Iconic Food in Chicago: 17 Dishes You Have to Try

Chicago food is big, bold and proudly unfussy. Generations of Italian, Polish, Mexican, Greek, Puerto Rican and Eastern European immigrants shaped what the city eats, and the result is a lineup of dishes you won’t find done quite the same way anywhere else. Come hungry, because most of them are built to fill you up.

The most iconic Chicago food is deep-dish pizza, followed by the Chicago-style hot dog, Italian beef, tavern-style thin crust pizza, the Maxwell Street Polish, the jibarito and Garrett’s cheese and caramel popcorn. Chicago also invented the brownie, first baked at the Palmer House hotel in 1893.

1. Deep-Dish Pizza

Chicago’s famous pizza is called deep-dish, or Chicago-style pizza, and it’s closer to a savory pie than a slice. It’s baked in a tall, round pan with a thick, buttery crust that rises up the sides, and the layers go in upside down: cheese first, then fillings like sausage, and finally a chunky tomato sauce on top. Pizzeria Uno claims to have invented it in 1943, although the exact origin is still debated.

A deep-dish pizza takes around 30 to 45 minutes to bake, so order early and expect to eat it with a knife and fork. Classic spots include Lou Malnati’s and Pequod’s, known for its caramelized cheese crust, while Giordano’s is famous for the even taller stuffed pizza. Leftovers reheat well, so don’t worry if you can’t finish a whole one.

2. Tavern-Style Thin Crust Pizza

Here’s the local secret: many Chicagoans eat tavern-style pizza far more often than deep-dish. It has a cracker-thin, crispy crust, toppings spread right to the edge and it’s cut into small squares instead of wedges, a style locals call the “party cut.” It was born in neighborhood bars, where owners served it to keep customers drinking, and it’s still the everyday pizza of the city.

3. Chicago-Style Hot Dog

A Chicago-style hot dog is an all-beef frank on a poppy seed bun, “dragged through the garden” with yellow mustard, chopped onions, neon-green relish, tomato slices, a pickle spear, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt. The one rule everyone knows is no ketchup, and some stands will politely refuse to add it.

You’ll find great versions at Portillo’s, a local chain, and at classic stands like Superdawg. For a twist, Gene & Jude’s serves a stripped-back “depression dog” with fries piled right on top.

4. Italian Beef

The Italian beef is Chicago’s messiest and most beloved sandwich. Thin slices of seasoned roast beef are soaked in their own juices, piled into a long Italian roll and topped with sweet peppers, spicy giardiniera or both. Ask for it “dipped” or “wet” and the whole sandwich gets a quick dunk in the jus, so lean forward when you take a bite.

Al’s #1 Italian Beef has been serving it since 1938, and Mr. Beef became famous far beyond the city as the inspiration for the TV series The Bear. Many locals order a “combo,” which adds a grilled Italian sausage to the sandwich.

5. Giardiniera

Giardiniera is a mix of pickled vegetables, usually celery, carrots, cauliflower and peppers, packed in oil with herbs and chili. It comes hot or mild, and in Chicago it goes on Italian beef, pizza, sausages and just about anything else that needs a spicy, tangy kick.

6. Maxwell Street Polish

Named after the old Maxwell Street market, this sandwich is a grilled Polish sausage topped with a heap of grilled onions, yellow mustard and sport peppers on a soft bun. It’s a late-night classic, and stands like Jim’s Original have been serving it for decades. Chicago has one of the largest Polish communities outside Poland, so you’ll find excellent sausages and pierogi all over the city.

7. Jibarito

The jibarito is a Chicago original with Puerto Rican roots, created in the 1990s in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Instead of bread, it uses two slices of flattened, fried green plantain, filled with thin steak, lettuce, tomato, cheese and a generous swipe of garlic mayo. It’s crunchy, rich and unlike any other sandwich you’ll try.

8. Mother-in-Law

This South Side specialty is a corn tamale tucked into a hot dog bun and smothered in chili. The Mother-in-Law is hard to find outside Chicago and comes with plenty of local lore about its name, and it’s a fun one to track down if you want to eat like a true local.

9. Harold’s Chicken and Mild Sauce

Harold’s Chicken Shack opened on the South Side in 1950, and its fried chicken has since become a Chicago institution that regularly goes viral online. The chicken is fried to order and served over white bread with fries, then doused in mild sauce, a sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce that’s somewhere between barbecue sauce and ketchup. Ask for it “all over” and don’t skip the hot sauce if you like a kick.

10. Garrett Popcorn

Garrett Popcorn has been popping in Chicago since 1949, and the lines outside its shops prove it’s still a favorite. The one to order is the Garrett Mix, sometimes called Chicago mix, which combines sweet caramel corn with sharp cheddar cheese popcorn. The combination sounds strange until you try it.

11. The Brownie

Chicago is the birthplace of the brownie. It was created at the Palmer House hotel for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, when socialite Bertha Palmer asked for a dessert that ladies could eat from a boxed lunch. The hotel still bakes the original recipe, topped with walnuts and an apricot glaze.

12. Portillo’s Chocolate Cake Shake

It sounds like a dare, but it’s one of the most talked-about desserts in the city. At Portillo’s, a whole slice of their rich chocolate cake is blended right into a vanilla shake, creating a thick, fudgy drink that’s half dessert, half milkshake. Order one with a hot dog or an Italian beef for the full local combo.

13. Rainbow Cone

The Original Rainbow Cone has been a summer ritual in the Beverly neighborhood since 1926. Each cone stacks five flavors sliced in layers rather than scooped: chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House (vanilla with cherries and walnuts), pistachio and orange sherbet.

14. Chicago Donuts

Chicago takes its donuts seriously, and shops like Doughnut Vault, Stan’s, Do-Rite and Firecakes draw lines for their glazed old-fashioneds, brioche rings and seasonal flavors. Some sell out by late morning, so go early.

To try several in one go, the Chicago Donut Tour takes you to four donut shops in River North, with a donut to taste at each stop.

15. Mexican Food in Pilsen

Chicago has one of the largest Mexican communities in the United States, and neighborhoods like Pilsen and Little Village are packed with taquerías, bakeries and colorful murals. Look for carnitas sold by the pound, fresh tamales and sweet breads from the local panaderías. It’s some of the best Mexican food you’ll find north of the border.

16. Chicago Steakhouses

For more than a century, Chicago’s Union Stock Yards made the city the meatpacking capital of the country, and that history lives on in its old-school steakhouses. Think dark wood, white tablecloths, dry-aged cuts and martinis, especially around River North and the Loop.

17. Malört

Jeppson’s Malört is a bitter wormwood liqueur that’s become a strange point of local pride. Its taste is famously harsh, and taking a shot is something of a Chicago rite of passage, usually followed by a funny face that bartenders love to watch. Order it at almost any neighborhood bar.

Where to Eat in Chicago

For trendy restaurants, head to Randolph Street in the West Loop, known as Restaurant Row. Chinatown is great for dim sum, Devon Avenue is lined with Indian and Pakistani restaurants and Pilsen is the place for Mexican food. River North, close to downtown, has many of the famous pizza and hot dog spots within easy walking distance.

Walking between meals is also a great way to see the city. This free walking tour of Chicago covers the Loop’s landmarks, and the Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise is a relaxing way to digest while you learn how the city became the birthplace of the skyscraper. Both fit easily around a long lunch.

From a knife-and-fork slice of deep-dish to a dripping Italian beef, eating in Chicago is part history lesson and part feast. Try the classics, then wander into the neighborhoods to see how each community has added its own flavor. When you’re ready to plan the rest of your trip, Civitatis’s full catalog has plenty of ideas.