{"id":3735,"date":"2017-07-03T12:04:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T12:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/?p=3735"},"modified":"2018-04-24T06:54:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T06:54:16","slug":"4-must-visit-lesser-known-chicago-eateries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/4-must-visit-lesser-known-chicago-eateries","title":{"rendered":"4 must-visit, lesser-known Chicago eateries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago - the Windy City<\/a> - has a strong position within the context of American culture, both historically and currently. Many factors in various categories contribute to this, but cuisine is without a doubt one of the most prominent. That being said, the culinary pedigree of Illinois' most populous city has risen so high that a lot of the best, most iconic restaurants and eateries are frequent magnets for tourists and residents alike. Popularity leads, almost invariably, to long lines and equivalently lengthy waits for meals.<\/p>\n

\n

Cuisine is a major aspect of Chicago's culture.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If you'll be taking a cheap flight to Chicago<\/a> this summer for business or pleasure and are completely disappointed by that fact, don't be. There are quite a few places in this city that are well-known and much-loved but aren't quite the tourist traps that, say, Lou Malnati's locations can be (sorry, deep dish lovers!). Check out some of them:<\/p>\n

1. Mexican cuisine at Don Rafa<\/strong>
\n\u200bAbout a half century or so ago, Chicago wasn't exactly a flashpoint for Mexican cuisine. Approximately 40 years later, though, that has changed thanks to Don Rafa, the first Windy City restaurant to make carnitas a prominent part of its menu<\/a>. Expect to enjoy traditional Mexican dishes ranging from tortas and burritos to cactus salad, and as its Yelp reviews note<\/a>, it's somewhat underrated so there won't be a huge crowd.<\/p>\n

2. Girl and the Goat<\/strong>
\nThe term \"New American cuisine\" is maddeningly vague sometimes, but it's appropriate for this elegant but not exorbitant restaurant on West Randolph Street. Brainchild of Stephanie Izard, a former winner of \"Top Chef,\" Girl and the Goat features American staple dishes with intriguing twists<\/a>, such as seared scallops in tabbouleh\u00a0and braised pork shank in buttermilk dressing with kimchi. (In case you're wondering, there are <\/em>goat dishes on the menu - quite a few of them, in fact - and vegetarian options.)<\/p>\n

3. The iconic Billy Goat Tavern<\/strong>
\nNot only is an (actual) goat the source of the \"curse\" that kept the Chicago Cubs from winning the World Series until 2016, but the Billy Goat Tavern, now a Chicago franchise, is also, arguably, the best-known hamburger joint in the city's history - though it has strong competition from Portillo's and a few other spots. But there's simply no substitute for the Billy Goat's \"cheezborgers:\" burgers on Kaiser rolls with pickles and American cheese, but no lettuce or tomatoes - because the goat ate them all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. David Burke's Primehouse<\/strong>
\nAccording to Thrillist, the 28- and 40-day rib eyes, named for how long they're aged<\/a>, are the best steaks in Chicago. David Burke's ages its own meat, and has a fairly wide-ranging menu beyond its beef, including Arctic char and lamb chops. It's not cheap, but if you can afford to splurge, you might be wise to do so here.<\/p>\n

Search for flights now!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago - the Windy City - has a strong position within the context of American culture, both historically and currently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[691,36,40],"tags":[271,324,322,326],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3738,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735\/revisions\/3738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farebuzz.com\/born-free\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}