Best of Chicago 2020: Food & Drink

Illustration by Jason Wyatt Frederick

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The year in pivots 1

Chicago restaurants ate shit this year. A lot of shit was still pretty great.

By Mike Sula | Dec 18, 2020

In This Section:

showing 1 to 10 of 10

Best of Chicago 2020: Food & Drink

on March 17, 2021 at 10:10AM

Best of Chicago 2020 is presented by
Food & Drink poll winners

on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

From Brianna Wellen's introduction, "Losses and gains: Best of Chicago 2020": Some business to get out of the way: the reader poll results were determined by you, the readers!
Radical hospitality

By Mike Sula on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

"The species in which peace and mutual support are the rule, prosper, while the unsociable species decay." So wrote Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin, advocating for the concept of mutual aid, when communities care for their members rather than forcing them to eat each other to survive.
The death (and resurrection?) of Crown Liquors

By Ariel Parrella-Aureli on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

Folks living in the Logan-Avondale area vividly remember the crushing news of popular bar and liquor store Crown Liquors closing its doors in April last year. It was one of the early businesses to shutter due to the pandemic, which started the cycle of sadness we've been stuck in: watching our favorite bars, theaters, and restaurants get uprooted.
Devon Market butter runs

By Kaylen Ralph on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

I didn't have a list the last time I went grocery shopping without a mask. It was Saturday, March 14, 2020, and I had booked it down the alley between my apartment and the Devon Market to stock up on "the essentials" before a rumoured two-week stay-at-home order began.
Relearning to love fireside beers

By Bill Savage on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

The change of season from winter to spring in Chicago is all about looking forward. We anticipate that, some day in late May, White Man's Winter (my term for the seasonal mirror of "Indian Summer," blasts of cold after periods of vernal warmth) will finally end.
No more date nights at Guthrie's

By Meggie Gates on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

The hottest date I ever brought to Guthrie's Tavern was my dad. It was the day before Christmas Eve and we decided to hit the bar prior to White Christmas at the Music Box.
Instagram takeovers

By Mike Sula on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

Last month Alexis Thomas of Black Cat Kitchen and Eve Studnicka of Dinner at the Grotto officially joined forces by rebranding their binomial meal delivery service "Funeral Potatoes," named for the classic midwestern cheesy hash brown casserole. It was a small but significant flag-planting for one of the first of many pandemic chef pivots I covered in the last year.
Skylark in limbo

By Dmitry Samarov on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

I haven't poured a drink, chosen a song to play, washed a glass, or greeted a regular at the Skylark since March 15, 2020. It was a Sunday that had an end-of-the-world feel.
Farmers’ markets keep communities thriving

By Rachel Fernandez on March 17, 2021 at 10:00AM

Throughout the summer of 2020, every cancelled street fest felt like a fresh punch in the gut. No more day drinking at Hot Dog Fest while dancing to Boy Band Review perform "Summer Girls" by LFO, an especially devastating blow.

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Chicago Reader

Best of Chicago 2020: Food & Drink

Related Stories

The year in pivots 1

In This Section:

Best of Chicago 2020: Food & Drink

Food & Drink poll winners

Radical hospitality

The death (and resurrection?) of Crown Liquors

Devon Market butter runs

Relearning to love fireside beers

No more date nights at Guthrie's

Instagram takeovers

Skylark in limbo

Farmers’ markets keep communities thriving

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