What to Eat in Chicago: A Food Guide (2026)

Chicago food is a working-city cuisine. Its headline dish, deep-dish pizza, is a 1943 restaurant invention and a genuine tourist draw, but the pizza most locals actually eat is thin and cut into squares. The Chicago dog is practically a salad on a bun, governed by a strict no-ketchup rule. The Italian beef was born stretching a roast to feed a crowd of immigrant labourers. Eat well here and you are really eating what the city eats, not just what the postcards show. This guide covers the dishes worth seeking out and pairs naturally with a slow walk on one of our Chicago self-guided tours.

The dishes to seek out

Deep-dish pizza. The famous one, and worth trying once. Invented at Pizzeria Uno in 1943 (credit is disputed between owner Ike Sewell and chef Rudy Malnati), it is a thick, buttery, pan-baked pie with a tall crust holding cheese and fillings, and a layer of chunky tomato sauce spooned on top. It is rich, knife-and-fork food. Order it if you have never had it, but know that many Chicagoans treat it as a special occasion or a thing for visitors.

Tavern-style thin pizza. The pie locals actually reach for. Rolled thin and crispy, baked flat, and cut into small squares (the "party cut") instead of wedges. It is the everyday Chicago pizza, ordered by the tavern, shared over a beer. If you want to eat like a local rather than a tourist, this is the one.

The Chicago-style hot dog. An all-beef frankfurter on a poppy-seed bun, "dragged through the garden" with yellow mustard, chopped white onion, bright green sweet relish, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. Emphatically no ketchup: the tradition holds that ketchup was a cheap cover for poor meat, so vendors with good franks never used it. Asking for it is a gentle taboo among purists.

Italian beef. Thin-sliced, seasoned roast beef piled on an Italian roll and dipped in its own cooking juices, topped with spicy giardiniera or sweet peppers. You order it "dry," "wet," or "dipped" depending on how much gravy you want soaked into the bread. Born on the South Side in the 1930s, it is one of the most authentically local things you can eat here.

The rest of the plate. Chicago is also a maize of other specialties: Maxwell Street Polish sausage, jibarito sandwiches from the Puerto Rican community (plantains for bread), and a serious fine-dining and neighbourhood-restaurant scene that ranges far beyond the classics. The famous three, though, pizza, dog, and beef, are the ones the city built its food identity on.

Where the food culture lives

The Loop and River North, for the classics. The downtown core you walk on the Loop architecture tour is thick with deep-dish institutions, hot dog stands, and Italian beef counters, so you can eat the headliners without leaving the sightseeing.

The neighbourhoods, for the real thing. Tavern-style pizza and the best beef stands live out in the residential neighbourhoods rather than downtown. A short L ride to Wicker Park, Logan Square, or the Near West Side rewards you with the pies and sandwiches locals argue about.

On the walk. The corridor you cover on the Magnificent Mile tour and the Riverwalk is lined with cafes and patios, so lunch and a landmark can be the same stop.

Eat as you walk

The best way to work through this list is on foot, one district at a time. Pair a morning of skyscrapers in the Loop with a deep-dish lunch, an afternoon on the Riverwalk with a hot dog on a patio, and an evening in the neighbourhoods with tavern-style pizza and a beer. Route your day with the one day in Chicago itinerary, plan the practical side with the Chicago travel guide, and browse all Chicago tours. Every tour is free to start, with roughly the first 30% of stops unlocked before an optional purchase.