Monteverde is the best Italian restaurant in Chicago. Order lots of pasta.

Joe’s is consistently one of the best steakhouses in town, and you shouldn’t even order steak. Stone crabs are where it’s at.

Somerset is a restaurant in the Gold Coast serving excellent American food that you should be eating immediately.

Chicago Cut is a great steakhouse right on the river ideal for special occasions and power business meals.

Hogsalt Hospitality does French food. Patrick Kane once went on a date here and you should too.

Gibsons is a classic Chicago steakhouse that deserves its reputation.

Excellent sushi in an unlikely spot. This tiny restaurant at the bottom of the Hilton hotel on Mies van der Rohe Way street is worth a trip for any real sushi fan.

We wanted to hate it, but we can’t. RPM Steak can hang with the Chicago steakhouse classics any day.

Classy without being overly pretentious. Riccardo Trattoria is one of our favorite Italian restaurants around.

Gilt Bar is the rare River North spot that’s easy to get into, and also has great food. Prepare for a lot of meat, butter, and salt.

Marisol, in the Museum of Contemporary Art, serves delicious seasonal American food.

Swift & Sons might have a separate seafood restaurant inside of it, but this steakhouse is the star of the show.

Maple & Ash sits in the middle of the Chicago steakhouse Venn diagram. It’s both new-school and old.

Etta is a big restaurant in Wicker Park serving great wood-fired food.

Shaw’s is like the seafood version of a steakhouse. Come for a nicer dinner and order all the oyster, crab, and lobster.

Le Bouchon is a classic French bistro. Get it on your hit list.