2 Illinois Restaurants Among Best New Eateries In America: New List

CHICAGO —Two restaurants in Illinois were named among the 50 best new eateries in America this year by the men’s fashion, style, and culture magazine Esquire.

The 2023 list, published Tuesday, includes restaurants from well-known food hubs such as New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as other major metro areas including Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Miami, Atlanta, Honolulu, Chicago, Louisville, New Orleans, St Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and more.

Here are the restaurants from Illinois that made the list.

Asador Bastian, Chicago

According to Esquire’s review, chef Doug Psaltis and co-owner Hsing Chen’s place is sneakily one of the most exciting steak joints in America. In the Basque tradition, it specializes in older cows, whose meat is complex and worth savoring and sharing, if only to save room for risotto-like arroz cremoso.

Warlord, Chicago

Esquire writes: This is a late-night spot, for the industry, by the industry. It’s loud. It’s packed. It’s rocking. Sit at the counter and watch the magic that happens when fire meets meat. Order as much as you can stomach, and definitely get the foie gras—it’s basted in butter and sugar so it achieves a candylike shell, and it’s served with slices of chewy, smoky, vinegary marinated green tomato slowly dried over the hearth.

Esquire noted that authenticity was a major theme this year among the restaurants. That was true for its Restaurant of the Year winner, Ilis in Brooklyn, where the chefs “prepared the fish as it would have been done centuries ago, wrapped in bark and cooked over flames.” It was also true across the country at Poltergeist in Los Angeles, where the chefs “gave us a wild, experimental take on the fish taco, which was dipped in masa and fried. Both felt genuine, and each was delicious.”

The magazine also named two eateries that earned Comeback of the Year titles and the coveted claim to Pizza Joint of the Year. Baroo in Los Angeles closed in 2018, but is now “decidedly all grown up,” Esquire wrote in naming it the comeback winner this year for the West Coast. On the East Coast, Superiority Burger in the East Village of New York City earned the comeback honor, with its tantalizing vegan burger offerings.

Meanwhile, sure to stir the pot among pizza aficionados is Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern in Houston, which was named Pizza Joint of the Year.