John Ringor

1 week ago | theinfatuation.com | John Ringor

The owner of Omarcito’s greets everyone with so much charisma it’d take at least three cafecitos to match 10% of his energy. But the excitement is warranted—the Latin food coming out of the bright yellow shipping container that functions as Omarcito’s command center is fantastic. The ropa vieja sandwich is a top-tier, meaty handheld that could put italian beef at risk of losing its “Chicago beef” title.

1 week ago | theinfatuation.com | John Ringor

The chef behind two of our favorite Vietnamese spots in the city, Haisous and Ca Phe Da, is opening a new restaurant in River North. Like the marinated beef that inspired its name, you can expect a variety of other Southeast Asian dishes. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.

1 week ago | theinfatuation.com | John Ringor

After just launching Zarella (which happens to make one of our favorite carbonara tavern-style pizza), the Boka team continues its 2025 openings streak with Gingie. There aren’t too many details out about this new River North spot, but we know their menu will highlight both European and Japanese influences. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.

1 week ago | theinfatuation.com | John Ringor

The opening of this new Fulton Market steakhouse from the Adalina team proves that Chicago can’t get enough of beef. The massive 10,500-square-foot space will be open for lunch and dinner and will have a two-story wine cellar and patio space. Plus, private rooms if you ever need to host a 200-person party. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.

1 week ago | theinfatuation.com | John Ringor

The people behind two of Chicago’s most beloved burgers, Little Bad Wolf and Gretel, are opening a multi-hyphenated bakery-cafe-restaurant-market in Logan Square. The two-story spot will be located right next to the 606 entrance by Western Ave., which hopefully means the bike ride-to-burger pipeline is about to get a major upgrade. We haven’t been here yet, but want you to know this spot exists.