As you may (or may not) be aware, I love to eat good food. So a guide to the best ethnic foods in Chicago most definitely is an essential when navigating all the city has to offer. Hannah Marks, along with the culinary team at Kendall College, has created the perfect guide to those looking to dive into the ethically diverse food around the city! The guide shows the highest-rated restaurant in each Chicago neighborhood based on that's neighborhood's historical ethnicity.
The guide includes a color coded key for each of the ethnicities represented: Mexican, Polish, Irish, African American, Assyrian, Swedish, Puerto Rican, Ukranian, Chinese, Greek and American Melting Pot restaurants.
Part of what interested me the most about the map is the fact that it includes ethnic restaurants that are the highest rated according to the Yelp. As a Yelp Elite, I often turn to Yelp to figure out the best dishes to order at a restaurant, or the best restaurants in any area I am in or even planning to visit; what a perfect way to narrow down the best of the best simply based on what the people of Chicago have deemed their favorites.
I am proud to say that in my neighborhood of Logan Square, the top rated restaurant on the guide was L'Patron, one of my personal favorites and home to the best fish tacos in the city!
When I asked Hannah what prompted her to make the guide, she shared that “the main idea behind the piece was in celebrating the neighborhood-to-neighborhood diversity in Chicago. This really is a city of neighborhoods, and the cultural (and thus the culinary) traditions in every neighborhood are so reflective of the diverse historical heritage we have – which is why you get such great Mexican food in Pilsen and Greek food in the West Loop.” I couldn't agree with her more.
And of course, I was curious as to what she considers her favorite Chicago restaurant: “Staropolska in Avondale – it was my first Polish food experience, and it was amazing (and not to mention – the perfect food for a January day in Chicago).”
You can check out and play around with the map below (or on the Kendall College website here)
Http iframes are not shown in https pages in many major browsers. Please read this post for details.For more information on the project, including the methodology, check out the Kendall College Blog post about it HERE!
Have you visited any of the top rated ethnic restaurants in the guide?
Share your experiences in the comments below!