RESTAURANTS, FOODS & BONAFIDE RECIPES

CLICK TO FIND OUT WHERE THE "CHICAGO CHOP SUEY" RESTAURANT WAS LOCATED.

Exploring Chicago’s Culinary History Through Memory, Culture, and Community. Food is one of the most powerful ways we connect with history. A single dish can tell the story of immigration, innovation, and identity. In Chicago, every neighborhood has its own flavor, and every restaurant, past or present, has a story to tell.

This page is designed to help students, educators, and curious readers explore the rich culinary heritage of Illinois, especially Chicago. Whether you're researching for a History Fair project or fascinated by how food shapes culture, you'll find trusted, engaging resources here.

What You’ll Discover:
  • Articles on iconic Chicago foods and how they came to be.
  • Profiles of long-gone restaurants that shaped local communities.
  • Authentic recipes that reflect historical accuracy and cultural tradition.
  • Primary sources, advertisements, and images that bring the past to life.
  • Verified recipes, Mrs. Hering's 1890 Chicken Pot Pie, @ Marshall Field's.
  • Topics organized for fast, focused research.
Each article is written with clarity, neutrality, and factual precision—perfect for students 13 and up. These stories go beyond the plate to explore how restaurants reflected changing neighborhoods, economic shifts, and evolving tastes.

Whether you're studying immigration, urban development, or cultural identity, Chicago’s food history offers a flavorful lens into the past.

Let’s dig in—and discover how what we eat tells us who we are.

● Jewish Delis and Restaurants
● Closed Restaurants: Chicago's West Ridge Community
● Closed Restaurants: Skokie, Illinois



● ● ● ► RESTAURANTS BELOW BY CUISINE ◄ ● ● ● 

Karl's Cafe (Truck Stop), on Skokie Blvd north of Oakton Street, next to Cock Robin, Skokie.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria History. (1971—Present)
     » aka The Diner, Wright's Diner, Paul's Diner, Cucina Plata, Kelly's Pub, American Grill, 
Pump Room Restaurant was famous for catering to Mid-20th-century celebrities.
Zephyr Café & Ice Cream Parlor, Chicago, Illinois. (1976-2006)

Six Chicago Steakhouses Voted 2024s BEST in the World*
The list of 101 Best Steakhouses is compiled via a survey of anonymous steak ambassadors who visit steakhouse restaurants worldwide.

14. Asador Bastian, 214 W Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60654
39. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, 120 N Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606
62. Swift & Sons, 1000 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607
67. Bavette's Steak House, 218 W Kinzie Street , Chicago, IL 60654
75. GT Prime Steakhouse, 707 N Wells Street , Chicago, IL 60654
80. Gibsons Italia, 233 N Canal Street , Chicago, IL 60606

* Upper Cut Media House, based in London, UK, compiled the list of the World's Best Steak Restaurants for 2024.

The top three Steakhouses are located in:
1). Buenos Aires, Argentina
2). León, Spain
3). Sidney, Australia

Chicago Hot Dogs Always Make A Great Meal.



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To legally call your hot dog a CHICAGO HOT DOG or a CHICAGO STYLE HOT DOG, a poppy seed bun must cradle an all-beef hot dog, topped with chopped white onions, sweet green pickle relish, yellow mustard, a Claussen dill pickle spear or two, tomato slices, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. The condiments are presented in the build order to minimize the dribbles while eating. 
City of Chicago Municipal Code 21-13-044   

NO KETCHUP (CATSUP) is allowed on any style Hot Dog within Chicago City Limits for anybody ten (10) years old or younger. The restaurant server shall provide ketchup packets to add it yourself. 
City of Chicago Municipal Code 21-14-044   

Bonafide Recipes from Restaurants, Restaurateurs, and Famous Chefs.
PLEASE LET US KNOW YOUR RESULTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF EACH RECIPE.

Frontier Corn Dodgers Recipe. An Abraham Lincoln favorite.

1896
 
Olde Illinois Cook Books (in pdf)



41 Chicago-Style Foods, Differences Between Lox, Smoked Salmon, and Gravadlax, Chicago Area's Food Timeline 1788, Chicago Loop Restaurant Area Nicknames 1890s, Chicago's Oyster Love Affair 1835, Rich Melman's Chicagoland Restaurants, Abson's English Chop House, Al Capone's Chicago Soup Kitchen, Affy Tapple, Amy Joy Donuts, Anderson's Candy Shop Richmond, Ann Sather's Chicago, Ashkenaz Restaurant and Deli, Aunt Jemima's Kitchen Restaurants, Chicago's Bagel Nosh Deli, Bagel Restaurant and Deli, Berghoff Restaurant, Big Herm's Hot Dog Joint, Herm's Palace Hot Dog Joint, Bill's Drive-In Evanston, Big-T Burger, Black Cat Inn, Blackhawk Restaurant, Borden Dairy Company, Boston Oyster House, Brach's Confections, Palace of Sweets, Brown's Chicken, Brown's Chicken and Pasta Restaurants, Bunny Bread, Burger Chef Restaurant, The Inferno, Gullivers, Pequod's, Burt's Place, Busy Bee Restaurant, Cafe Bohemia, Drake Hotel Camellia House, Drake Hotel Cape Cod Room; Case-Moody Pie Corporation of Chicago, Charles Frederick Günther, Carl Gunther, Chez Paree Theater Restaurant, Chez Paree Key Club, Chez Paul French Restaurant, Chez Paul Restaurant, Ora Snyder Chicago's Candy Queen, Chicago Claim Company Restaurant, Levy Wittenberg Chicago's Matzoh King, Choo-Choo Diner, C.J. Vitner Company, Springfield's Cozy Dog Drive-In, David Berg and Company, D.B. Kaplan's Restaurant and Delicatessen, Chicago's 1960 & 70s Devon Avenue Bakeries in Chicago, Dinty Moore's Rendezvous Restaurant, Drake Hotel Camellia House Restaurant, Drake Hotel Cape Cod Room, Dutch Mill Candy Company, Eddie Doucette's Pancake Plantation Restaurants, Elliott's Pine Log Restaurant & Lounge, Farrell Ice Cream Parlour Restaurants, Ferrara Pan Candy Bakery Company, Fingerhut Bakery, Fluky's Hot Dog Stand, Forum Cafeteria, Frankenstein's Bar, Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup Farm, Green River Soft Drink, Melrose Park's Harlo Grill, Harold's Chicken Shack, Home Run Inn Pizza, Wilmette's Homer's Ice Cream, Il Forno Pizzeria & Restaurant, Ike Sander's Restaurants, Jack Spratt Coffee House, Janda's Drive-In, Kohlsaat and Company, Krantz's Confectionery, Chicago's Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant, Lincolnwood Kow Kow Chinese Restaurant, Lake House Fine Dining Restaurant, Lazar's Kosher Sausage Factory, Leavitt's Delicatessen, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Lockwood Castle Ice Cream Parlor, Loree's Snack Shop Ice Cream Parlor, Lutz Café and Pastry Shop, Marshall Field's Cloud Room Restaurant, Martha Washington Candies Company, Mathon's Fish and Seafood Restaurant, Maurice Lenell Cooky Company, Mickelberry Log Cabin Restaurant, Milk Pail Restaurant, Morton House Restaurant, Mr. Submarine, Mrs. Japp's Potato Chips, Jays Potato Chips, Municipal Restaurant & Luncheonette, New York Kosher, No Exit Café History, Noose Coffee Shop, Ontra Cafeteria of Chicago, Oscar Mayer Enterprise, Peacock Ice Cream Company, Pequod's Pizzeria, Pickle Barrel Restaurants, Pullman Building Tip Top Inn Restaurant, Pullman Building Black Cat Inn Restaurant, Chicago, Pump Room Restaurant, Red Hot Ranch, Roos' Restaurant, Sally's Bar-B-Q Restaurants, Sandy's Drive-In of, Seven Continents Restaurant, Sky-Hi Drive-In and Restaurant, Sparky's Snack Shop, Superdawg, Tartan Tray Coffee Shop, Thompson's Cafeteria Restaurants, Tom Tom Tamale Manufacturing Company, Town and Country Restaurants, Uncle Andy's Cow Palace, Victoria Station Restaurants, Vitner Company, Wanzer & Sons Creamery, What's Cooking Restaurant, Whistlers Restaurant, White Fence Farm Restaurant, Wimpy Grills, Zephyr Café & Ice Cream Parlor, Restaurateur Burt Katz
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