Where to eat in drink in Chicago’s West Town
In recent years, buzz has steadily grown that Chicago crowned a new Restaurant Row, toppling the long-dominant Randolph Street in the West Loop. Just northwest of the West Loop’s corporate glass towers and slick restaurants, West Town, the low-slung, still (somewhat) affordable, concrete and brick neighborhood houses a slew of restaurant and bar hot spots, several earning nods from the kingmaking Michelin Guide and James Beard Foundation. Price per square foot — averaging between $50 and $85 in high-visibility areas of the West Loop compared to West Town, where it more typically runs between $30 and $50 — undoubtedly played a role in the latter’s ascent, as hotly anticipated indie outfits opt to set up shop here, from Pizz’Amici, Bar Bambi and Guillotine Bakery to Feld and Gilda.
Time Out all but cemented the neighborhood’s It status in September, when it deemed it the 18th “coolest” neighborhood in the world — joining Chinatown in Los Angeles (No. 4) and New York’s Financial District (No. 28) as the only U.S. cities on the list. “On-the-ground experts" purportedly determined this by weighing food and drink, nightlife, unique local businesses, liveability and community.
Those in the know consider this old news. Brunch stalwart Flo (closing on Dec. 20) brought New Mexican classics like sopapillas and hatch green chicken chile stew to Chicago Avenue well before the borderlands got its culinary due, as beloved breakfast spot Uncle Mike’s Place did for homespun Filipino-American cooking. Coalfire put artisanal Neapolitan pizza on the map years before thin-crust pizza joint Pizz’Amici opened a few doors down and became the hottest table in town, cementing Grand Avenue as Chicago's pizza highway.
Lately, the awards have piled up here, too. Michelin-starred modern Filipino restaurant Kasama (two stars) and hyperseasonal tasting menu spot Feld (one star), both received the best regional chef James Beard Foundation Award (JBFA): Kasama in 2023, Feld this year. Spanish-leaning JBFA semifinalist Bocadillo Market lives here, as does Michelin Guide-recognized Korean tasting menu Jeong, plus Jean Banchet Award darlings Brasero, chef John Manion’s South American restaurant and bar, and Flour Power, the counter-service scratch pasta joint from former Schwa chef de cuisine Wilson Bauer. Indeed, if a neighborhood’s proverbial arrival is judged by its chef quibbles, West Town made it official this summer. Bauer beefed with Feld’s very online chef/owner Jake Potashnick over unfounded claims about the latter’s ingredient sourcing. Maybe it’s to be expected when one restaurant self-describes as “terpene to table” and the other “relationship to table.”
So what’s all the fuss about West Town? Your faithful food and drink reporter took a companion along to spend consecutive Friday nights in October on a mile-long stretch of Chicago Avenue, the neighborhood’s beating heart for restaurants and nightlife. We visited almost a dozen spots, for which I made only one reservation. We sampled Latin American happy hour bites and traded tequila shots for mini Polaroids. We glimpsed matcha’s photogenic grip on Gen Z, tasted pan-cultural pintxos and authentic Isaan street food, and trendspotted martinis from freezer-cold to carbonated, bracingly clean to filthy. Here’s your Friday night itinerary in West Town.
5:15 p.m.: Snack (attempt) at Lao Peng You and Dell’ Rooster happy hour
It’s mild and sunny when I hop off my bike around Chicago and Damen Avenues. Lao Peng You’s, 2020 W. Chicago Ave., tiny sidewalk patio is packed with a youngish crowd slurping cold chicken, oil-slicked dumplings and steamy noodles. Judging by the line, my plan to grab a takeaway dumpling snack will not pan out. Nor would I bother trying my luck for a table at its high-profile next-door neighbor, Feld Restaurant, 2018 W. Chicago Ave. I learned from Potashnick that as of Oct. 9, his restaurant is booked up through the end of November, with two-thirds of December tables spoken for. That is, unless you’re an aspiring chef. Each Saturday, Feld reserves a pair of seats for free dinner for culinary students.
Anyway, I have to hurry if I’m going to catch happy hour at Dell’ Rooster Restaurant & Bar, 1825 W. Chicago Ave., which ends at 6 p.m. Every day starting at 3, this upbeat, Latin-owned restaurant serves juicy Mango Caribeños rimmed in puckering Tajin and bracing margaritas for $9 and beers for $4. I’m surprised to see the place mostly empty — in this economy! Tender empanadas ($8) pack a satisfying bite of sweet corn and mild chihuahua cheese atop zingy chipotle aioli.
6:30 p.m.: Gen Z watching at Match | A and date-night happy hour at Brasero
West Town’s hottest bar is … Match | A, 1857 W. Chicago Ave. One might think so, anyway, given how packed this minichain (open til 8 p.m.) is with twentysomethings, perusing matcha merch or draped over curved cement seating by the front window sipping frothed, cream-topped, multicolored matcha drinks. Touchscreens abound in the minimalist cafe whose counter is lined with black chawan bowls. Alas, the ASMR of handwhisking matcha is overshadowed by a blaring soundtrack of Dua Lipa and Kidz Bop Kids. My two-toned, sweetened iced matcha is delicious, layering kelly-green, umami-rich matcha atop mildly sugared green tea.
We can’t linger too long if we want to make happy hour (5-7 p.m. daily) at sultry Brasero, 1709 W. Chicago Ave. The long marble bar is packed with couples; we’re relocated to spillover seating at the slender, back hall bar that overlooks the prep kitchen. No matter; the Caipirinhas taste as good as ever — citrusy, grassy, sugared but not sweet. We throw back garlicky grilled oysters that zing with house-fermented hot sauce ($3 apiece). Now, how about a tuna crudo lazing in melony papaya leche de tigre ($14)? Maybe that magnetic La Sirena Clandestina kale salad ($12) in tangy poblano-avocado dressing? Even with discounted pricing, it’s tough to get out of here for under $100.
7 p.m.: Mini cocktails and Midwestern bites at Nettare vs. ’70s vibes and shots at Golden Years
At this still-early hour, one might nab a bar seat after a short wait at the pretty, plant-filled Nettare, 1953 W. Chicago Ave., a Midwestern-centric restaurant and bottle shop. Sade croons to tables full of group dates digging into Illinois-raised pork rillettes and wagyu aguachile with fermented peppers. The extensive cocktail menu includes tiny but potent “Small Sips” for $8 or $9, including an autumnal, bittersweet apple brandy and fermented rhubarb cocktail, or the Chicago White Negroni, with Old Tom gin, Malort and vermouth, which starts softly botanical before giving way to a bitter hall of mirrors.
A handful of open tables likewise remain at Golden Years, 1938 W. Chicago Ave., the easygoing, 1970s-inspired cocktail joint in the bygone home of High Dive. The turmeric-stained Ginger Fizz, with black and white rum, sugared Swedish Punsch rum liqueur and lime, almost convinces me it’s a health cocktail. (At $13.75, it’s practically happy hour pricing — in this economy!). The crowd leans youngish, tables full of thirtysomething friends and couples looking too at ease for a first date. We snack on sticky, savory bacon-wrapped dates laced with goat cheese while debating the Group Shot, a $6 combo of bourbon or tequila plus one Polaroid. Should you relinquish the photo, your grimacing shot face joins countless others lining the wall en route to the bathroom.
8 p.m.: Pop in for Thai street food at J.J. Thai or book ahead for Gilda pintxos
The desire for real sustenance growls its disapproval in my stomach. Thankfully, the early dinner rush at J.J. Thai Street Food, 1715 W. Chicago Ave., has thinned enough that we’re swept to a booth without waiting at this homey, wood-walled joint that chef and owner Jiranya "Jina" Thosatheppitak opened in 2015. The nam tok neua yang (beef salad) — teeming with charred ribeye, mint leaves, sliced onion, lime, chiles and nutty roasted rice powder — is textural, bright and umami-rich. We can’t resist an order of khao pad phoo (crab fried rice). White pepper supercharges the gentle brackish funk of sweet lump crab, which mingles with egg, green onion and toothsome rice; we season liberally with accompanying Thai chiles in fish sauce. We’re too full for the excellent, milky-sweet mango sticky rice, and call it an early night after a few good hours of imbibing. Back home, I’m grateful we’d ordered the sticky rice to go.
The following Friday, I head to Gilda, 1421 W. Chicago Ave. for dinner, thanking past me for having the foresight to reserve a table a few weeks in advance. This diminutive indie taberna, bootstrapped with help from an unconventional community investment campaign, tingles with energy. The Gilda (namesake speared tapa trio of anchovy, pickled chile and olive) adorns the anchovy-boosted Lady Gilda (dirty martini) that alights on nearly every table, like a gnarled, Seussian mascot. Servers throw their emotional weight behind their favorites on this fleeting, Basque(ish) menu. Crunchy-then-rich BBQ eel croquetas with sweet-savory Japanese tare aioli, and the best tortilla española I’ve had outside Spain: custardy and rich, naughtily draped in garlicky hollandaise.
10 p.m.: Snow (in October?) and neon-lit cocktails and mocktails at Bar Bambi
Heading back east, I do a double-take passing the old Goldblatt’s building at 1615 W. Chicago Ave., swearing I saw a pile of dirty snow inside. Artist Tony Tasset’s year-round sculpture of a plowed pile of snow, complete with handcrafted grayish grime and trash, represents a fitting last display for the old department store and a beautifully ugly reminder of the long, dark city winter that’s always coming.
Walking into Bar Bambi, 1703 W. Chicago Ave., after dark feels a little like entering a neon-tinted runway show; I’m relieved I like my fit. This immersive spot from bartender and first-time owner/operator Katie Renshaw mingles geometric accents, conversation pit-style couches and bold houndstooth patterns beneath sculptural color-changing neons. We perch at a long, low couch by the entrance over the Context Clues, a sprightly dirty martini highball tinged with celery brine, sherry and coriander. Every cocktail here feels fresh and a bit cheeky. Consider the Secret Handshake, a fruity, chocolate-scented Sazerac with cognac and rye whiskey, nutella, cherry vinegar and absinthe, or the gently peaty (N/A) Magic Conch milk punch with pineapple, toasted coconut and cardamom. If peckish, might I suggest the naughty eggs with Calabrian chile and dill chip crumbles or the salmon crudo with toasted rice and nuoc cham?
11:30 p.m.: ‘Ain’t It Fun,’ Beauty Bar?
Like an after-hours tractor beam, our feet find their way to 16 On Center’s nightclub stalwart Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago Ave. As with most nights, there’s no cover tonight. Cowboy boots and braids are, seemingly, back in sartorial force and the ubiquity of every flavor of High Noon nods to the summer-like weather outside. (Or maybe it never goes out of season on the dance floor.) The uncommitted shoulder bouncers collide with self-assured full-body swayers in timeless fashion. Suddenly, a remix of Paramore’s 2013 hit “Ain't It Fun” comes on and the place erupts. After all, it’s Friday night for a few more minutes, and until this song ends, West Town is ours.
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