Chicago’s Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants
Freshly picked pears, from-the-vine tomatoes, perfectly ripe plums—they’re all just a few reasons for Chicagoans to hop in the car—stat!—in search of any of the city’s nearby farms and orchards, one of the biggest draws of living in the Midwest. The other, less traffic-tainted option? Reserve a table at one of the restaurants in town that takes from-the-farm sourcing as seriously as the air they breathe, incorporating of-the-moment finds into plates that are as good for the palate as they are for the planet. From a tasting-menu mainstay to a beer-centric staple, here are 10 of the best spots to sample the region’s bounty now.
1/10Lula Cafe
Our first stop is Lula Cafe, and it might have something to do with the fact that chef Jason Hammel has a thing for being first. He’s known to be the earliest attendee to the market each week, and his Logan Square restaurant was the city’s foremost farm-to-table spot when it opened its doors in 1999. Creative plates inspired by the smallest moments of the season have always been the team’s MO, and today it shows up in dishes like lobster salad with tomatoes (from Leaning Shed Farm) and challah French toast with peaches (from Mick Klug Farm). Come on Mondays for the Farm Dinner series, when the team features three never-before-made dishes showcasing uber-seasonal ingredients.
2/10Smyth
A 20-acre farm serves as the exclusive grow partner for this Michelin-starred restaurant, which is owned by husband-and-wife team John Shields and Karen Urie Shields. Frequent visits throughout the year help the kitchen to create their constantly rotating tasting menus, which feature items like beef with sprouted wheat and sorrel or yogurt parfait and pickled ground cherries seasoned with juniper, lavender, and fig leaf. The harvest list doesn’t stop there, though—in addition to fruits, vegetables, and nuts, the Shieldses source their chickens and eggs from the farm’s growing flock, honey from the apiary, and syrup from on-site maple trees.
3/10The Promontory
Hearth-based cooking is the focus at this Hyde Park hangout, which packs the house around the clock with brunch, dinner, and late-night menus that feature seasonally driven sustenance. Case in point with the slow-roasted pork shank, featuring meat from Slagel Family Farm, roasted cherry bomb peppers from Nichols Farm & Orchard, and harissa carrots from Seedling Fruit. They’re all in for paying it forward, too—the team is beginning work with the Gary Comer Youth Center’s Urban Agriculture and Culinary Arts program, an initiative aimed at providing Chicago’s youth with hands-on experience in urban farming.
4/10Gather
The team here places an emphasis on seasonal menus and from-scratch cooking—an approach that has led the neighborhood fixture to fill seats on the nightly. Credit that buzz to flavor-packed bites like charred Mick Klug Farm green beans with roasted Nichols Farm & Orchard baby tomatoes or pan-seared arctic char with Nichols Farm cauliflower purée and crispy mustard spaetzle from Spence Farm (all of this on top of a “farm dish” that chef Ken Carter prepares daily, inspired by the best ingredients received that morning). Coming face-to-face with farmers happens here with their monthly “farm dinners,” which showcase a menu of hyper-fresh ingredients alongside the attendees of honor—the ones who grew them.
5/10Elizabeth
Chef Iliana Regan knows how to have fun in the kitchen—case in point with previous tasting-menu themes like Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and Alice in Wonderland. But when it comes to our region’s bounty, she means business, specializing in unique foraged and found ingredients like wild mushrooms, milkweed, and flowers. Watch them show up in whimsically laced dishes like pickled and salt-roasted beets with cricket flour spaetzle, oyster garum, and elderberry capers or rabbit loin with sea buckthorn berry sauce and crystal lettuce (from their own garden, to boot). Expect brand-new menus every couple of months, along with a few special events in between—Regan and team love to support their farmers with frequent fundraising dinners.
6/10Sepia
This West Loop restaurant has garnered a Michelin star every year since its 2011 opening—an annual accomplishment indicative of chef Andrew Zimmerman’s dedication to refined technique and quality ingredients. For the latter he looks to six local farms consistently across Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, a practice that appears in plates that are as timely as they are timeless. Lamb loin is served with vadouvan and baby carrots from Genesis Farm, while Mick Klug Farms supplies Asian pears and marquis grapes for a sesame cake with tahini custard and dark chocolate. Try it with the Blast from the Past, a jazzed-up whiskey sour of cocoa nib-infused bourbon, black raspberry, and anise hyssop.
7/10The Publican
Gather a group for a visit to this modern-day, colonial American beer hall, which draws masses on the daily for its celebration of oysters, pork, and beer. Snag a spot and prepare to sample through the Midwest in no time—the chefs here turn to more than 10 different farms to round out their menu, which includes items like delicata squash from Spence Farm, country rib from Slagel Family Farm, and blackberry corn cake with blackberry curd from Seedling Fruit. Pair them up with any of the restaurant’s beers, and don’t be shy in asking for guidance—after all, more than 50 options are on offer.
8/10Farmhouse
It’s all about approachable Midwestern fare by way of locally and sustainably sourced ingredients at this restaurant, which has a mission of highlighting the bounty found within the four-state footprint of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan (and, in some cases, much closer—Cabrini-Blooms, an urban farm one block away, supplies their flowers and microgreens). That means crowd-pleasing fare like confit chicken leg with house-made chicken sausage and apple chive spaetzle, along with applewood-smoked pork chop with cider-braised green beans. Be sure to check out Brown Dog Farm, the team’s very own property that hosts dinners on the regular.
9/10Bad Hunter
Vegetable-driven dishes are the priority at this hip, West Loop restaurant, and they have a long roster of more than 20 local farms to prove it. A half dozen of them make it into the lobster mushroom agnolotti alone, a dish that features tomatoes from Iron Creek, lobster mushrooms from local forager Mushroom Mike, marigold flowers from Genesis Growers, and peppers from Frillman Farms, The Roof Crop, and Seedling Fruit. Try it with the bar team’s Mermaid Water, a low-ABV answer to afternoon imbibing with Dolin blanc vermouth, Plymouth gin, and rhubarb.
10/10Blue Door Kitchen & Garden
It’s easy to feel transported far beyond city limits at this Gold Coast garden and kitchen, where a clandestine courtyard awaits well-heeled diners with discriminating taste. Seasonal, farm-to-table American fare is the focus, as showcased by dishes like butternut squash soup with crème fraiche or brussels and kale salad with toasted almonds and maple-tahini vinaigrette. Do start at the bar, where the libations are just as locally tuned—an Old Fashioned sees a market-fresh makeover with plum-ginger syrup and lemon, while agave enthusiasts can opt for the Pear with Me, a tequila-based tipple of pear purée, rosemary syrup, and cranberry bitters.
