After covering hundreds of miles, probably thousands, across the greater Chicago area, I stood in lines and sat for hours, to sip and nibble and take ridiculously big swigs and bites.
Of course, I swore at traffic. And sweated the details, worried that I’d misunderstood whole cultures and their cuisines. But it all came down to lingering and lasting memories.
For our Critic’s Choice Awards this year, we’re recognizing not just chefs (or categories that once served us, but now seem limiting). We’re awarding places as a collective of their people who have inspired us with their extraordinary culinary achievement through dedicated ethical work.
They represent the best of us in this moment with deliciousness and daring and hope.
— Louisa Kung Liu Chu
Cerdito Muerto
Emidio Oceguera’s memories of food, hospitality and community in Pilsen extend far beyond the June opening of Cerdito Muerto.
“I was a taco mule,” he said with a laugh, recalling his childhood, when his mother, Consuelo Oceguera, would pack extra lunches in his backpack for his teachers at Walsh Elementary.
Decades later, building Cerdito Muerto out of his parents’ former taquería and pool hall is his most meaningful project yet.
He and his team are disregarding stereotypical conceptions of what Mexican American restaurants are, while still honoring Oceguera’s roots, with a house-made Mexican Squirt-style soda on draft and his mother’s al pastor recipe on the menu.
Other departures are chef Becky Carson’s “impeccably cooked” branzino with chimichurri and citrus, wrote critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu in her review.
And Oceguera wants his presence to be felt outside the restaurant in a changing neighborhood still reeling from Operation Midway Blitz. A recent prom drive at the restaurant, in partnership with Little Village’s Instituto del Progreso Latino, saw Oceguera haul over two truckloads of donated formalwear and accessories for Southwest Side students.
“We’re attracting the kind of clientele that wants to be a part of the fabric of our community,” Oceguera said.
How does it feel to be named a Critic’s Choice just one year shy of opening? He’s humbled and validated for the recognition, he said, but this is only the beginning.
Opening and sustaining a business in the immigrant, working-class neighborhood that raised him, paying homage to his parents’ legacy of entrepreneurship and capturing modern Pilsen through food is what fuels him. He’s hoping one day his niece takes over, so the legacy remains in the family for decades to come.
“I’m running all the way with this, so far as God lets me, and moving with intention.”
1700 S. Halsted St., 312-933-9168, cerditomuerto.com
— Lauryn Azu
Del Sur Bakery
Justin Tiu Lerias identifies his shop as Filipino Midwestern, inspired by his roots as an immigrant and his chosen home rooted in hospitality. Del Sur Bakery opened in the Lincoln Square neighborhood in March 2025. And his community showed up with lines out the door and down the street.
I went when the lines finally subsided and never felt rushed. My visits felt more like guided meditation with enlightenment through artful, flaky and buttery layers.
“I see a lot of parallels with Midwestern culture and Filipino culture,” said Lerias. “This idea of Midwestern nice is very present at the bakery.”
The pastry chef and owner has become best known for his turon danish and longganisa croissant, the latter inspired by a traditional Filipino breakfast with the subtly sweet and savory spiced sausage.
And Lerias believes he’s a pastry chef, not a chef.
“‘Chef’ to me is more well-rounded, like they also do savory,” he said. “I had a conversation with my bakers last week, and I was like, I rarely do any savory specials.”
Yet they make their own longganisa in-house that’s wrapped with croissant dough.
“When that’s baked, it gets a very generous shellacking of the soy caramel and the cured egg yolks that we cure for at least 14 days and slowly dehydrate,” said the chef about the labor-intensive croissant finished with a generous topping of chives that’s very umami-forward. “And a little bit spicy from the pepper we put in the longganisa.”
The turon danish was his first pastry, sketched during a high school class on the history of Chicago, emulating one of his favorite Filipino snacks with fried plantain.
“When you take a bite out of the turon danish, you get the banana jam, and then the creaminess brought by the flan, which is my mom’s recipe,” said Lerias about his mother, Merle Tiu Lerias. “And there’s shattery crispness from the layers of pastry.”
A Midwestern milk bread rhubarb bun may have been his favorite special they’ve ever done.
“It was filled with coconut mousse and forced rhubarb jam,” said the chef. They tossed the stuffed buns in toasted coconut sugar and pink dragon fruit powder, before piping more mousse on top and finishing with a strip of poached rhubarb. “Forced rhubarb is more floral, more sweet, and so beautiful, almost neon pink.”
He’s hoping to source the sweet-tart stalks from Peter Klein at Seedling Farms in Michigan next year, and is helping by buying the farmer specialty terra cotta grower pots.
“When farmers’ funding is being slashed, it’s really up to us to be able to make sure that they’re staying afloat,” said the chef, an accomplished ceramicist who thought about making the pots himself. “And then I was like, I cannot throw something that big.”
“It’s always been side by side,” said the chef. “Together as a team, and that’s always how it’s going to be.”
Do note that the bakery will be closed temporarily after service on June 14. They’re expanding into the cafe space next door with seating and full service. A reopening date has not been set, but hopefully by sometime in July.
4639 N. Damen Ave., delsurchicago.com
— L.K.L.C.
Feld
Jake Potashnick ambitiously defined his first restaurant as “relationship to table” long before opening. Feld debuted in West Town at what seemed to be a cursed space in June 2024. Then an early cheese course on the tasting menu went viral for all the wrong reasons.
But Potashnick and his cooks persevered through their first fragile summer, to a late fall dinner dedicated to that cheesemaker, Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin. Then one night on the cusp of winter, I dined in a nearly empty room.
And they created one of my favorite experiences ever. Other accolades followed while their ethos held constant and the menu constantly changed.
“We’re driven by the farm-to-table mindset,” said Potashnick. “But we do our best to take that to the extreme version of hyper seasonality.”
One resonant dish, made with tomatoes from Jerry Boone at Froggy Meadow Farm in Wisconsin, has returned each August so far.
“They’ve never seen the fridge,” said the chef and owner about coveted heirlooms. “We slice them really thick, fresh à la minute, and put them on the plate.
They’re drizzled with burnt maple sugar and blackberry jus, then finished with fresh-cut chives and flaky salt.
The most hyperlocal and fateful dish, however, comes from a grapevine that’s been growing in Feld’s backyard for 30 years.
“It produces these really green and sweet and tart little grapes,” said Potashnick. “We have like three days before the birds get to them, so we pick as many as we can.”
They grill the grapes and serve them with fig leaf oil and foie gras from Troy King at Au Bon Canard in Minnesota.
The chef and his team do take field trips away from their own backyard. On what they call Feld trips, they pick up asparagus from Chris Falak at Falak Farms in Michigan or go farther out to see their scallop supplier, Sue Buxton of Day Boat Fresh Seafood in Maine.
Speaking of seafood, Feld offers one cocktail that’s their variation on the freezer door martini, or a premixed cocktail kept ice-cold.
“We infuse vermouth with kombu,” said Potashnick. “Then we add homemade seafood bitters and lobster oil with lemon expression on top.”
This award recognizes their culinary achievements and culinary risks. But possibly above all, culinary camaraderie. Micah D’Entremont, Nathan Ducker, Alex Felix, Rande Johnson, Austin Klawitter and Caroline Schrope are still working at Feld since I first visited those cold wintry nights.
“I grew up reading the Chicago Tribune food reviews, so it’s really, really cool,” said Potashnick. “Awards like this are recognition of what the team is doing.”
The core of the restaurant has been the same since opening.
“And that’s the support and skill set of my team.”
2018 W. Chicago Ave., feldrestaurant.com
— L.K.L.C.
Kumiko
Since opening in winter 2018, West Loop’s Kumiko has grown into an internationally acclaimed Japanese dining bar, known for its meticulous craft and refined approach to hospitality.
“I hope that Kumiko represents the idea that excellence isn’t just about precision or creativity, but it’s about consistency,” owner Julia Momosé said. “That consistency extends to care for the team, for the ingredients and care for each person who comes through the doors as our guests.”
As the bar’s master mixologist and head chef, Momosé oversees all aspects of Kumiko, including regularly checking in with her employees. She believes that a supportive environment for staff creates a cohesive and serene experience for guests.
Momosé is supported by chef de cuisine Andrew Mainor and a team trained to notice every detail, from the temperature of a water carafe to the way a guest is greeted at the door.
The drinks program includes cocktails built around Japanese ingredients, such as Sea Flower, a citrus-forward drink finished with a rim of salt, sugar, nori and kombu. It also features a curated selection of Japanese sake and spirit-free drinks.
As for food, Kumiko offers both a rotating à la carte and tasting menu. Current dishes include chawanmushi, a savory steamed egg custard with prawns and dashi; Japanese curry rice served with seasonal vegetables and a house-developed spice blend, and milk toast with fermented honey ice cream and black truffle.
Amid heightened concerns over immigration enforcement last year, Momosé launched “Cocktails for a Cause,” a fundraising initiative benefiting the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Kumiko donates $5 from each order of Winning Element, a smoky tequila and mezcal cocktail.
“It’s been a very intense year,” Momosé said. “I’m seeing the community coming together in a really extraordinary way. It reminds me a little bit of the pandemic, the way we needed to break out of our walls and reach out to each other.”
Born and raised in Japan, Momosé moved to the United States at 18. Her mixed Japanese and American identity is central to the restaurant, shaping her approach to creating a welcoming space for all.
“I hope that girls, that women, see me and see that if I can do it, they can too,” Momosé said.
Up next, Momosé plans to relaunch Cafe Kumiko, a daytime kissaten-style breakfast service featuring Japanese staples such as miso soup, salt-grilled fish, pickled vegetables and a house-made bloody mary.
630 W. Lake St., 312-285-2912, barkumiko.com
— Eva Remijan-Toba
Las Carnitas Uruapan La Villita
On par with the benchmarks of this year’s Critic’s Choice winners, Carnitas Uruapan has been a safe haven for both its workers and diners, most notably during the height of Operation Midway Blitz in the fall. Like many businesses and restaurants in neighborhoods like Little Village and Pilsen, Carnitas Uruapan picked itself back up after economic woes and significant blows to foot traffic as customers were afraid to eat out, while employees hesitated to come to work.
Marcos Carbajal, the second-generation owner of Carnitas Uruapan, said he owes the Critic’s Choice accolade to the tenacity of his team, the loyalty of the community and of course — the carnitas.
One culinary highlight is the carnitas “Especial,” the signature sampler meal that has a half-pound of pork, a taco dorado, refried beans, six house-made tortillas with all the garnishes, plus chicharrón and salsas.
“It’s just really humbling and something we’re really thankful for,” Carbajal said. “Our food is the building block, we’ve stayed true to the tradition of our food — never veered too far from that — and what holds everything together is our teams and the way each location has become a part of that neighborhood.”
Carbajal said consistency is also key, something that sounds easy but is hard to do over the long haul. But all roads lead back to the family carnitas recipe from their hometown of Uruapan in the Mexican state of Michoacán, the birthplace of the iconic dish.
Carbajal’s father, Inocencio Carbajal Rojas, or more fondly referred to as El Güero, is more hands-off these days, having put in decades of work in the kitchen and beyond. He opened the original Carnitas Uruapan in 1975 in Pilsen. Now, on the weekends, he plays doorman at the 26th Street location, which they opened in January 2025. Carbajal said everything is rooted in their family history.
“I’m incredibly respectful of what my father has built,” Marcos Carbajal said. “And I approach everything that I do, even if it takes us in a little bit of a new direction, through the lens of how my dad and his generation of customers would perceive things.”
3801 W. 26th St., 773-940-2770, carnitasuruapanchi.com
— Zareen Syed
M’daKhan
M’daKhan, like each of this year’s Critic’s Choice recipients, was not just chosen for its culinary achievements, but also for what it represents culturally. The restaurant, which opened in Bridgeview in May 2024, boasts halal grilled meats, skewered kebabs and sweet, sticky kunafah as one might expect at any number of Middle Eastern restaurants in the Chicago area. But look out back, and there’s an Ole Hickory Pits commercial smoker cooking beef ribs, brisket, lamb shanks and chicken wings.
Owner Muhammad Baste said everything he does is inspired by growing up in Little Palestine, where summers were marked by backyard barbecues.
“These are the streets I grew up on, the streets I’ve called home since I was born,” Baste said. “I feel like it’s my duty, doing this stuff … the people that come in, I know them, I grew up with them and their parents have watched me grow up too. It’s a tight-knit community.”
M’daKhan’s menu, while obviously Palestinian and Middle Eastern, is also an intersection of many cultures and cuisines. The yellow rice, for example, is not traditionally Middle Eastern, but instead inspired by biryani rice, traditionally made in India and Pakistan. It has a kick, but it’s still the perfect fluffy vehicle for the chicken tawook and kofta kebab and the hummus and grilled tomatoes.
Baste said he’s cognizant of the number of restaurants serving similar menus across Chicago and its suburbs, but he thinks M’daKhan has found the winning formula — in addition to their fresh house-made pita bread that everyone wants the recipe for.
“First, I think we stand out most with the grade and quality of the food that we use. Second is service and third is consistency,” Baste said. “While we’re not going to be perfect every single time because that’s impossible, when we are not perfect, we take it to heart. We make sure that we try perfecting any customer experience for their next visit.”
9115 S. Harlem Ave., Bridgeview, 708-229-8855, mdakhan.com
— Z.S.
Mahari
Rahim Muhammad, the chef and owner behind Mahari, is weaving together the diverse threads of the African diaspora into a culinary tapestry alongside his mother, Shawn Muhammad, and a kitchen staff hailing from West Africa, the Caribbean and the American South.
The menu spans from Nigerian suya and New Orleans-style etouffée to a lamb burger topped with Haitian pikliz. Craft cocktails and mocktails are from beverage director Lisa Brown, using ingredients with relevance to Africa and the Caribbean, like a Birds of Paradise cocktail that infuses ginger and hibiscus with East African honey wine.
“Our hub is here in Hyde Park, because we get to touch every demographic of people you can think of, and the variety of people that comes through the door is exciting to me,” Muhammad said.
Hyde Park, where Muhammad was born, is the South Side neighborhood bordering the Obama Presidential Center opening this summer, another chance to introduce Mahari to a global audience. To meet the anticipated influx of tourists, he is expanding his team and readying the restaurant for patio season.
Since its opening in January 2025, the space has seen celebrations and gatherings often featuring a Bahamian carnival drum called a tum tum, in vibrant expressions of Black joy, and a weekly passport series highlighting a country across the diaspora.
Muhammad said he pulls from his Louisiana roots on the fixed menu. A salmon calas starter dish made with Carolina Gold rice, is a savory take on a sweet dessert with a revealing history, as it was originally created by enslaved women in New Orleans to buy their freedom.
“In curating the menu, we go through these different cookbooks and different research and say, ‘Wow, did you know that this was growing in this area and the only reason this is growing in this area is because this happened?” Muhammad said. “It typically falls back on a Creole-type root.”
Mahari serves as a blueprint for the future of cross-cultural dining for Black folks, honoring ancestors once divided by displacement and bondage.“You can connect people through food and tell a story about it that resonates with them,” Muhammad said. “There’s so many people from so many different backgrounds who have come to Mahari and tell their story about their grandparents, about where they’re originally from, about how it’s hard to find this food that they love to eat that reminds them of home.”
1504 E. 55th St., 312-907-5274, maharirestaurant.com
— L.A.
Mirra
To chefs and co-owners Zubair Mohajir and Rishi Kumar, everything at Mirra begins with a story.
The restaurant’s name traces back to a 17th-century Indian princess who was brought to Mexico City, where she became a local saint, a story the owners say mirrors the restaurant’s own cultural crossroads.
Located in Bucktown, Mirra opened in August 2024 as a Mexican Indian restaurant that blends the two cuisines through their shared techniques, spices and traditions. Beverage director and co-owner David Mor continues the fusion behind the bar, blending Indian and Mexican flavors into the restaurant’s cocktail program.
“Mirra has become a symbol of myself and Rishi,” Mohajir said. “It’s really accentuating the story of immigrants.”
Both chefs are of Indian heritage, though their culinary backgrounds span several countries and cuisines. Kumar grew up in Singapore and later trained in Mexican cuisine under Rick Bayless, while Mohajir was born in India, raised in Qatar and built his career in Chicago’s South Asian dining scene.
“We understood you cannot just mishmash two things,” Kumar said. “Everything that we put on our plate is intentional.”
The rotating menu draws heavily from seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms, with each dish highlighting the natural overlap between Indian and Mexican cuisines.
One of their most popular dishes, the lamb barbacoa biryani, combines Mexican barbacoa with the 1,600-year-old dum biryani technique. Another standout, the chaas aguachile — named one of the best dishes in the country by The New York Times — reimagines the traditional Mexican seafood dish through Indian flavors and spices. The rasmalai tres leches pairs the classic Mexican soaked cake with mango cream and saffron custard.
Inside, the restaurant is lively, with an open kitchen where the rich aromas of simmering spices fill the minimalist space. Servers move through the room explaining the stories behind each dish, while a chef’s tasting counter allows guests to watch as each plate is assembled.
“Food is the story of people, food is the story of us,” Mohajir said. “Whether you agree with the person or not across the table from you, food is the way to dismantle any walls that anybody may have.”
1954 W. Armitage Ave., 773-729-6214, mirrachicago.com
— E.R.T.
North Pond
César Murillo spends his days off from North Pond practically working as a farmhand, pruning trees and picking elderflowers. He has a close relationship with nearby farms and farmers, he said, and visits weekly to take stock of the foods in season.
The produce Murillo picks ends up in his dishes at North Pond, a Lincoln Park farm-to-table restaurant where he works as the executive chef. The menu changes often to keep up with what’s in season at any given time.
“It’s not so much like I’m forcing the food to be my idea,” Murillo said. “It’s more like the food is kind of guiding me to what I should cook.”
North Pond, which opened in the ’90s, has traditionally served French-inspired cuisine, but Murillo has experimented with different flavors since he started cooking there six years ago. The expanding palette — including more Mexican and Latin flavors — is a nod to the backgrounds of Murillo and other chefs at the restaurant.
The newest dish on the menu is Murillo’s tetela: a triangular folded tortilla stuffed with locally sourced goat cheese. It’s wrapped in masa dyed with butterfly pea and served on sautéed ramps and mole verde. Try them at dinner, which is a seven-course event.
Murillo said he meets first-time diners often. The restaurant is housed in an old ice-skating shelter tucked away in the park. Herbs and flowers grown in the adjacent and rooftop gardens make their way into dishes, preserves and cocktail garnishes. In the summer, Murillo hopes visitors will be able to pick some greenery on their way in and pass it off to him for use in their meals.
For Murillo, North Pond’s serene and unique setting adds to its magic.
“It’s still a hidden gem for people, even though we’ve been open for a long time,” Murillo said. “I think we like that.”
2610 N. Cannon Drive, 773-477-5845, northpondrestaurant.com
— Madeline King
Void
Weird is a label that Void’s owners and chefs say they wear proudly. But the Avondale restaurant has something for everyone, as long as you can appreciate some whimsy.
Void, which dishes up Italian American food, is perhaps best known on social media for its Spaghetti Uh-O’s. It’s a take on a classic childhood favorite, using imported pasta topped with house-made sauce that’s been slowly cooked for six hours.
Its social media stardom stems in part from the plating. The Spaghetti Uh-O’s come in a can with a custom label in a true nod to its inspiration, SpaghettiOs.
“There’s a, ‘Wow,’ every time somebody gets the Spaghetti Uh-O’s for the first time, and it doesn’t get old,” said co-owner and chef Tyler Hudec. “People are just like, ‘What is going on here?’”
Hudec described the restaurant, which he opened alongside Dani Kaplan and Pat Ray in August 2024, as a memorable dining experience. There’s also the fried chicken vesuvio that comes in a white paper bag-like wrapping, which Hudec said he’s heard be described as weird.
For those searching for something a bit more traditional, Void can still fit the bill. There’s a classic wedge salad and lasagna with ricotta, fontina, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
There’s also a happy medium — twists on well-known dishes.
“When you come here, you can have that classic piece of lasagna, but you can also have pasta with roasted sweet potato and kimchi or a reinterpreted version of lobster ravioli,” said Kaplan, chef and co-owner.
Void’s blend of the unique and conventional brings two different types of customers. You’ve got first-time diners fighting for reservations on the weekends and regulars coming for their usual on the weekdays.
“It was a celebration of people coming together, like in a community,” Ray said. “That really drove home the fact that we have created a place where many people from different walks of life can come in and feel welcome.”
2937 N. Milwaukee Ave., 872-315-2199, voidchicago.com
— M.K.
