A curated guide to the best fine dining restaurants in Chicago. Many of these restaurants are located in the West Loop, Lincoln Park, or River North. Several have earned Michelin stars or James Beard Awards. All are exceptional restaurants that offer a complete experience, not just a meal.
Often when people think about fine dining, they think of restaurants that offer set tasting menus. Currently, many fine dining restaurants in Chicago are offering both tasting menus and a la carte menus. When it comes to making reservations at these restaurants, you might need to book a specific experience in advance and perhaps buy tickets.
Last updated: May 2022
Best Fine Dining Restaurants in Chicago:
Table of Contents
We have organized this list by neighborhood.
Lincoln Park:
Alinea
Fine Dining
The only three Michelin star restaurant in Chicago, Alinea is one of the best restaurants in the world. Alinea serves a multi-course tasting menu. Dining experiences range in price from $295 to $450 per person with the Kitchen Table being the priciest and most private. Dining at Alinea isn’t just dinner, it is a molecular gastronomy experience you will never forget.
North Pond
American, Fine Dining, Romantic
Sitting on the edge of a pond in the heart of Lincoln Park, this Michelin starred restaurant serves a $110 seasonal tasting menu with the option for a wine pairing. A brunch tasting menu is served on Sundays for $49 per person.
Esme
Fine Dining,
Esme serves a seasonal tasting menu inspired by art. The March 2022 menu is in collaboration with photographer Paul Octavious and is $250 a person.
Boka
Fine Dining, American, Romantic
Boka is a Michelin starred restaurant offering both an eight-course seasonal tasting menu and an a la carte menu. The entrees on the a la carte menu include roasted chicken, slow roasted short rib, and a whole dry aged duck.
Pilsen:
HaiSous
Vietnamese, Fine Dining
A Michelin Bib Gourmand winner from 2017-2022, HaiSous is known for tasting menus that examine Vietnamese history. Currently, the menu explores Chinese-Vietnamese cuisine and the flavors that emerged from the ruling Chinese Dynasties over the past 1000 years. The tasting menu is offers Thursdays through Sundays for $65.
El Ideas
Fine Dining
El Ideas serves fine dining cuisine in a casual approachable atmosphere that feels more like a dinner party than a restaurant. Guests are welcomed into the kitchen to see the chefs at work. El Ideas is known for creatively pushing the boundaries of contemporary American fine dining. There is one seating per night and everyone is served The restaurant has one Michelin Star and is BYOB.
River North:
Topolobampo
Romantic, Fine Dining, Mexican, Lunch
James Beard Award Winner Rick Bayless helms a trio of restaurants on the same block of North Clark Street in River North. Topolobampo is the most formal and serves a multi-course tasting menu for $145 per person.
Brindille
French, Fine Dining, Romantic
Brindille serves a seasonally changing menu of elegant French cuisine. This restaurant is ideal for a special date night. The dress code is smart casual.
GT Prime
Fine Dining, Steakhouse, American, Romantic
An exceptional steakhouse fit for a special occasion, GT Prime serves seafood and a selection of prime cuts of beef. The menu doesn’t have many non-meat options but I think most vegetarians would be happy with tagliatelle with parmesan and 5 grams of truffle.
Ravenswood:
Elizabeth
American, Fine Dining
Elizabeth offers a hyper-seasonal tasting menu with Midwestern roots that highlights forgotten foods and methods of preparation. Ingredients are sourced from local farmers.
goosefoot
American, Fine Dining
goosefoot is a fine dining restaurant serving contemporary American cuisine influenced by French technique in Lincoln Square. The restaurant serves a “surprise” twelve-course seasonal tasting menu for $175 per person. goosefoot is BYOB but you can purchase wine from the sister restaurant, goosefoot food & wine, which is located next door to goosefoot.
South Loop:
Moody Tongue
Brewery
Moody Tongue is proud to be the first two Michelin star brewery in the world. The brewery is known for their chef-driven beers like Shaved Black Truffle Pilsner, Caramelized Chocolate Churro Porter, and Bourbon Barrel Aged Coffee Cake Imperial Stout. Moody Tongue has two dining spaces: The Bar is a tasting room offering 16 draft beers and an a la carte menu. The Dining Room is a 28-seat fine dining restaurant serving a hyper-seasonal tasting menu.
Streeterville:
Les Nomades
French, Romantic, Fine Dining
A French fine dining restaurant that serves a prix fixe dinner menu. The menu has traditional French cuisine such as foie gras, caviar, oysters, braised short rib, and roasted duck breast.
West Loop:
Next
Global, Fine Dining
Next is a fine dining restaurant whose culinary inspiration and menu completely change every four months. The restaurant has received a record twenty-one 4-star reviews from the Chicago Tribune. The winter 2022 theme is World’s Fair. The menu is prix fixe and reservations are necessary and prepaid.
Sepia
Fine Dining, Romantic
Sepia is a romantic fine dining restaurant serving an $85 four-course menu that lets guests choose from a small menu to design their own meal. The menu highlights seasonal ingredients and the wine list is one of Chicago’s best. Wine pairings are available with your meal.
Oriole
American, Fine Dining
Oriole offers a prix fixe extended tasting menu for $285 per person. The menu is always evolving.
Smyth
American, Fine Dining, Romantic
This restaurant serving rustic American fare has earned two Michelin stars. Smyth serves a $265 tasting menu that takes diners on a 2.5 hour journey.
Elske
American, Fine Dining
This restaurant is co-owned by married couple David Posey who serves at the Executive Chef and Anna Posey who is the Pastry Chef. Elske’s cuisine is American with a Scandinavian influence that can be seen in both the ingredients and the culinary technique. A prix fixe set menu is offered for $115 in addition to an a la carte menu.
Ever
Fine Dining
Michelin-starred chef Curtis Duffy’s Ever serves an 8-10 course tasting menu featuring proteins from the land and sea along with seasonal vegetables.
West Town:
Jeong
Korean, Fine Dining, Asian, Romantic
This is one of the hottest restaurants in West Town. Both the restaurant and its Chef Dave Park are a finalists for the 2022 James Beard awards. Jeong serves a tasting menu that presents refined modern Korean cuisine.
Kasama
Filipino, Asian, Fine Dining, Bakery, Breakfast, Lunch
This restaurant owned by a husband and wife team of chefs is a bakery by day and a fine dining restaurant at night. Kasama’s pastries are creative and elegant. The croissants have flavors like black truffle with Delice de Bourgogne, honey, and pearl sugar. The breakfast sandwiches are so in demand that a line forms down the block to get them. At night a fine dining Filipino tasting menu is served. Kasama is a semi-finalist for the James Beard Best New Restaurant category.
Temporis
American, Fine Dining
A contemporary American restaurant with a Michelin Star, with just twenty seats that serves a ten-course tasting menu. Some ingredients are sourced from the restaurants hydroponic garden.
Wicker Park:
Schwa
American, Fine Dining
Schwa is an exceptional Michelin-star restaurant that pairs fine cuisine with a casual atmosphere. They serve a multi-course fixed-price menu. Surprisingly, it’s BYOB. This is the spot to go to mark a special occasion. Reservations are required in advance via Tock.