All 22 on the map
Every spot in Famous Chicago foods, and where to eat them, pinned where it actually is. Tap a marker to see which one it is.
Deep dish and stuffed pizza
Pan pizza with a caramelized cheese edge, and stuffed pies with a second layer of crust. Both take a while to bake, so order ahead.
Pequod's Pizza
Pan pizza ringed with cheese baked dark and crunchy against the pan, the edge regulars fight over. It's a sports bar on Clybourn, a long-standing favorite of the city's chefs, and the kitchen runs until 2 a.m. most nights (midnight on Sunday).
Milly's Pizza in the Pan
Robert Maleski's caramelized-crust pan pizzas, baked in limited numbers each day; order ahead, because they sell out. A West Town counter, with a second shop in Lakeview.
The Art of Pizza
A Lakeview counter known for stuffed pizza sold by the slice, plus thin and pan pies and daily pasta specials. Art's Special (sausage, onions, mushrooms, green peppers) is the order. Open daily until 11, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bartoli's Pizzeria
Brian Tondryk, grandson of a Gino's East founder, makes stuffed and tavern-thin pies in a brick-walled Roscoe Village room; the Tribune once named it the city's best.
Tavern-style thin crust
The pizza Chicagoans order most at home: cracker-thin and cut into squares.
Vito & Nick's Pizzeria
A South Side tavern cutting cracker-thin pizza into squares since the 1950s; the house sausage is the topping to get, with a cold beer. Cash only.
Pizz'Amici
Tavern-style pies on crackery, paper-thin crust in West Town, begun as free pizzas posted on Instagram before opening on Grand in 2024; stick to three toppings. BYOB. Try the house-made Italian beef on top.
Italian beef
Thin-sliced roast beef on a roll, soaked in its juices. Order it dipped, with hot giardiniera.
Al's Beef
Al's has been slicing Italian beef since 1938, and Taylor Street is the original stand. Order it dipped with hot giardiniera, and lean over the counter while you eat.
Carm's Beef & Italian Ice
Making Italian ice from fresh fruit on Polk Street since 1929, when it was a family grocery; the DeVivo family's third generation still mixes it by feel, and a beef and hot dog counter came later.
Chicago hot dogs and the Maxwell Street Polish
A Chicago dog is all beef on a poppy-seed bun, with mustard, onion, relish, tomato, a pickle spear, sport peppers and celery salt. No ketchup.
Superdawg Drive-In
A carhop drive-in since 1948 at Milwaukee and Devon, under the two hot-dog figures on the roof. The Superdawg comes boxed with crinkle fries and a pickled tomato. Or try the Whoopskidawg, its char-broiled Polish.
The Wieners Circle
Char-grilled hot dogs and cheese fries in Lincoln Park, famous for counter staff who trade insults with the bar crowd. After midnight is the full show; daytime is tamer.
Jim's Original
The Maxwell Street Polish stand (1939), now on Union Avenue: grilled onions, mustard and sport peppers on a griddled sausage, or the pork chop on a bun (mind the bone). Open daily from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
The Duck Inn
A Bridgeport gastro-tavern by the river, known for its whole rotisserie duck. At the bar, the Duck Inn Dog, a beef-and-duck-fat frank dressed Chicago-style, keeps landing on best-hot-dog lists, and weekends bring brunch.
Rib tips and hot links
South Side barbecue: rib tips and hot links, sauced mild or hot, mostly to go.
Lem's Bar-B-Q
Smoky tips and links pulled from an aquarium smoker since 1954, sauced sweet and hot; James Beard named it an America's Classic in 2025. Order at the window and take it to go.
Uncle John's BBQ
A South Side carryout pit beside Dat Donut on Cottage Grove: get the tip-and-link combo with fries and white bread, sauced mild or hot. Cash and carryout only.
Lexington Betty Smokehouse
Chef Dominique Leach grew a Pullman food-hall stall into the whole building in 2022: rib tips under Chicago mild sauce, sliced brisket and a mac and cheese loaded with it. Tuesday to Saturday, 11 to 7.
A rainbow cone and an old-school sundae
Five flavors stacked on one cone since 1926, and a candy shop dipping its own chocolates since 1921.
The Original Rainbow Cone
Beverly's stand since 1926, which turned 100 in 2026: five flavors sliced onto one cone, chocolate at the base up to orange sherbet, with Palmer House (vanilla, cherries, walnuts) in the middle. A $5 weekday deal runs until 3 p.m.
Margie's Candies
Family-owned since 1921, with chocolates still dipped in-house and sundaes big enough to share, hot fudge on the side. The Bucktown original keeps its old booths; a second shop is in Ravenswood.
More Chicago classics
A cheeseburger, corned beef off the carving board, smoked shrimp, shrimp DeJonghe and breakfast at the start of Route 66.
Au Cheval
Hogsalt's diner-bar on Randolph, famous for the cheeseburger (the 'single' has two patties), which Time Out named the best burger in America in 2026; bone marrow and chopped liver round out the menu. It runs late.
Manny's Cafeteria & Delicatessen
A cafeteria line since 1942: grab a tray, point at hand-carved corned beef, and add a potato pancake and matzo ball soup. Breakfast and lunch; closed Sundays.
Calumet Fisheries
Smoking fish on the 95th Street bridge since 1948, and a James Beard America's Classic since 2010: get smoked shrimp and salmon or the fried perch. Takeout only with no seats, so eat by the river on the car hood.
Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House
The seafood house that shares a kitchen with Gibsons next door, famous for its frog legs and king crab; its shrimp DeJonghe, the garlicky Chicago-born classic, is one of the city's best.
Lou Mitchell's
A diner on Jackson since 1923, at the old start of Route 66, handing doughnut holes and Milk Duds to the line. Breakfast and lunch Wednesday to Sunday until 2; closed Monday and Tuesday.
Where to find them, by neighborhood
Downtown: Manny's Cafeteria & Delicatessen in the South Loop; Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House in the Gold Coast.
West Loop and Fulton Market: Au Cheval and Lou Mitchell's in the West Loop.
Wicker Park, West Town and nearby: Milly's Pizza in the Pan in Noble Square; Pizz'Amici in West Town; Margie's Candies in Bucktown.
Elsewhere in the city: Pequod's Pizza and The Wieners Circle in Lincoln Park; Al's Beef and Carm's Beef & Italian Ice in Little Italy; Lem's Bar-B-Q and Uncle John's BBQ in Chatham; The Art of Pizza in Lakeview; Bartoli's Pizzeria in Roscoe Village; Vito & Nick's Pizzeria in Ashburn; Superdawg Drive-In in Norwood Park; Jim's Original in the Near West Side; The Duck Inn in Bridgeport; Lexington Betty Smokehouse in Pullman; The Original Rainbow Cone in Beverly; Calumet Fisheries on the East Side.
Want more?
More on each: our lists of the best Italian beef and hot dogs, the best pizza in Chicago, Chicago BBQ and ice cream, and the 25 best restaurants in Chicago.
Common questions
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