23 Best Chicago Foods From Breakfast to Late-Night in 2024
Chicago is a city known for its food, as well as its distinctive takes on dishes from all over the world, making Chicago foods at the top of any foodie's list to try this year.
What kind of food is Chicago famous for? While the city’s restaurant scene is an ever-changing creature with new and popular eateries open every day, some Chicago classic dishes and items reign perennially supreme.
What foods do you have to try in Chicago? What foods were invented in Chicago? What is Chicago's main dish? We’ve rounded up the answers to all these questions and suggestions of where you can find the best of the best in sampling Chicago foods as well as what to look for in the city you won’t find quite the same elsewhere.
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- Make Authentic Chicago Foods From Scratch
- Best Breakfast Foods in Chicago
- Famous Chicago Snack Foods
- Best Lunch Spots in Chicago
- Iconic Late-Night Chicago Foods
Make Authentic Chicago Foods From Scratch
If you're looking to learn the secrets of many Chicago foods, recipes and chefs, try a cooking class, which can offer you a wealth of education on various cuisines.
You can take an array of cooking classes in Chicago, which teach you everything from deep-dish pizza and sausages to handmade pasta and sushi-making. Cooking classes make a great gift for foodies and a fun team building activity in Chicago.
Best Breakfast Foods in Chicago
1. Waffles
Waffles are a popular go-to breakfast or brunch in any city, but Chicago does them right. You can find the winning combo of chicken and waffles at a number of diners and eateries across the city in all sorts of varieties, from decadent fruit-covered or stuffed waffles to just the basics slathered with dripping maple syrup.
For a great selection of waffles try one of the two locations of Chicago Waffles or the North Side’s innovative Churro Waffle for a mouthwatering Chicago food option.
2. Breakfast Burritos
With a vibrant Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine scene, breakfast burritos are a sure winner. This Chicago food favorite can be found in many daytime restaurants as well as late-night 24-hour Mexican eateries, where they can be found stuffed with everything from eggs and cheese to avocado and chorizo.
Try Dove’s Luncheonette or Cafe Con Leche’s wide selection of breakfast burrito options.
3. Eggs & Bacon
While classic diner fare can be gotten anywhere, you can find this Chicago breakfast food combo in great form at any number of diners in the city, many open into the night’s wee hours, making them a great refueling option for after a raucous night out.
Classic Chicago food diners include The Golden Nugget, Lou Mitchell’s or the White Palace Grill for tasty full egg breakfasts, bacon sandwiches and omelets.
4. Cinnamon Rolls
Ann Sather has made a name on Chicago’s north side as a purveyor of the best cinnamon rolls in the city, now with two locations in Lakeview and another in Edgewater.
These sticky sweet tweets are accompanied by classic breakfast fare like omelets and biscuits and gravy as well as a selection of coffees and teas, making them a quintessential Chicago food to try.
5. Bagels
While Chicago foods are not known for bagels as much as NYC, the Second City still has some great bakeries and bagel spots, including Tilly’s Bagel Shop, Brobagel and Kauffman’s Deli where you can find a variety of bagels varieties, toppings and sandwiches that put the Big Apple to shame.
6. Pastries
With a world of cuisine varieties available in Chicago, it only stands to reason that you can find some of the best international pastries in the city hailing from as far away as Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Try Chicago Pastry, Middle Eastern Bakery or The Windy City Baker for the best Chicago food and baked treats.
7. Donuts
Chicago has some amazing local donut shops like any big city, but the sheer number of them makes finding a favorite donut or roll as close as the nearest corner.
Chains and local startups around, including Do-Rite Donuts, Stan’s Donuts and Firecakes, as well as international variations on donuts like Don Churros and Mochinut, are scrumptious Chicago food options at breakfast time (or any time!).
Famous Chicago Snack Foods
8. Ice Cream
Chicago excels in all different forms of ice cream, which comes in everything from soft serve and traditional scoops to gelato, custard, fro-yo and mochi.
One of the city’s most famous ice cream offerings when it comes to the best Chicago foods, however, may be the South Side’s Original Rainbow Cone, comprised of five flavors: chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House (vanilla with cherries and walnuts), pistachio and orange sherbet.
You can find them at Rainbow Cone’s original location in the Ashburn neighborhood or in pop-ups and trucks throughout the city.
9. Specialty Popcorn
Along the famous Mag Mile shopping district, you may be lured onto a side street by the scent of heavenly popcorn wafting out of the famous Garrett Popcorn, which actually has a couple of different locations throughout the city.
Known for their famous Chicago mix of cheese popcorn and caramel corn, Garrett Popcorn is not only one of the most famous Chicago snack foods but also the Chicago food most often taken home as a souvenir by visitors in their signature tins, which make a perfect Chicago gift.
10. Potato Chips
Two famous supermarket potato chip varieties and snack food manufacturers, Jay’s and Vitners, have Chicago roots and can still be found offering up their chips and other crunchy snacks in a variety of flavors nationwide.
11. Candy & Gum
Chicago was once known as one of the cities with the highest concentration of confectionaries in the nation creating sweet and delightful treats, including Brachs, Fannie May and the Wrigley Chewing Gum Company, making it a famous Chicago food in the candy department.
While many have combined and relocated nationwide, you can still catch the ascent of chocolate in the Loop drifting from the local Blommer Chocolate factory on certain nights when the wind is right.
You can also still grab a box of Frango mints in the basement of Macy’s around the holidays and browse a huge selection of treats at Margies Candies.
Best Lunch Spots in Chicago
12. For Fried Chicken
While Southern food no doubt claims crispy fried chicken as its own, the Chicago food version of the classic dish can't be beaten.
Numerous Chicago food providers hold favor as top spots for fried chicken that compares to what you find in cities like NOLA and Atlanta, including Harold's Fried Chicken, often named as one of best Chicago restaurants for wings of all time, as well as Uncle Remus’s Country Fried Chicken and Roost Chicken & Biscuits.
13. For Asian Dishes
Chicago is home to not only one thriving Asian community full of restaurants offering the best Asian cuisine but two.
With Chinatown to the south and Argyle Street to the north, you can find many streets lined with flavorful Chicago foods mixing and representing many different cultures, including dim sum shops, Vietnamese bakeries and upscale Pan-Asian fusion eateries.
14. For Jibaritos
This Chicago food original sandwich is one of the most popular sandwich options in any of the city’s many Puerto Rican eateries.
It consists of a spicy pork center wrapped in a crispy fried plantain instead of bread. You can pick one up at Janelle’s Kitchen in Humboldt Park or the Jibarito Shop in Pilsen.
15. For Grilled Cheese
Not just a childhood classic, grilled cheese is having a moment at the center of many restaurant offerings featuring far more subtle flavor combinations than the Kraft singles of your childhood.
For an awesome sampling of this Chicago food, try Cheesies, whose entire menu is dedicated to modern variations of this lunchtime staple.
16. For BBQ
While many southern cities like Nashville and Kansas City take credit for the best BBQ in the nation, it’s a food still popular among Chicago restaurants.
While other locales are known for their spare ribs and brisket, rib tips reign supreme in Chicago and are available at every BBQ joint in the city. Try Leon’s Barbecue or Lem’s Bar-B-Q for some of the best rib tips in the city.
17. For Cafeteria-Style Bites
If you’re looking to sample many of the best restaurants for quick bites in Chicago, visit Revival Food Hall, which features offerings in everything from tacos and burgers to sushi and BBQ in a lively and bright cafeteria environment.
Many are more permanent locations of some longtime Chicago food truck favorites.
18. For Burgers
While the title of “Best Burger in Chicago” makes the rotation yearly between both classic and newly open burger joints, you can find some of the best at Au Cheval, where the wait to sample their award-winning cheeseburger sometimes creates a line out the door.
Other great spots for this Chicago food include Mott Street, The Loyalist and Little Bad Wolf.
Iconic Late-Night Chicago Foods
19. Hot Dogs
Chicago’s food world is known for both its hot dogs and its rather strong opinions about what goes on them. Whether you’re a mustard and relish person or a ketchup fan, you can find great hot dogs all over the city, including famous spots like The Weiners Circle for late-night post-bar snacks and Superdawg for a fun retro drive-in experience.
20. Italian Beef
Chicago's Italian beef joints are legendary in the Midwest and beyond. While some love this Chicago food served up by Chicago’s very famous Portillo’s chain, others swear by local fave Al’s Beef or Buona Beef’s classic take on the sandwich.
21. Cheesecake
Nothing tops off a fun night like a slice of deliciously decadent cheesecake. One very famous manufacturer, Eli’s, has been a Chicago food favorite since 1980, according to the Chicago Tribune. You can find their cheesecake in their own restaurant downtown or at many other local venues.
22. Pizza
Whether you love deep dish or tavern-style thin crust, Chicago has something for you with some of its most famous pizzerias like Lou Malhnatis and Gino's East at the top of every list.
You can also get delicious pizza in various Chicago neighborhoods, including Pequod’s in Lincoln Park and Exchequer in the Loop.
23. Tacos
With many neighborhoods featuring Tex-Mex and South-of-the-Border fare, you are never very far from discovering a new favorite taco place. For neighborhoods with a high concentration of Latin-inspired eateries, try Wicker Park restaurants, Pilsen and Logan Square.
If you're looking for distinctive Chicago foods, look no further. Whether it's a tasty brunch, a date idea in Chicago, mid-day snacking or late-night eats after a fun night out, the city has you covered.
For even more fun things to do in Chicago, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!
