Lincoln Park Restaurants

Grant Achatz needs no introduction. The chef has helmed arguably the greatest restaurant in America since its May 2005 opening.

This beloved neighborhood haunt is one of the best family-friendly meals in town. The menu is packed with tasty dishes that are just simple enough to accommodate a kid’s palate. The roasted chicken in particular seems to net the most acclaim from diners both big and small.

This is the kind of authentic Italian standby that has no need to futz with the basics. Everything, whether it’s a seasonal pasta or ossobuco, is prepared perfectly and true to tradition, the way chef Riccardo Michi has been doing it for years (go if you're especially hungry, as portions tend to run large).

Balena is the second restaurant the team behind The Bristol and Formento's, and it manages to capture the same sophisticated but comfortable vibe as the former, with tall ceilings, rustic furnishings, and some seriously cool firefly-like light fixtures. The menu here is straight-up Italian, filled with classic dishes like a potato gnocchi in a mushroom sauce, a fennel sausage and onion pizza, and a classic roasted chicken with romesco and walnut parmesan. The private room has its own bar that's decorated with back-lit wine bottles for a cool stained-glass effect.

A few years ago, the team behind Boka enlisted Simeone Deary Design Group to give the Michelin starred restaurant a top-to-bottom overhaul. The resulting space—an earthy mix of muted mauves, with one wall covered entirely in antique door handles and another in live moss—is the perfect setting for Chef Lee Wolen’s refreshingly unfussy take on fine dining: heirloom carrots, brandade ravioli, and the now famous roasted chicken. The desserts are pretty extraordinary too (see: 70 percent South American cacao mousse). The terrace opens up onto the patio and has doors that close to the main dining room for private events.