Chicago's Carb Diva Era: Where Bagels Get Weird, Croissants Go Korean, and Every Restaurant Feels Like Nonna's House

Food Scene Chicago

Chicago is having a moment, and it smells like wood smoke, toasted bagels, and butter-laminated dough.

Across the city, a new generation of openings is reshaping how listeners eat, starting with all-day spots that refuse to be boxed into a single meal period. The Radicle in Logan Square, from chef Joe Frillman of Daisies, spins coastal Italian flavors through a Midwestern lens, pairing a raw bar and aperitivo cocktails with vegetable-driven plates and pizza that lean on regional produce. Bar Tutto in the West Loop, from Rose Mary chef Joe Flamm, doubles down on the all-day café trend The Infatuation has flagged, inviting listeners to linger from espresso to Negroni with Italian-leaning small plates and pastas that feel both comfortingly familiar and sharply contemporary.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s obsession with nostalgia is getting deliciously weird. The Infatuation points to spots like Cerdito Muerto in Pilsen and Mister Tiger and Pizz’Amici, tavern-style rooms where candlelight bounces off walls packed with family photos and paintings of long-gone relatives. These “hot restaurants with old souls” pair martinis and pork collar or crisp-edged pizza with a sense of story; dinner feels like crashing someone else’s family reunion in the best possible way.

On the casual side, carbohydrates have entered their diva era. Chicago Magazine and The Infatuation both note a full-on “bagel wave,” with names like Holey Dough, Rosca in Pilsen with its Mexican-inspired mango-and-pepita and red mole bagels, and Zeitlin’s Deli expanding beyond pop-up status. At the same time, bakeries like Del Sur and Daeji Dough Co. are turning croissants into edible passports, stuffing them with toasted rice flavors or even tteokbokki rice cakes for a playful Korean-inflected crunch.

Tasting menus and fine dining are hardly sitting out. Atsumeru, highlighted by Chicago Magazine, brings a precise, almost Oriole-like grace to its courses, while Next Restaurant continues its globetrotting themed menus, promising a 2026 lineup that travels through Japan, eras of excess, and even the world of fashion, all without leaving town.

Chicago Restaurant Week 2026, covered by WTTW and Axios, stitches these stories together with more than 500 restaurants and 27 notable newcomers, from Adalina Prime to Akiro Handroll Bar and Ambar. Multi-course menus priced to tempt turn the city into a two-week buffet of experimentation.

What makes Chicago’s culinary scene singular is this constant negotiation between heritage and reinvention: Midwestern ingredients treated with global technique, immigrant foodways elevated without losing soul, and a dining culture where a red-sauce joint like Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian can be as coveted as the latest tasting counter. Listeners should pay attention because Chicago isn’t chasing trends—it’s writing the next chapter of American dining, one everything bagel and croissant mash-up at a time..


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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI