Milt's Barbeque Named One of Chicago Magazine's Best New Restaurants

The staff at Chicago Magazine may have scoured the city—and a few suburbs—to collect their annual Best New Restaurants list, but in the end, just one Lake View eatery made the cut.

After tasting their way through 73 contenders, Milt’s Barbecue for the Perplexed snagged the 18th spot on the publication’s competitive list of newcomers. In 2013, Chicago Magazine only listed 18 restaurants, compared to the 20 that made the list in 2012.

“So how is this barbecue joint different from all other barbecue joints?” the magazine wrote. “It’s certified kosher—so no pork ribs, no braised pork, and no pulled pork. And no dairy. But plenty of terrific barbecue and a lot of fun. … All this and some of the juiciest barbecued beef ribs, chicken, and brisket around with plenty of global kosher wines to wash it all down.”

Located at 3411 N. Broadway St., Milt’s opened in January and has been seemingly packed with diners ever since. Manager Dan Weiss says Chicago Magazine contacted him last month, but the reason behind the inquiry was kept a secret.  

But now that the cat is out of the bag, Weiss says he wants residents to know Milt’s is more than just a restaurant with a kosher twist.

“We’re just really happy, and we want to thank everyone in the community for helping to make this a success,” Weiss said. “We just always want to stress—I’ve heard feedback that the non-Jewish crowd may think of us as only a kosher place, but we want to make sure everyone is welcome.”

High-end restaurant Grace in the West Loop topped Chicago Magazine’s list, with other North Side restaurants like Lincoln Square’s Elizabeth Restaurant and Lincoln Park’s Chez Moi coming in at 4th and 8th on the list.

And while they didn’t make the top 18, two other Lake View hot spots received a shout-out for being the “best budget” restaurants. Andy’s Thai Kitchen at 946 W. Wellington Ave. received the award for Best Budget Thai, and Café Tola at 3612 N. Southport Ave. got praise for Best Budget Empanadas.

As a non-profit restaurant, this month’s proceeds from dining at Milt’s will be donated to the Lakeview Pantry.

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