6 Best Restaurants in Illinois, USA

This longtime destination serves up capable Chinese take-out from a sprawling second-story space overlooking Broadway Avenue, but when it comes to traditional dim sum service, Furama shines. Steam carts clatter around the floor offering shiu mai, shrimp toast, rice crepes, braised chicken feet, and lo mein to patrons one plate at a time, allowing diners to curate their perfect feast. Large groups will benefit from buying power, because you'll want to try a bunch of menu items. 

Tasting menus tend to come with sky-high prices, but that's not the case at this welcoming spot where $39 gets you four courses served in a sleek, comfortable dining room. The menu is eclectic, and skews toward Chinese dishes and flavors, though there are other global influences as well among the creative offerings.

The weekend bustle of this dim sum house can feel overwhelming, but Phoenix softens you up with second-floor picture-window views that frame the Loop skyline and an excellent food menu. Dim sum is the draw all day long on weekends, but don’t overlook the regular menu, which features an array of live seafood cooked how you like it.

Handmade dumplings are the specialty at this sleek, modern restaurant. Order them fried or steamed, packed with fillings like lamb and coriander, lobster, pork and cabbage, and many more.

As precious as a jewel box, this red, lacquer-trimmed 80-seat restaurant hidden away in the Peninsula Hotel reveals the hotelier's Asian roots. Come for stylishly presented upscale dim sum, stay for the outdoor terrace that seats up to 70 during warmer months and lets you revel in a relaxing Cantonese and Shanghainese meal four stories above the madding crowds of Michigan Avenue. 

If you're looking for spicy, filling food and great prices in Chinatown, check out this Szechuan kitchen from Tony Hu, the neighborhood's most prolific restaurateur. Chilis, garlic, and ginger seem to go into every dish, whether it's chicken, green beans, eggplant, or dumplings. The digs are nothing to write home about, but you'll feel smug for choosing it once the feast is finished and you're sipping your tea with a happy tummy.