Chef John Manion’s woody and warmly lit room serves Brazilian-inspired dishes like ceviche with homemade Saltines, and chicken leg and thigh with sausage, molho verde, and picked Fresno chili peppers. But, the best choice is to order off-menu and get"the big meat plate." It’s "really good cuts of meat, treated with respect," Manion says, and it’s designed to be shared with friends. Ask for it and you’ll get it, and you’ll also get new friends.

In hip Wicker Park, this Tokyo-style ramen shop with a simple wood-lined counter, the brainchild of Michelin-starred chef Shin Thompson, features both cold bowls like hiyashi chuka (thin omelette, carrot, ham, sugar snap peas, cucumber, and nori with a soy mirin dressing) and hot ones like the Furious Ramen (spicy miso, chashu pork belly, white pepper chicken, poached eggs, marinated mushrooms, and garlic relish with a house “fury sauce." If you're looking for themiso ramenthat once graced the original menu but has since disappeared, you can still order it. It's a combination of tonkotsu broth, miso, cha-sui pork belly, and pork fat mushrooms. Go ahead and ask.

This wildly popular joint, complete with a patio, serves fried Amish chicken, butchered in-house, alongside corn muffins and homemade honey butter, plus great sides like pimento mac ’n’ cheese and roasted sweet potato salad with a cilantro lime vinaigrette. Because apparently people who have unlimited access to delicious honey butter fried chicken can eventually get tired of delicious honey butter fried chicken, two employees slapped together a sandwich from other things they could find in the kitchen. And now you can order it too.TheGio-Joeis buttermilk-brined chicken-thigh strips, sprinkled with smoked paprika, tossed with sweet chili sauce, and served with pea shoots on a garlic aioli-smeared bun.

Just outside Chicago proper, Amy Morton’s quirky, neo-Victorian restaurant, filled with old books, maps, and curiosities, has wowed locals with a local, seasonal, and highly affordable menu. There’s a strong accent on produce and grains, such as crispy pork belly with peaches, mustard, oat porridge, and arugula, or pan-seared ivory char with charred baby beets, Chinese broccoli, and aioli. For an off menu specialty try theBacon and Leek Flat Bread with Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese.