Finding the best Chicago Illinois restaurants

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. My event of choice, be it with family, friends, in-laws or just about anyone, is to go find a great restaurant and sit down to a great meal. I live in New York City, so that's pretty easy to do. This place is filled with great restaurants. Within walking distance I've got a French bistro, a Korean Bar-b-que, an australian steakhouse, at least half a dozen top-notch Italian joints, and probably twice that many "American Nouveau" cuisine places. Not to mention the hole-in-the-wall spanish joints that are on literally every block.

But that's New York, and the best Chicago restaurants are something else entirely. While both a big, "world" cities, it's clear that nothing can compare to New York's vast diversity and quality of top-notch restaurants.

So if you're looking for the best Chicago Illinois restaurants, start with what the city does well. Chicago has long been known for its steak, so look there. Of course there'll be the standards such as Morton's and Ruth's Chris, but those are in just about every big city and there's nothing really "local" about them. You'd be better served, if you're really looking for a taste of Chicago, to try something like Rosebud Steakhouse or The Capital Grille. These are Chicago institutions, rife with local flavors and styles, and the best places to start a unique search.

Chicago's also known for its Italian food - which in this case is a similarity with New York. However, New York Italian tends to be heavily Napolitan - meaning there's a ton of seafood, marinara sauce and thin-crust pizza. Chicago Italian is a bit different. There's "seafood," but the real stuff isn't from any sea - it's fresh from Lake Michigan. There's red sauce, but it tends to be chunky and thick, more in the style of Sicily than the style of Italy itself.

And of course the big difference - the one that New Yorkers and Chicagoans have been fighting about for a hundred years or moere - is the pizza. Chicago style is thick, thick thick. It's gotta be 90% dough. Many New Yorkers don't even consider it pizza. Whether you do or not is up to you, of course, but beware that if you've been raised on the traditional stuff, this is something entirely different. The best chicago restaurants that serve pizza all serve it the Chicago Illinois style, of course.

Now I've worked up a bit of an appetite myself, so this is where I'll leave you. Check the steakhouses and the Italian places in Illinois to start, and don't forget Chicago's large Polish and Mexican communities. With a little bit of effort, you might be able to find a hidden gem of a restaurant and Yelp your own, unique review.

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