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Restaurants

Don't forget to pack your appetite. With incredible four-and five-star restaurants, innovative fusion hot spots, the best deep-dish pizzerias in the world (the pie was invented here!), and a McDonald's furnished with chairs by Le Corbusier, Chicago offers an array of dining options, from ultra-high-end to super budget.

Among our favorite destination restaurants is Gibson's Bar & Steakhouse (1028 N. Rush St.; 312/266-8999; www.gibsonssteakhouse.com). A Chicago institution for over two decades, Gibson's is where Chicago's elite and powerful go to lunch, dine, and smoke cigars. Everything is oversized – the drinks, the steaks, the lobsters, the desserts, and even the booths – and cuts of beef range from the chopped steak ($13.75) to the porterhouse ($73.25); be sure to reserve ahead. One of the city's hottest new restaurants is Sushisamba Rio (504 N. Wells St.; 312/595-2300; www.sushisamba.com), which tickles taste buds with Peruvian-Brazilian-Japanese fusion cuisine and delights the eyes with festive Carnaval-colored design scheme; start with the South American beef maki roll before moving on to a delicious molho. Alinea (1723 N. Halsted St.; 312/867-0110; www.alinea-restaurant.com) wins us over with its ultra-sleek interior and sumptuously prepared dishes by Chef Grant Achatz, formerly of French Laundry, in Napa; we recommend the tasting menu ($125), which features Kobe beef with honeydew and cucumber and black cod with vanilla, artichoke, and "pillow of orange air."

The following mid-range eateries offer exceptional menus that won't break your budget. With decor reminiscent of 1920s Saigon, Le Colonial (937 N. Rush St.; 312/255-0088; www.lecolonialchicago.com) is an excellent French-Vietnamese restaurant set in a vintage two-storey rowhouse; appetizers include grilled shrimp wrapped around sugar cane while a signature entree, Ca Chien Saigon, involves a whole red snapper seared in a light spicy and sour glaze. Brasserie Jo (59 W. Hubbard St.; 312/595-0800; www.brasseriejo.com) is an authentic French brasserie with classics like onion soup gratinee, provençal tartes flambées (Alsacian-style pizza), and steak frites. For arguably the best Sunday Brunch in town, head to Lula Cafe (2537 N. Kedzie Blvd.; 773/489-9554; www.lulacafe.com); menu items include stuffed brioche French toast with berries and rhubarb; grilled shrimp eggs Florentine; and whole-grain pinenut pancakes with sweet cream, peaches, and candied pinenuts. The setting is just as delicious, with vintage modern furnishings and paintings by local artists on the walls.

The best cheap eats in town include Pizzeria Uno (29 E. Ohio St.; 312/321-1000), the establishment that invented the Chicago-style deep-dish pizza pie over 60 years ago; the hostess will take your order while you stand in line because the pies take 45 to 60 minutes to bake. Normally we would advise you to steer clear of Big Macs and fries, but the new two-storey flagship McDonald's (600 N. Clark St.; 312/867-0455), a 24,000 square-foot behemoth in downtown Chicago, is worth checking out regardless for its "living room" furnished with leather furniture by Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier; onsite Internet web stations also allow for music downloading and instant photo printing capabilities. Located on Chicago's South Side, Harold's Chicken Shack (636 S. Wabash Ave.; 312/362-0442) specializes in greasy (and delicious) fried chicken with fiery hot sauce; you can order it dark or white, by the quarter or the half, and each order comes with fries, bread, and coleslaw.

See Chicago Travel Guide