West Loop Specialty

A 1950’s style diner, a bowling alley, karaoke rooms, and an arcade room are all under one roof at Punch Bowl Social, a 30,000 square-foot adult playground in the West Loop. It’s a little kitschy but fun when you’re in the mood to let loose. Even if a round of bowling or belting out a few karaoke tunes isn’t in the cards, it’s worth a visit for the food alone, which leans towards comforting staples, like buttermilk-brined southern fried chicken and big burgers made with grass-fed, hormone-free beef. Otherwise, healthier, lighter fare is available too, including a superfood grain bowl, loaded with quinoa, kale, radishes, sprouts, roasted carrots, pickled chiles, and shiitake mushrooms.

Situated next door to its sister restaurant, the Publican, PQM offers a full butchery plus sandwiches and old-fashioned breakfasts. In the evenings, it gets converted into a dining room for the Publican's private events.

Cold Storage is actually inside the Swift & Sons steakhouse—it’s their take on a seafood bar, with oysters and tons of shellfish. While the seafood tower doesn’t really make the best to-go order, you can get their excellent grilled fish and sandwiches (crab salad on brioche with avocado and lemon, anyone?) packaged up and ready for take-out. Dangerously, the desserts make for great takeout, too.

Doughnuts have been enjoying a pretty awesome resurgence, and nowhere is that more evident than this family of bakeries, where out-the-door lines are a daily occurrence. Flavors run the gamut from buttermilk to gingerbread stack, but the award winning glazed is the long-standing favorite. For diehards, it might be worth it to hop from shop to shop, as the menus and daily specials vary. Keep in mind that all three can shut down unexpectedly if stock runs out, so check twitter if you're planning a visit for later in the day. (The other standing location is in River North.)