Whether you prefer early evening meals or dining after dark, Chicago boasts a sizzling selection of restaurants to satisfy every epicurean craving. To help you choose the perfect dining experience, AuntMinnie.com has rounded up the city's latest up-and-coming restaurants, with menus that will tempt even the most discriminating tastebuds.
Atwood Cafe
American
1 W. Washington St.
312-368-1900
Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
Appetizers: $6-$12; Entrees: $16-$24
Atwood Cafe serves classic all-American comfort foods. Specialties include the Atwood pot pie with a flaky buttermilk crust, orecchette with smoked sausage, and maple-glazed grilled pork chop. The cafe also offers appetizers such as house-made grilled flat bread and smoked salmon pastrami on sweet corn cakes. The bar stocks wines from the New World (America) and the Old World (Europe).
Bistrot Margot
French
1437-39 N. Wells St.
312-587-3660
Sunday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5-11 p.m.
Appetizers: $5-$7; Entrees: $13-$20
Red mosaic tiles and ruby leather chairs accent this Parisian bistro, which offers tasty appetizers such as mussels simmered in white wine, and escargots steamed in garlic butter. Entrees include sautéed medallions of veal with Yukon gold potatoes, grilled pork chops with oven-roasted vegetables, and roasted duck with a honey-mustard glaze. The dessert menu features éclairs stuffed with vanilla ice cream, apple fritters with apricot coulis, and chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce.
Fahrenheit
American
695 N. Milwaukee Ave.
312-733-7400
Monday-Sunday, 5:30 p.m.-2 a.m.
Appetizers: $5-$16; Entrees: $13-$39
Fahrenheit's menu consists of savory appetizers such as crisp veal sweetbread, a soft-shell crab B.L.T., tuna tartare, and peppered lamb carpaccio. Entree choices include grilled veal porterhouse, balsamic braised lamb shank, roasted Canadian pheasant, and salmon with a scallion-ginger crust. Fahrenheit also offers 50 moderately priced wines.
Grace
Contemporary American
623 W. Randolph St.
312-928-9200
Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Monday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5 p.m.-12 midnight
Appetizers: $7-$14; Entrees: $19-$29
Grace is American bistro in style, but modern in its approach. Game entrees are this restaurant's forte. Try the venison with mascarpone polenta, lamb with warm chickpea purée, or the wood-grilled pork chop with mustard spaetzle. Grace also offers appetizing desserts such as chocolate fondant, crème brulée, and banana bread pudding.
Heaven on Seven
Southern
111 N. Wabash Ave., Seventh Floor
312-263-6443
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Appetizers: $10-$12; Entrees: $18-$22
For those craving New Orleans-style cuisine, Heaven on Seven is the place to be. The menu features andouille sausage, bayou jalapeno corn blasters, soft-shell crab, and down-home sides such as collard greens, cheese grits, and corn muffins. Adventurous diners can douse their meals with hot sauce to experience true New Orleans fare.
MiraiJapanese
2020 W. Division St.
773-862-8500
Sunday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5:30-11 p.m.
Appetizers: $6-$9; Entrees: $13-$18
Mirai is a funky sushi restaurant with three saltwater fish tanks filled with live shrimp, fluke, eel, and spiny lobster. Menu choices include steamed whitefish in a ginger, sake, and scallion sauce, and seared sesame seed-encrusted tuna with sweet potato pommes frites. Diners can enjoy a cocktail and get their groove on in the upstairs lounge, where a DJ spins a mix of jungle and drum 'n bass.
Global
1156 W. Grand Ave.
312-491-1122
Monday-Thursday and Sunday, 5-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5-11 p.m.
Appetizers: $5-$11; Entrees: $16-$24
Saussy features a globally influenced menu that changes daily. Its inventive cuisine combines flavors and ingredients from Asia, the Americas, and France. Specialties include portabella mushroom lasagna with baby spinach and mushroom soy, blue nose grouper with wild rice and hazelnut anise mayonnaise, salmon with pesto and basmati rice, and pork chop with sweet potatoes, Texas hash, and spicy barbecue sauce.
Tanzy
Contemporary American
215 W. North Ave.
312-202-0302
Monday-Thursday, 5-11 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5 p.m.-12 midnight
Sunday, 5-11 p.m.
Appetizers: $6-$9; Entrees: $9-$15
Tanzy offers contemporary American fare that is simple yet sophisticated. Must-try dishes include the duck confit tamale, skate wing on lemon mashed potatoes, crab corn chowder soup, grilled salmon, and roasted lamb chops.
Tru
French
676 N. St. Clair St.
312-202-0001
Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5:00-11 p.m.
Fixed Menu: $75-$125
At Tru, sophisticated French cuisine is paired with intelligent and impressive service in a subdued setting. Entrees include arborio-crusted skate wing, rabbit with chanterelle mushrooms, potato-crusted salmon, roasted rack of lamb, and grilled beef tenderloin. Tru also offers desserts such as coconut tapioca, butternut squash tarte tartin, and triple chocolate mousse.
Vong
Thai, French, Vietnamese
6 W. Hubbard St.
312-644-8664
Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, 5-11 p.m.
Sunday, 5-10 p.m.
Appetizers: $7-$15; Entrees: $17-34
Vong offers appetizers such as crab spring rolls, quail rubbed with Thai spices, and lobster daikon roll. Entree options include roasted codfish with a mushroom crust, venison loin with braised onions, braised short ribs with scallion spaetzle, and five-spiced duck rolls. Vong also offers several desserts like passion fruit crepes, apple crumble, and pineapple carpaccio.
Watusi
Latin, Caribbean, West Indian
1540 W. North Ave.
773-862-1540
Monday-Sunday, 5:30-11 p.m.
Appetizers: $7-$10; Entrees: $15-$19
Latin, Caribbean, and West Indian flavors blend at Watusi, where diners can enjoy Latin jazz every Wednesday night. Spit-roasted suckling is the official house special. The sauce contains rum, Mexican brown sugar, and chipotle peppers. Watusi also has a full bar with a compact wine list and specialty cocktails. All of the tropical fruit drinks are named after '60s dance steps.
By Jennifer Lung
AuntMinnie.com contributing writer
November 14, 2001
Copyright © 2001 AuntMinnie.com
