Ox Bar & Hearth

There's an honesty to a place that calls itself a neighborhood noodle joint and then actually behaves like one.

Here's a place that gets the math right: a tavern in a 1907 building that doubles as a three-room inn, so you can drink, eat a serious burger, and stagger upstairs to a king-sized bed without ever calling a car.

Here's the thing about a bar that calls itself "Sip & Dip": it has to deliver on both, and Gus' actually does.

Here's a Loop secret worth knowing: while the suits clear out of Clark Street, S2 Express Grill is just getting warmed up.

Boka Group has a knack for making a room feel more expensive than it is, and Zarella Pizzeria & Taverna at 531 N Wells St.