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Randolph Street and Fulton Market
The West Loop went from meatpacking district to Chicago's restaurant row in about twenty years. Randolph Street holds the long-running dining rooms; Fulton Market, a block or two north, holds the newer ones, the breweries and the hotel bars. It's the easiest part of the city to build a whole night in.
Where to eat
Monteverde
Sarah Grueneberg's West Loop pasta house, where pastas are rolled in view all day; she won the James Beard Best Chef award for it. Order two pastas for the table.
Taquería Chingón
Al pastor sliced off the trompo plus chef's tacos like duck carnitas, now in Fulton Market after its Bucktown start; Michelin has recognized it. Order at the counter.
Girl & the Goat
Stephanie Izard's 2010 original: shareable plates from a wood-fired kitchen, with her sautéed green beans a fixture.
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.
Smyth
John Shields and Karen Urie Shields's three-Michelin-star tasting menu in the West Loop, built on farmers and fishers they buy from directly. The Loyalist downstairs is the casual way in.
The Publican
Paul Kahan's Fulton Market beer hall: oysters, pork and charcuterie at long shared tables, with a deep beer list.
Momotaro Izakaya
Boka's Japanese restaurant: sushi and robata in the main room, a dim izakaya downstairs for whisky, sake and snacks. Down there, order the Momo Royale: two patties tucked into a bao bun made in-house, and one of the best burgers in the city. Friday lunch brings bento boxes.
Swift & Sons
Boka's grand Fulton Market chophouse with chef Chris Pandel: prime and dry-aged steaks, beef Wellington and a dessert trolley. Weekday happy hour runs 4:30 to 6, and Tuesday to Saturday a tableside cart builds Old Fashioneds.
El Che Steakhouse & Bar
John Manion's live-fire Argentine steakhouse in the West Loop: asado cuts off the grill, coal-roasted oysters, empanadas. Order the bone marrow, then tip a pour of mezcal or whiskey down the empty bone.
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.
Guinness Open Gate Brewery
Guinness's second U.S. brewery, filling a huge former rail depot in the West Loop: small-batch experiments that only pour here, a restaurant and a rooftop. Weekend brunch runs 9 to 2.
Green Street Smoked Meats
Hogsalt's warehouse smokehouse down a brick alley off Green Street: central Texas-style brisket, ribs and pork belly by the half pound, ordered cafeteria-style, with craft beer.
Aba
CJ Jacobson's Fulton Market restaurant for Lettuce Entertain You: Mediterranean plates with a California accent (hummus, kebabs, seafood) under a canopy of plants, and a sprawling rooftop that fills up after work.
Omakase Yume
Chef Sangtae Park, who learned Japanese cooking in his hometown of Busan, runs this Michelin-starred counter: six seats, seatings at 5, 7 and 9, and a 16-course omakase. Arrive early, and add extra pieces à la carte at the end if you're still hungry.
Mako
B.K. Park, born on Jeju and schooled at Tsunami, a Gold Coast sushi bar, serves a long omakase here: about two dozen courses of nigiri, sashimi and small plates such as king crab with kani miso, sent out to the whole room in step. Michelin gives it a star.
High Five Ramen
Take the stairs down from a doorway inside Hogsalt's barbecue hall on Green Street. The signature bowl is pork-and-miso tonkotsu with pork belly, black garlic oil and a seasoned egg; slushies put out the fire. No reservations, and the room is snug.
All Well
Oriole's Noah Sandoval and Larry Feldmeier opened this West Loop spot with two ways in: a five-course dining room, or the bar and patio for drinks and raclette-covered potatoes.
Creepies
Next door to their Elske, David and Anna Posey cook a loosely French menu with Midwest roots: gougères filled with brie, Parisian gnocchi, mussels brightened by fennel giardiniera. Open Thursday to Monday.
Bar Tutto
Joe Flamm's all-day Italian café in Fulton Market: espresso and pastries in the morning, panini and pasta later, wood-fired dinners and spritzes on a patio facing a one-acre park.
Black Briar
Two Bellemore alums' 110-seat gastropub in the old Bar Takito space, cooking much of the menu over coal: oysters on ice, lobster rice off the grill, pork short rib.
Formento's
B. Hospitality's Italian-American room on Randolph (2015), named for a co-owner's grandmother: red-sauce classics, chops, whipped ricotta to start. Daily happy hour, 4:30 to 6, brings cheap oysters and meatballs.
HIDE+SEEK
A glamorous Randolph Street room of chandeliers and pop-art collages, serving shared plates with Spanish, French and Italian touches. Happier Hour runs daily 4 to 6 (from 3 on Fridays).
La Josie
A family-owned Mexican restaurant on Randolph's Restaurant Row with three agave bars, one on the rooftop, and mezcal from eight states.
Cruz Blanca Brewery & Taqueria
Rick Bayless's brewery and taquería on Randolph: house beers with wood-grilled tacos, Cali burritos and table-size tlayudas. Weekday happy hour 3 to 5 has $2 oysters and $3 carnitas tacos.
Bar La Rue
DineAmic's glam French-American brasserie, lit by emerald chandeliers under a ceiling of flowers, with a streetside patio.
Cabra
Stephanie Izard's Peruvian cevicheria on the Hoxton's rooftop, 12 floors up, with a heated terrace and skyline views; order a few ceviches and her goat empanadas. Happy hour runs Monday to Wednesday 4 to 6, Thursday and Friday 3 to 6.
Where to drink
Kumiko
Julia Momosé's Japanese dining bar in the West Loop, the 2025 James Beard winner for Outstanding Bar: precise cocktails like the Pepperberry Tonic, spirit-free pairings and an omakase-style tasting, with a whisky bar downstairs and a daytime café.
The Aviary
Grant Achatz's cocktail lounge, a James Beard winner for its bar program, where every drink is a small piece of theater (the signature In the Rocks comes sealed in an ice shell you crack open), with a five-course paired cocktail-and-food tasting. The Office, a classic speakeasy, is downstairs.
Lazy Bird
A mid-century cocktail lounge in the basement of The Hoxton, with live bands Thursday to Saturday (9 to midnight, with a cover) and vinyl sets on Sundays.
Bisous
A 1960s Paris-style bar in Fulton Market from the Sparrow team: freezer martinis, an absinthe-rinsed Tuxedo, French 75 riffs; it made North America's 50 Best Bars.
After
The lounge next to Ever, opened by Curtis Duffy and now run with Ryan Chetiyawardana's Mr Lyan Studio: classics built on rare spirits, Duffy's bar bites, a glowing round bar. Happy hour runs Tuesday to Friday, 5 to 7.
The Office
The 21-seat speakeasy beneath The Aviary, behind a door that needs a key: old-school drinks and rare bottles poured back to the 1960s.
Booze Box
Look for the red neon arrow in the alley off Randolph: below SushiDokku is a dark Japanese bar for highballs, Japanese whisky and snacks, with the hip-hop turned up.
Bottom Lounge
A 700-capacity venue under the Green Line on Lake Street from the Delilah's crew, with a bar and kitchen up front, pinball, and a rooftop deck facing the skyline.
Coffee and bakeries
Sawada Coffee
Hiroshi Sawada's café inside the Green Street complex: the Military Latte layers matcha and espresso with cocoa and vanilla. Open daily 8 to 4; spread out at the smokehouse's picnic tables.
Getting there
Take the Green or Pink Line to Morgan, which drops you between Randolph Street and Fulton Market.
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