Chicago Restaurant Week: 28 New Restaurants to Try in 2026

Get more recipes, food news, and stories at wttw.com/food or by signing up for our Deep Dish newsletter. 
Have a food story or recommendation? Email us at [email protected].

When Jenner Tomaska and Katrina Bravo took part in Chicago Restaurant Week for the first time with their Michelin-starred spot Esmé several years ago, they were shocked by the demand for a lower-priced, fixed-cost menu, especially in the cold, dark nights of January and February, typically the slowest of the year for restaurants. The clamor for reservations led them to open a more affordable bistro last year, Petite Edith, as Bravo told WTTW. Now Esmé, Petite Edith, and The Alston – a new steakhouse whose menu is provided by Tomaska – are all offering special menus for Restaurant Week. Clearly, the annual promotion matters. 

Now in its 19th year, Chicago Restaurant Week was envisioned to help restaurants through the fallow period of early winter, with participating restaurants offering special multiple-course prix fixe menus for $30 at brunch or lunch and $45 or $60 at dinner. (Not every restaurant offers each meal or price.) Over 500 spots in and around Chicago are participating in the very extended “week” of 17 days, from January 23 to February 8. You can find all of them at the Chicago Restaurant Week website, as well as menus.

It’s a bounty, so we have compiled a list of restaurants that opened last year or in the waning months of 2024 – many of which we have covered – and are participating as a way of narrowing things down. (Apologies to any that we missed.) But your local neighborhood restaurant is always an excellent option as well. We suggest making reservations, as places book up quickly.

Adalina Prime

This trendy West Loop steakhouse is a follow-up to the Italian Gold Coast restaurant Adalina from Top Chef alum Soo Ahn, with the help of Balkan mainstay Nemanja Milunović. Incorporating some Asian and other global influences, it has become a common stop for celebrities in town.

Ambar

An adaptation of a popular Balkan Washington, D.C. restaurant for a city with one of the largest Balkan populations outside the Balkans themselves, Ambar offers a shareable survey of Croatia, Serbia, and more, with a wine list from Serbian-born local sommerlier Jelena Prodan. It opened in River North early last year.

Akiro Handroll Bar

An import from Spain, River North's Akiro draws on the Nikkei cuisine of Peru, which combines the influence of Japanese immigrants with native Peruvian flavors, as in their sushi and handrolls.

The Alston 

One of a number of steakhouses that opened in Chicago this year, The Alston distinguishes itself with its ultra-luxe trappings and offerings, like a raved-about duck press. The food is by Jenner Tomaska, a chef whose Esmé has a Michelin star, while the large restaurant is run by the Fifty/50 Restaurant Group. 

Bar Tutto

Bar Tutto is one of the newest restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, but it's run by a pro, Top Chef winner Joe Flamm, with a number of other restaurants nearby in the West Loop (Rose Mary, Il Carciofo). It's an Italian-inspired all-day spot, with pastries and coffee in the morning, smaller dishes for lunch, and a full dinner menu. 

Cafe Yaya

All-day cafes are booming, making maximal use out of expensive real estate. Cafe Yaya is from the forces behind the neighboring, Michelin-starred Galit, and continues that restaurant's Middle Eastern influences in its popular pastries, spreads, and more.

Chapel Street Cafe and Restaurant 

By a quirk of alphabetization, Chapel Street is the third all-day cafe in a row on our list, but the first to open, a full year ago, inside Streeterville's Hilton Chicago/Magnificent Mile. It's an attempt to recreate the beloved cafes of its owner's Australian youth, with healthful breakfasts and heartier dinners.

CIMA

A new Mediterranean restaurant in the Hyatt Centric Chicago O'Hare in the northwestern suburb of O'Hare, CIMA has the respected chef Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe as a consultant, and features her commitment to local farms and vendors. 

Deliz

We told you there were a lot of new steakhouses. This one in Bucktown is Italian-inflected and is a revamp of Etta, which closed in the same space after a bankruptcy. 

DixiePura Kitchen

Not everyone is opening a steakhouse. Chloe Gould inventively combines her Southern heritage with the Southeast Asian dishes she encountered while teaching in Singapore. She opened DixiePura Kitchen in her own neighborhood of Bronzeville after overcoming a number of personal challenges. 

The Greggory

It may be a steakhouse, but The Greggory is unusual in that it's located in the suburbs (South Barrington) instead of near downtown. It's from a team of hospitality veterans with plenty of experience at Gibsons properties.

Il Carciofo

Another restaurant from Top Chef winner Joe Flamm, Il Carciofo spotlights the food of Rome in the West Loop, and opened in December of 2024.

Ithaki Estiatorio

Chicago's once-bustling Greektown is no longer very Greek, or all that bustling. But Ithaki, located in a space that housed the Parthenon, is a modern effort by its owner to revitalize Greektown, in which he once worked at his own uncle's restaurant. 

Kama Bistro West Loop

This is the third Kama, which serves contemporary Indian cuisine like paneer ravioli, to open. (The other two, in La Grange and Wicker Park, are also taking part in Restaurant Week.) 

La Lunita

A little sister to Pilsen's La Luna, which is especially popular for its margaritas, La Lunita is a Mexican bar and restaurant in Logan Square.

The Little Lark

A new pizza and sandwich spot inside the Avondale co-working space Guild Row, Little Lark is the latest restaurant from the group behind the acclaimed Meadowlark bar, Lardon, and Union, all of which are located on the same block in Logan Square. Their restaurant week menu features other Avondale restaurants and businesses.

Matilda

Matilda combines Mexican and Peruvian cuisines in River North, in a breezy interior nominated for Best Design at this year's local Jean Banchet restaurant awards.

Mister Tiger

This Korean restaurant in West Town from two siblings is an homage to their mother and grandmother and their homestyle cooking, and has become a popular addition to the city's Korean dining scene.

Nadu

The latest restaurant from Sujan Sarkar, who also runs the Michelin-starred Indienne and Middle Eastern Sifr, Lincoln Park's Nadu focuses on regional Indian cooking, labelling the state of origin of each dish on its menu. 

Nic & Junior’s

Nic & Junior's is named for its two partners, who found fame in Texas, including with an acclaimed modern Brazilian restaurant. Now they're offering both fresh pasta and Brazilian flavors amidst skyscrapers in River North. 

Omakase Box

Omakase restaurants aren't as ubiquitous as steakhouses (yet), but there are still plenty. Omakase Box in Logan Square tries to be more approachable and neighborhoody than some of the top-dollar "bromakase" places out there, while still providing quality seafood.

Ox Bar & Hearth

Centered around a hearth and paying homage in its name to the late institution The Golden Ox, Lincoln Park's Ox Bar & Hearth comes from restaurant industry stalwarts, including a chef who worked with Alinea's Grant Achatz early in his Chicago-area career.

Petite Edith

Petite Edith was Katrina Bravo and Jenner Tomaska's answer to the high demand for lower-cost Restaurant Week menus at their Michelin-starred Esmé. They just opened this seafood-focused, Midwestern-inflected French bistro in River North, and while it may be a bit more affordable, it's still plenty creative.

Rendang Republic

You wouldn't expect to find the only Indonesian restaurant in the city in Wrigleyville, but then you also wouldn't expect it to serve a take on a hot dog, Italian beef, or fried chicken sandwich. And yet that's what the casual Rendang Republic does, with a full embrace of Indonesia flavors and textures. 

Solette

Located downtown, Solette features everything from sushi to steak to ravioli to hot chicken.

Sophia Steak

Located in the same new skyscraper as The Alston (we can't repeat enough how popular steakhouses are these days), this is the first downtown location of Sophia Steak, which originated on the North Shore and is part of Ballyhoo Hospitality.

The Staley

Former Chicago Bears player Israel Idonije has made it a mission to populate his South Loop neighborhood with more spots to gather, eat, and drink. The Staley, a sports bar with food developed by respected chef Stephen Gillanders of S.K.Y. and other places, is part of that plan.

Trino

It seems fitting that both the first and last restaurants on our alphabetical list are steakhouses, given the glut that opened this year. Trino also offers plenty of diverse Latin dishes alongside the hunks of meat, befitting its background as another project of the people behind Diego. 

This story has been updated to include The Little Lark.