped back in time to an old diner from the '70s. If it's a nice day, head to the back patio. It's modern with big tables and bocce ball. You'll find a few cocktails served on draft, including a frozen piña colada from Moneygun, but we're partial to the lavender lemonade with your choice of clear spirit (we chose gin), bright and refreshing for a warm day. The meat and threes are all solid picks, but we'd snack on the fried okra all day.