About Best Chicago
Best Chicago is an independent guide to the city's standout restaurants, bars, shops and services, for Chicagoans and visitors in every neighborhood.
A city with strong opinions
Chicagoans argue about pizza, hot dog toppings and which side of town eats better, and they mean every word. Beyond the Loop and the Magnificent Mile, the city is a patchwork of neighborhoods with their own main streets: Andersonville and Lincoln Square on the North Side, Pilsen and Little Village to the southwest, Bronzeville and Hyde Park to the south. Each has businesses its residents would defend to anyone.
Rankings for everyday decisions
Best Chicago turns each category into a short ranking of the businesses worth your trust, across nearly thirty areas of city life: restaurants and bars, beauty and health, home services, auto repair, real estate, education, pets and more. Listings show the street address, a phone number and hours, plus a few words on what each place does well.
Research done neighborhood by neighborhood
We look at every category across the North, South and West Sides as well as downtown, listen to what Chicagoans have said about each business over the years, and check the basics, from street number to opening hours, before a word is published. Lists are reopened on a schedule, because storefronts on Milwaukee Avenue change as quickly as anywhere.
Winters, and everything else
Chicago's seasons shape what people need. Winter brings furnace repairs, frozen pipes and dead car batteries; summer brings patios, street festivals and long days at the lakefront. We give home services, auto shops and health care the same attention as the restaurants and bars.
Who reads Best Chicago
Lifelong Chicagoans in search of a better option on their own block, newcomers settling into a two-flat in Avondale or a high-rise in the South Loop, and visitors who want to eat and shop beyond Michigan Avenue. If you have just moved here and need a dentist, a mechanic and a decent slice in the same week, start here.
For Chicago businesses
If you own a business we have ranked, the For businesses page is how you claim the listing and keep its details right for customers.