The Michelin Guide does not cover Springfield, Illinois (regretfully). And if it did, there wouldn’t be a star anywhere in the town anyway. Hell, there might be one or two Bib Gourmands. Nevertheless, the town does have a few standout restaurants, fancy or otherwise.
AI tells me that the fanciest restaurant in town is Curate, which is located in a very tony … strip mall. I’ve never been there and doubt that I ever will. For my money, the fanciest place in town is Obed & Isaac’s, which is located in a restored old Italianate mansion adjacent to downtown. Mrs. H and I have eaten there a time or two, and the food is delicious and the bill is staggering.
Springfield also has a couple of … for lack of a better choice of words, “old-school” fancy restaurants. You know, the type of place where the servers wear tuxes and where your grandpa would take his business buddies for brandy and cigars. Lindsays and The Globe at the downtown Hilton and Maldaner’s (also downtown) come to mind. I’ve eaten at Lindsay’s and Maldaner’s, and other than the exquisite carrot soup at Linsay’s, I was unimpressed by both places.
My favorite restaurants in Springfield, however, are not especially fancy. Gateway to India (they don’t have a website) is, believe it or not, an Indian restaurant, in a nondescript building in a nondescript part of town. D’Arcy’s Pint is not unlike any other gastropub in any other Midwestern city, but their horseshoes are worth a trip. And Joe Rogers Chili Parlor is a hole in the wall with greasy chili that is to die for.
So what are the fanciest restaurants in your town, and what are your favorite (fancy or otherwise) restaurants in your town?
I haven’t been to any of the fanciest restaurants in Olympia, not there are many. My favorites in town are a San Diego style ‘Berto’s knockoff and an old-school Italian-American family restaurant with the unfortunately dated name “Dirty Dave’s Gay ‘90s”.
On the classy side, we have 1889 Prime Steakhouse and Jean-Pierre’s Three16, and a Mexican steakhouse called El Sitio which is on the ground floor of the building my mother’s apartment is on and drives her crazy because she can smell their cooking all the time.
I live in Chicago which has no shortage of great dining.
As it happens Open Table (the reservation app) came out with its top 100 restaurants for 2025. 16 are in Chicago.
Favorites (for me) are difficult to choose. Sometimes I want fancy stuff and sometimes a good pizza or sandwich knocks it out of the park.
From the list I posted above I do like Mon Ami Gabi. Food is very good, location is excellent, space if cozy and can be romantic. Outdoor seating in the summer which is great too. Amazing it is part of a restaurant group but they nailed this one.
Joe’s Seafood is great and old school. But, honestly, one of my favorite crab places is Half Shell in Chicago. TOTAL dive place (not fancy)! Never in a million years would you think you’d get good crab there. But if you know, you know and I almost never fail to have a great time there!
My favorite though, in Chicago, has to be Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf. It ain’t cheap but soooo. good. Fancy(ish).
If you want fancy go to the Peninsula Hotel and expect to pay outrageous prices. Or Alinea. Or a few other places.
Not that the Michelin Guide is the be-all, end-all of good food, but as a data point I note that the Windy City has 20 stars across the whole town. Only one three-star: Smyth.
I went to the Mon Ami Gabi in Vegas last time I was there. Damn good steak frites.
Fanciest place I ate in Chicago when I visited was the Italian Village. I’m a sucker for the kind of places that have been there forever and feel like it.
I LOVE Italian Village! Old school, a little cheesy and wonderful. The food is good if not great but that’s ok. It’s a fun time fer sure! Been going there since I was a kid (so nostalgia might figure in some).
ETA: I can walk there from my place. Not super close but maybe a 15 minute walk.
A little cheesy? The layer of mozzarella on top of my lasagna was like half an inch thick! I was warned that Midwesterners go heavy on the cheese, but I wasn’t expecting that much.
Interestingly, the chef at Smyth (the only three star in Chicago now) worked at Alinea. The student becomes the master!
I will say Chicago never has been a three-star biggie like some other cities (e.g. New York).
But it holds its own with food. And better, a lot of the great food are not $500+ per person meals. Maybe not cheap but nowhere near those lofty prices (and, I will say, my brother and I once entertained the idea of going to Alinea just to know, once, what such a thing was like but we had three people…Alinea sells the table. If you have three that is a four seat table and you pay for four seats…fuuuucccckkkk that! But they get away with it cuz they can…still…fuck that).
ETA: Also, I do not think anyone comes out of the gate at three stars. Restaurants need to climb the ladder and there are some really exciting new restaurants in Chicago on their way up. Going now would be like seeing a favorite band just before they hit the big time. A little less expensive too (albeit nowhere near a good deal…still expensive…just not crazy expensive).
It’s a bit hard to define “my city, and my city only” as I live on the outskirts of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). But a literal interpretation would mean restaurants within a few miles of my house. There’s nothing especially fancy in the immediate area, but The Keg steakhouse (which is a chain) is pretty nice, and they have great roast beef.
Venturing farther out, needless to say Toronto has no end of fancy restaurants. As a sushi lover, I’ll mention Shoushin with which my son (also a sushi aficionado) and I have a history. We first discovered really great sushi when chef Jackie Lin ran a sushi restaurant in a rather seedy part of town (located, no kidding, a few doors down from a strip joint). They’ve since relocated twice, and are now in a very upscale part of the city.
The last time we were there (before COVID struck) an omakase (tasting menu) dinner for two with a very fine sake was around $600. Today you couldn’t get out of there with a meal like that for much less than $2000. I love the place but that’s just not realistic for me just for a nice dinner.
I work on a very ‘foodie’ city - Bristol, UK - but it doesn’t do ‘fancy’, it’s just not the vibe. The one super fancy michelin starred restaurant closed as people didn’t like its fussyness. Instead, we have a wealth of independent, owner operated restaurants, many leaning into small plates and casual dining environments. Even the michelin starred places look quite bear bones - such as Wilson’s.
We’re a small city (population ~105K), but big enough to have a Keg locally. For our American friends, a Keg is a step or two below Smith and Wollensky’s or Del Frisco’s, and I’d suggest that those are small step(s). I like the place, and it’s probably the best in town. Steaks done to order perfectly, fresh everything, beautifully-made martinis, a great wine list.
Locally, two others worth noting are The Watertower and Firestone’s. I haven’t been to The Watertower in years, and Firestone’s never, but I’m happy nominating the Keg for our city.
It’s not on that list but we were in Bristol for a short break a couple of years ago and we were both very impressed with Muse Bistro. Sort of British-Asian fusion, very nice.
Lord, we have so many! Let’s approach it via cuisine. “Maggiano’s” which, in my opinion, has the best Italian food around, has two locations. One is on North Clark downtown, and the other is in Oak Brook right off of I-88.
Mexican food is tricky because the biggest and best known places might not have the best food. It is the small, family run places where real Mexican senoras do the cooking that has the best food. For example, “La Fiesta”, a big well known place has good Mexican food, but a much smaller and less known place like “La Catrina’s” has fabulous Mexican food. Their Margarita’s are also superior to most I’ve had.
In terms of beef, lamb, and general excellence of food with wonderful ambience, “Seasons 52” is the ticket. The three locations that I know of are in Oak Brook, Schaumburg, and Orland Park. I like Oak Brook, which has a cluster of excellent restaurants within close proximity of one another.
The best deep dish pizza I’ve had can be found in two places, “Beggars Pizza” which has several locations, and “Giordano’s” in Hyde Park. My favorite thin crust pizza, and I’m willing to drive a ways to get it, can be found at the “Beverly Pizza Pub” in the Beverly Hills area on Western Ave.
I’m sure that even the outlanders here have heard of the “Greek Town” and “China Town” areas just south of downtown. It’s very ethnic and has excellent food.
Oh, that’s interesting and I hadn’t heard about that. Alinea has often been on the “best restaurants in the world”-type lists, even as high as number one. I’ve never had the heart to spend the kind of money to go there, but my brother has saved up his money and been there three times. It will come as no surprise when I say he loves it. I’d love to go one day, and as much as I love food and even experimental food, I just can’t justify the cost to myself. I tend to be more of a budget gourmand. Around here, Sepia is about the fanciest I’ve ever gotten, and that was back when I was still in the wooing stage with my wife. Fantanstic food. Avec (on Randolph) was also quite nice. As a vendor I got to eat at Spiaggia a few times – by far the best Italian restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. It was Northern Style Italian and just blew me away. Also quite dear in the pocket, which is why I’ve only eaten there as a vendor.
Minneapolis has no Michelin restaurants and I’ve never been to one. There are some good restaurants here and a lot of them are Beard winners. There’s one called Meritage that is supposed to be Michelin quality, but we haven’t been there yet. Lurcat, which is nearby, is very good, as is Jack’s. We’ve been to both. I think our favorite may be Nicollet Island Inn. It’s located next to the Mississippi River and they have a lobster week every year. The bar makes a good burger. I tend to prefer foods with ingredients I can pronounce and that I don’t have to ask the waiter “WTF is this?”
The “fanciest” restaurant in Cleveland is probably The Marble Room. High-end steakhouse downtown in what used to be a very ornate bank. I wouldn’t consider it the BEST restaurant in Cleveland, that nod probably goes to Amba, or Zhug. Or maybe Cordelia. Cleveland is pretty spoiled for choice for quality restaurants. That’s not even including the ethnic food scene…
According to Wikipedia there are 72 Michelin star restaurants in NYC, probably the most well-known would be Eleven Madison Park, Per Se and Le Bernardin. Nope I have never been to any of them! I am not a hundreds of dollars per person for one meal type of person.