In the first year since the start of the pandemic when restaurants and bars were able to (mostly) operate without (major) interruption, Chicagoland’s food industry injected a jolt of creativity into its latest and greatest concepts.
For our 2023 Critics’ Choice Food Awards, what stood out the most wasn’t necessarily the foods or drinks themselves (although, don’t get us wrong, those are decidedly award-worthy all on their own) but the spirit of the people who make that magic happen, day in and day out. In a grueling industry still finding its way through the pandemic, their stories stay with us, long after the last bite of the night.
Our eight winners this year span far and wide — from fantastic pho in a suburban strip in Bloomingdale, to fine dining redefining the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. But they all have something in common: A drive to put some good into the world, whether it be through a humble slice of pizza or by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help people in Ukraine, Ethiopia or their own backyard.
As always, this is just the start of our annual Food Awards — now it’s your turn. Our Tribune Readers’ Choice Food Awards launch today, as well, and you can nominate your favorite places in 12 categories through March 15. After that, come back to vote daily for the finalists you want to win through March 31. We’ll announce the winners of the Readers’ Choice Food Awards online and in print April 26.
Check out our Critics’ Choice winners below, then head to chicagotribune.com/FoodAwards2023 to nominate the places that wowed you in 2022.
Best restaurant making waves: Bronzeville Winery
As we’ve said before, there is nothing like Bronzeville Winery — not just around Chicago, but anywhere.
Co-owner Eric Williams recalls a story that captures this idea to a T, recounting an emotional experience between a Cameroonian band member and his family at the South Side restaurant.
“He started playing a song from Cameroon, and the mom started doing this African dance, and she was going around the restaurant,” he says. ” And the whole restaurant started dancing. I never had seen that happen, it was like white people, Black people, South Side — everyone was just so festive.”
Nearing its one-year anniversary in April, Bronzeville Winery has asserted its identity as the place for such moments, ones “that couldn’t happen any other place in the city,” Williams says.
Co-owner Cecilia Cuff says it’s not just neighbors who are hungry for this kind of space. It’s also the team of workers behind Bronzeville Winery who crave the opportunity to flourish amid customers who look like them and in a neighborhood in which they have a stake.
“We’ve recently started getting more servers who (previously) had to leave their communities and make money and come back,” she explains. “Now they’re saying, ‘I can make as much money at Bronzeville Winery on the South Side and I can ride my bike to work or walk to work, rather than go and commute to the West Loop or downtown.’ So that feels really good to be able to provide that opportunity.”
And with a staff that’s found its groove, they’ve expanded into more offerings, like an incredibly popular Sunday brunch that debuted a few months ago: “I’ve never had so many pastors text me — they’re like, ‘I’m coming in’ right after they get out of church,” Cuff says.
Executive chef Dondee Robinson has introduced flatbreads and fire-roasted chicken to the menu. In the coming months, Cuff and Williams are looking forward to launching their first house-made wine, creating a fresh menu for summer with a reiteration of their seared watermelon as a vegan nigiri, and continuing to provide one-of-a-kind memories. — Lauryn Azu
4420 S. Cottage Grove Ave., 872-244-7065, bronzevillewinery.com
Best new old-school pizza: Kim’s Uncle Pizza
Ed Marszewski and Bradley Shorten both grew up working in pizzerias in a suburb southwest of Chicago, but neighborhoods and years apart.
They didn’t meet until Eat Free Pizza, a pop-up project created by Shorten with his best friends (and now a married couple) Billy and Cecily Federighi. Through twists and turns worthy of a K-drama, the partners first opened Pizza Fried Chicken Ice Cream in the Bridgeport neighborhood (now closed), then took over the pizzeria where Marszewski once worked. It was last owned by Kim Sinclair, a lifelong friend of Ed’s mother, Maria Marszewski, a fellow Korean American businesswoman, and namesake of Maria’s Packaged Goods and Community Bar.
Kim’s Uncle Pizza in Westmont became the unlikely home to the best new old-school thin-crust Chicago-style tavern-cut pizza last July, with obsessions rooted in craft and history.
The stunning signature pizza holds a custom sausage made by Makowski’s Real Sausage Co. (founded in 1920) and hot giardiniera from J.P. Graziano Grocery (1937) on a crust inspired by Pat’s Pizza and Ristorante (1950), then baked beautifully in the inherited Faulds oven made in 1954.
A congratulatory call to the pizzeria was interrupted when its Super Bowl preorders opened up and the online ordering system shut down — on National Pizza Day, no less.
“When we took over the former Uncle Pete’s Pizza in Westmont, our goal was to stay true to an original old-school pizzeria, with a modern twist,” they said by email later. “To be honored with this recognition confirms our efforts didn’t go unnoticed.”
When asked what advice they might give fellow old-school pizza makers?
“We just believe that ‘classic’ never goes out of style.” — Louisa Chu
207 N. Cass Ave., Westmont; 630-963-1900; unclepizzawestmont.com
Best homecoming: Rubi’s Tacos
Selling tacos at the Maxwell Street Market has always been family business for Evelyn Ramirez-Landa. She can remember cutting lettuce, onions and cilantro as a preteen back when her parents first sold food from their stand, Rubi’s Tacos.
“If you were standing around with your hands in your pockets, you needed something to do,” she recalls.
The Ramirez-Landa family’s taco stand — named after Ramirez-Landa’s younger sister, Rubi — served some of Chicago best tacos at Maxwell Street on Sundays for 23 years. With charcoal-cooked al pastor, freshly made corn tortillas and the magic touch that could only come from using grandma’s recipes, it wasn’t rare to see lines at the stand stretch a half-block.
When COVID-19 hit, Maxwell Street Market shut down, and the family-run business was denied many of the grants that helped brick-and-mortar restaurants stay afloat. The Ramirez-Landa family sold takeout orders of tacos, quesadillas and pozole from their Albany Park home, until a DishRoulette Kitchen microgrant helped them secure affordable space in a shared kitchen in September 2021.
“It was hope,” Ramirez-Landa says. “We were going to have our first place to run a restaurant.”
There was much to learn: labeling ingredients, cooking on a flattop, storing food in a walk-in. And there were plenty of fears too: Ramirez-Landa remembers wondering if people would want to eat Rubi’s throughout the week instead of at their once weekly stand.
The answer, it seems, is a clear yes: long lines and old employees have returned to Rubi’s, and now, the only concern is whether their new home is big enough.
“Business is amazing. We imagined big, but it’s really great,” Ramirez-Landa says. “There are weekends where we can’t keep up or we need more space.”
As the fixed location and spreading recognition brings in new customers, it’s also brought back many old regulars. Sometimes, they stop to chat, Ramirez-Landa says. Some even tear up.
“They saw how hard we worked, out in the cold, in the summers,” she says.
And with Rubi’s now on solid ground (physically and otherwise), who knows how much more the restaurant will grow. Maybe Rubi’s will someday move into a larger space. Maybe Ramirez-Landa’s own children — a 3-month-old and a 3-year-old — will join the family effort one day.
“It’s been a blessing to be able to work alongside my parents and grow this to where we are now,” she says. “I cannot wait to see my daughters or my niece behind the register or cooking.” — Jake Sheridan
1316 W. 18th St., 773-318-9526, rubischicago.com
Best suburban Vietnamese visit: PhoLicious Kitchen
If you’d asked me five years ago where to find great Vietnamese food in Chicago, I’d have sent you straight to a stretch of Argyle Street near the Red Line CTA stop.
Great options still abound on the pedestrian-friendly street, but over the past few years, exciting new Vietnamese restaurants started popping up further afield, including the delightful Sochi Saigonese Kitchen in Lakeview.
But I was still a bit shocked to encounter PhoLicious Kitchen in suburban Bloomingdale. First-time restaurateurs Jeine and Jon Tran were born in Vietnam, but met after their families moved to the west suburbs of Chicago. Wanting to stay close to their parents, they couldn’t think of a better place to open their passion project.
Not that it was easy; they’ve worked tirelessly to improve their recipes, traveling back to Vietnam, along with other places with large Vietnamese populations, including Australia, California and Texas. The bread for the banh mi sandwiches alone took Jeine Tran two years to develop. It was time well spent, as the rolls are impressively crackly, yet outrageously light and supple at the same time. Considering its name, the shop also dishes out some phenomenal pho, made with broth that takes 16 hours to cook.
You’d think serving great banh mi and pho would be enough, but after chatting recently with Jon Tran, it’s clear they aren’t done. Along with head chef Phong Nguyen, they’ve continued to add new items to the menu, and have plans to host even more ambitious dinners as they share their love of Vietnamese cuisine with everyone they meet. — Nick Kindelsperger
369 W. Army Trail Road, Ste. 24, Bloomingdale; 630-283-0955; pholiciouskitchen.com
Best at bridging generations: Nine Bar
Lily Wang and Joe Briglio’s bar began as a Lunar New Year pop-up at her parents’ restaurant on the South Side of Chicago.
Before long, Nine Bar would dramatically transform Jennifer and Jones Wang’s Moon Palace into the first craft cocktail bar in Chinatown, bridging generations not only within the business, but among older diners and newer drinkers too.
“The most rewarding thing that my parents and Joe and I share with bridging that generational gap is when one of their old customers, who they’ve been serving for decades, comes in and realizes that things have changed, but they’re open-minded,” Lily Wang says. “They’ll check out the bar and then have a great time. That’s exactly what we want.”
What the customers want may be a Cheating Death cocktail, an Old Fashioned-inspired drink they served during the first pop-up. Perhaps order it paired with General Jones’ wings, Wang’s father’s crispy, sweet and spicy classic from Moon Palace, which continues as a counter up front, where her mother acts as bouncer early in the evening to the bar hidden behind what looks like a kitchen door.
Briglio thinks it’s important for his younger generation to be open-minded too.
“There’s a lot to learn within the exchange,” he says. “It doesn’t need to be such a clash of generational ideas. There’s a lot to be learned on both sides that’s rewarding.” — L.C.
216 W. Cermak Road, 312-225-4081, ninebarchicago.com
Best new Texas-style barbecue: Mel’s Craft BBQ
Texas-style barbecue has been influencing local pitmasters for years, but in 2022, it felt like the freeway-size floodgates officially opened. Suddenly, everyone was serving fat slices of slowly smoked brisket on metal trays with sauce always on the side (if there was any sauce at all), from Black-owned spots on the South Side to halal-friendly options in the west suburbs.
Few put in quite as much effort as Mel Thillens did with Mel’s Craft BBQ in Park Ridge. His barbecue journey took more than 20 years, starting with simple cookouts for friends before he became infatuated with the barbecue scene in Central Texas. “What they’ve been doing in Texas over the past 15 years has been phenomenal,” Thillens says. “It’s drawn all of the people from all over the country. That’s what happened to me.”
As I noted in my enthusiastic review, Mel’s has a purposefully short menu, so Thillens can focus on each cut of meat. The result is brisket with an astonishingly tender and juicy profile, which also has a delicate smoke aroma lingering around the edges. But he’s also serving top-notch pulled pork and ribs, along with the impressively tender smoked turkey.
Even though Texas remains his top inspiration, that doesn’t mean Thillens can’t pick up ideas from all over the country. “Even in Texas, people are looking elsewhere for inspiration, like the whole-hog barbecue that Rodney Scott is serving in the Carolinas,” Thillens says. Since opening, he has added a few new dishes, including a Nashville hot chicken sandwich that’s smoked instead of fried, along with a burger that also spends time in the smoker. — N.K.
24 Main St., Park Ridge; 224-985-3461; melsbbq.com
Best does-it-all-and-more bakery: Sugar Moon Bakery
Few bakeries in Chicago are drawing the lines of customers that Sugar Moon Bakery does each week.
Despite the bakery marking its second year, the hype hasn’t died down. It still pains Dina Cimarusti, the pastry-chef-turned SFX makeup artist-turned-bakery owner behind Sugar Moon, to turn away hopeful customers who trek from across Chicagoland for a taste of pastries like her famed chocolate chip tahini cookies.
“People are so sweet about it, and instead of getting upset with us, they just congratulate us,” she says. “They’re like, ‘Good for you. That’s awesome.’ “
Cimarusti’s charge now is to delicately balance making sure Sugar Moon remains the neighborhood small-batch “experimental baking studio” she envisioned it to be, while embracing the media attention and keeping up with the demand of sold-out pastry cases.
Since she’s hired on a few more hands — part-time bakers who help her prep during the week, plus more front-of-house help — the throngs of adoring fans are a little bit more manageable. “It’s hard to keep up with demand because we have such a small space,” she says. “We have like one single deck oven.”
This year, Cimarusti hopes to install another freezer in the storefront to stock take-and-bake pastries such as her uber-popular cinnamon rolls and scones, so disappointed customers won’t leave completely empty-handed.
She also visited Italy last fall to find inspiration and see where her grandparents grew up. Playing with Italian flavors in her baking is something she wants to do more. And now she’s keeping the menu more consistent: “In the beginning, I was changing things out almost every three weeks,” she says. “And now we try to keep the same menu for at least a month or two, or through a whole season.”
In February, Sugar Moon collaborated with home-based pizza baker Billy Zureikat — aka “Tripping Billy” — to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The bakery sold pizzas topped with sausage and J.P. Graziano giardiniera, and mushroom and spinach.
She’s grateful for the chance to express herself creatively, and that their work has been so well received. She knows how tough the industry can be for some bakers. But Cimarusti says she recognizes she also needs a break now and then. “I’m still trying to figure out this like work and life balance for sure,” she says. “It’s difficult.” But she’s confident she can find the perfect mix, one ingredient at a time. — L.A.
3612 W. Wrightwood Ave., sugarmoonchicago.com
Best way to make change: Chicago Chefs Cook
When Piccolo Sogno chef and co-owner Tony Priolo saw the news of Russia invading Ukraine in early 2022, he reached out to his friend and Prairie Grass Cafe co-owner Sarah Stegner.
“He really wanted to help. I think all of us were having those same emotions,” Stegner says.
The two chefs reached out to dozens of contacts across Chicago’s restaurant community. In the end, 72 chefs from the city and suburbs answered the call, inspired by the developing humanitarian crisis, and they formed Chicago Chefs Cook. They locked down event space at Navy Pier. They called attention to their charity dinner. And then did what they do best: cook.
By the time the plates cleared, the group had raised $621,934 for World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals in disaster areas, including Ukraine. The response amazed the people leading the charge, including Priolo, Stegner, philanthropist Eda Davidman, Deloitte partner Darren Gest, and later, Eden and Paramount Group owner Jodi Fyfe.
“Hey, we’re doing something really good here, let’s just keep going,” Priolo recalls thinking.
Chicago’s chefs did just that.
Chefs Cook hosted another event in September that raised money for a health care-focused charity assisting women and children in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, inspired and led in part by Tigist Reda, chef and owner of Demera Ethiopian Restaurant. The group then returned a week later with an event raising money for humanitarian efforts supporting Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane.
The organization paid $850,000 to charities after the three events, but Chicago Chefs Cook isn’t done yet. The group is set to cook March 20 to raise money for earthquake relief in Turkey (styled as Türkiye in the country itself) and Syria, and is also hosting a birthday bash for legendary local restaurateur Ina Pinkney on April 26 that will raise money for Green City Market and kid-focused food education nonprofit Pilot Light.
“This is about the voice of the chefs community speaking up,” Stegner said. “You need to take action.” — J.S.
To buy tickets for Chicago Chefs Cook’s upcoming events, visit linktr.ee/chicagochefscook.
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