New Too
ITALIAN | LUNCH: MONDAY-SATURDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL MIDNIGHT, OTHER NIGHTS TILL 11 | RESERVATIONS FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY
CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL, SMALL PLATES | DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH | CLOSED MONDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL MIDNIGHT, THURSDAY TILL 11
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
It’s hard to imagine a cozier place than Lincoln Square’s Fork (formerly Fiddlehead Cafe), with its warm tones, exposed-brick walls, and soft lighting. Its most notable feature is the extensive beer and wine list; both menus are arranged into flights, with small pours (as well as full-size ones) of several dozen beverages available. You can pick a suggested grouping like “interesting whites” or mix and match, and there are a bunch more options by the bottle. And while the food menu is less encyclopedic—several selections each for snacks, soups and salads, sandwiches and burgers, and small-to-large plates, plus charcuterie and cheese—the execution is solid. Fried onion strings with house-made ketchup were crispy and subtlely oniony, candied bacon wasn’t overly sweet, and the grilled hanger steak had a nice crust. Portions are relatively small, so this place may be better for a beer and a snack than a full meal; gnocchi with “foraged mushrooms,” while light and fluffy, also worked out to more than a dollar per largeish nubbin. Still, the staff was unfailingly friendly, and when we lingered after paying the bill, our server, rather than giving us the evil eye, brought us complimentary half glasses of sparkling wine. —Julia Thiel
ASIAN, JAPANESE, KOREAN | LUNCH: SATURDAY-SUNDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11 | BYO
ASIAN, JAPANESE | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11 | BYO
contemporary | BREAKFAST, LUNCH: SEVEN DAYS | BYO | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED
