Drawing Room
Chef Nick Lacasse did what Richard, the faux-hawked Wonka and Lisa, the whiny toque, couldn’t do in the finale of “Top Chef”: he bested Stephanie Izard in a head-to-head cooking competition. One of the dishes he won with: a seared lobe of foie gras over toasted brioche with pickled fennel and kumquat gastrique, a perfect prep of duck liver, featuring a palate-encompassing spectrum of sweet, tangy and salty flavors.
937 N. Rush

(312)266-2694
lepassage.com

Audience choice:
Hot Doug’s
3324 N. California
(773)279-9550

C-House

Featuring fatty pastrami-cured pork belly, killer BBQ smoked eel with crunchy eel-skin chicharon, crunchy zingy mini-yellowtail ceviche tacos and some of the best fish and chips this side of the Atlantic, this place proves Chicago ain’t a meat-and-potatoes town anymore.
166 E. Superior (312)523-0923

Audience choice:

Devon Seafood Grill
39 E. Chicago
(312)440-8660

Best of Chicago 2008

South Loop

Three little words: location, location, location. When the going gets tough in the investment world, the world takes flight to quality. And in real estate, quality is virtually synonymous with location. The South Loop may suffer disproportionately in the near term due to its enormous supply of new housing units coming onto the market over the next few years, but you can’t take away its location: along the lakefront, at the hub of all mass transit lines and within walking distance of Grant Park, Museum Campus and the Art Institute, shopping and Soldier Field. Those who can buy on price weakness and hold will do quite well.

Audience Choice
Gold Coast; Logan Square (tie)

Best of Chicago 2007