Readers’ Poll Winners
Best restaurant that’s been around forever and is still worth the trip
Best fancy restaurant in Chicago
Best bang for your buck
Best chef
Best up-and-coming chef
Best food blog
Best ampersand restaurant
Best restaurant name
Best new food trend
Best cocktail list
Best mixologist
Best wine list
Best sommelier
Best brewpub
Best local brew
Best wine shop
Best liquor store
Best BYOB
Best alfresco dining
Best late night
Best for kids
Best waitstaff
Best-looking waitstaff
Best food festival
Best food truck
Best gourmet market
Best local grocer
Best local food product
Best farmers market
Best butcher shop
Best cheesemonger
Best barista
Best restaurant with a view
Best restaurant for romance

Best restaurant for a cheap date
Best neighborhood restaurant
Best bagels
Best bakery
Best barbecue
Best breakfast
Best brunch
Best burger
Best Chinese
Best coffee shop
Best desserts
Best Greek
Best hot dog
Best ice cream
Best Indian Restaurant
Best Italian
Best Korean
Best Mexican
Best Middle Eastern
Best pizza
Best Polish
Best pub grub
Best sandwiches
Best seafood restaurant
Best steak house
Best sushi
Best taqueria
Best Thai
Best vegetarian
Best Vietnamese
Reader Critics’ Picks
Best Italian steak house where my dad felt at home in the 60s and I do now
Best case of nostalgia, bordering on time travel
Best restaurant empire founded the same year as the Reader
Best restaurant
Best bargain Michelin chef
Best chef downshift, animal division
Best chef downshift, vegetable division
Best venerable restaurant alongside the el
Best new food truck
Best buffet
Best game day
Best dairy product to camp out in front of the cheese shop for
Best use of alcohol at breakfast
Best university coffeehouse
Best bakery you’ve never heard Of
Best place to see bakers at work
Best place for ambience and egg sandwiches
Best bagel
Best tubular collaboration
Best sausage
Best place in Chicago to sample salumi from Mario Batali’s papa
Best broccoli and shells con patio
Best fancy-pants pizza special
Best Polish-Mexican-American $1.50 taco
Best tater tots
Best spinach pie
Best som tam
Best soundtracked strawberry shake
Best newly minted (if loosely defined) neighborhood for destination dining
Best hangout after a day at Rogers Park’s beaches
Best few square blocks to eat really well, and cheaply
Best place to feel bad about gentrification but good about your meal
Best restaurant staff bent on making your day
Best one-woman kitchen
Most underrated James Beard Award winner
Best new food blog
Best food blog written by a linguist
Best place to eat and drink for a good cause
Best CSA farmer to swoon over
Best canine control at a farmers market
Best craft brewery that doesn’t exist yet
Best cocktail book club