A food lover's 3 days in Chicago, built from critic picks
Three days of eating in Chicago, drawn entirely from restaurants professional critics write about. Dinners are the anchors: Alinea on day one, Smyth on day two and Kasama on day three. Each day stays in one part of the city — the three stops sit within 3.5 km of each other at worst — so a day is walkable rather than a series of taxis. Nine restaurants in total, no repeats, chosen from 97 critically recognised places in Chicago.
Updated August 2026
Day 1: where should you eat?
Three stops within about 3.5 km.
Breakfast
Kingston Mines3 critic mentions including Time Out and Parts Unknown
$$
Lunch
Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House3 critic mentions including Zagat and Best Thing I Ever Ate
$$$
Dinner
Alinea10 critic mentions including Condé Nast Traveler and Michelin Guide
American · $$$$
Day 2: where should you eat?
Three stops within about 0.2 km.
Breakfast
Au Cheval7 critic mentions including Eater and Michelin Guide
American · $$
Lunch
Girl and the Goat6 critic mentions including Michelin Guide and Eater
American · $$$
Dinner
Smyth8 critic mentions including Michelin Guide and World's 50 Best
American · $$$$
Day 3: where should you eat?
Three stops within about 2.4 km.
Questions about eating in Chicago
- What is the most critically acclaimed restaurant in Chicago?
- Alinea, with 10 professional critic mentions — the most of any restaurant on this itinerary.
- Where should I have dinner on a three-day trip to Chicago?
- This itinerary puts dinner at Alinea on day one, Smyth on day two and Kasama on day three. Each is the most critically recognised restaurant in that day's area.
- How much walking does this Chicago food itinerary involve?
- Day 1 keeps its three stops within about 3.5 km of each other; Day 2 keeps its three stops within about 0.2 km of each other; Day 3 keeps its three stops within about 2.4 km of each other.
- How are these Chicago restaurants chosen?
- They are ranked by how many professional critic publications have written about them — not by user reviews or star averages. This itinerary draws from 97 critically recognised restaurants in Chicago.
How this itinerary is built
Stops are picked automatically from Chicago's critically recognised restaurants: the most-mentioned place in each area anchors that day's dinner, and earlier meals are chosen nearby, varying cuisine and price. The same data always produces the same itinerary. Cities with fewer than 25 critically recognised restaurants get no itinerary at all.