The Chicago edit
Extraordinary tables. Unexpected nights.
A city that always has another story.
01 / Dining
On Monday, Nov. 16, pitmaster Nick Kleutsch brings an early taste of his returning Lucy's BBQ to Friends of Friends, the West Town…
Down a staircase off LaSalle Street, Naia stretches a full block along the Chicago River, with a 50-foot carved stone nymph, river booths…
On Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, chef John Asbaty and restaurateur Alain Uy welcome Grant Achatz to Ox Bar & Hearth at 1578 N…
On Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026, at 7 p.m., guest chef Gianni Secchi takes over the kitchen at Susu, the West Loop steakhouse at…
Inside an 1883 River North townhouse, Asador Bastian cooks boutique beef from the world's finest small producers over white oak charcoal. This week…
Cristian Orozco, named Eater Chicago's 2026 Chef of the Year on Nov. 10, builds Mazor around fresh masa and the kitchens of Guatemala…
02 / Openings
Chicago nightlife from November 13 to 29, 2026, including Franc Fala's Spybar debut, Brutalismus 3000 at Radius, the Winter Garden at Château Carbide,…
Smartbar's Tinzo and Jojo night is sold out while UFO95 and Queen! still sell. Spybar stacks POPS and the Avina Brothers, Christkindlmarket opens…
Atelier Shang Chicago, Shang Noodle's Wicker Park room at 1613 N. Damen Ave., soft-opens with crab-roe xiaolongbao, braised beef noodle soup, fermented-soy popcorn…
Sifr, the wood-fired Middle Eastern restaurant from the Indienne team, opens Sifr Café in its River North dining room on Nov. 11, 2026:…
Sound-Bar's Last Dance on New Year's Eve, a flash sale on November 3, the PAWS Chicago Fur Ball at The Drake, Pendry's rooftop…
A Ma Maniére, James Whitner's luxury sneaker and streetwear house, is scheduled to open its first Chicago address at 1144 W. Washington Blvd.…
03 / The latest
All the stories. All the possibilities.
Thattu, the Kerala restaurant Margaret Pak and Vinod Kalathil built from pop-ups into a New York Times pick, serves its last regular dinners in Avondale on Dec. 27, 2026. Here is what to order, how to book and which Monday Night Foodball nights are left.
On Monday, Nov. 16, pitmaster Nick Kleutsch brings an early taste of his returning Lucy’s BBQ to Friends of Friends, the West Town cocktail bar at 2001 W. Grand Ave.: brisket by the half pound, truffle wings and pork steak from 6 to 9 p.m.
Down a staircase off LaSalle Street, Naia stretches a full block along the Chicago River, with a 50-foot carved stone nymph, river booths framed by the bascule bridges and a Greek and Levantine menu from Top Chef Greece winner Athinagoras Kostakos.
Chicago nightlife from November 13 to 29, 2026, including Franc Fala’s Spybar debut, Brutalismus 3000 at Radius, the Winter Garden at Château Carbide, Black Wednesday and Black Friday, plus New Year’s Eve tickets to lock in.
For more than two decades Sound-Bar has been River North’s big room. On Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026, the club at Ontario and Franklin bills its NOVA New Year’s Eve party as Sound-Bar’s Last Dance, with an open bar, a champagne toast at midnight and DJs on two floors until 4 AM.
On Thursday, Dec. 3, 2026, chef John Asbaty and restaurateur Alain Uy welcome Grant Achatz to Ox Bar & Hearth at 1578 N Clybourn Ave in Lincoln Park for an eight-course anniversary dinner, the final Chef Series of the restaurant’s first year. Tickets were announced as coming soon.
On Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026, at 7 p.m., guest chef Gianni Secchi takes over the kitchen at Susu, the West Loop steakhouse at 652 W Randolph St, for a guided six-course Italian tasting drawn from Sardinia and Emilia-Romagna. Prepaid tickets are $120, or $170 with the wine pairing, on OpenTable.
Inside an 1883 River North townhouse, Asador Bastian cooks boutique beef from the world’s finest small producers over white oak charcoal. This week it pours Artadi’s single-vineyard Rioja with winemaker Carlos López de Lacalle on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026, then welcomes Florence’s Osteria delle Tre Panche for a white truffle dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Cristian Orozco, named Eater Chicago’s 2026 Chef of the Year on Nov. 10, builds Mazor around fresh masa and the kitchens of Guatemala and Mexico. On Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026, he hands his chef’s counter to Cristian De León of Minnesota’s El Sazón for a six-course Guatemalan tasting with Zacapa rum cocktails.
At Kindling, the live-fire restaurant at the base of Willis Tower, James Beard Award winner Jonathon Sawyer turns his 13-foot hearth into a chef’s table once a month. Nothing But the Meats runs Friday, Nov. 20, 2026, followed by a Feast of the Seven Fishes on Dec. 18 and a New Year’s Eve menu of caviar cones and Wagyu filet Oscar.
Boka, the Michelin-starred Lincoln Park restaurant that launched Boka Restaurant Group in 2003, gives Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2026, to game: an eight-course tasting menu cooked with butcher and chef Rob Levitt and Alain Ducasse alum Doug Psaltis, $225 per person with an optional $165 wine pairing.