Two Illinois restaurants are included in The Restaurant List 2026, an elite compilation of the 50 best restaurants in America by The New York Times.
A 16-person scouting team traveled across the country for the list, eating everywhere from small-town Wisconsin to downtown Manhattan. The critics made reservations, waited in lines and arrived unannounced, paying for their meals and accepting no freebies.
Included from Illinois are:
Creepies, located at 1360 W. Randolph St., Chicago, is known for being a French Midwestern bistro. It opened in August 2025.
The Times singled out the restaurant's roast chicken, frites, giardiniera-topped mussels, leeks vinaigrette and tavern-style tarte flambée as examples of its Chicago-inflected take on French bistro cooking.
"Creepies is in the business of interpretation, not reproduction."
Kouklas Greek Eatery, located at 7620 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, is known for Greek food. It opened in December 2025.
The Times singled out Kouklas' flaming saganaki, taramosalata, fried calamari, tirokafteri, wood-fired oysters, octopus and sausage, along with its souvlaki, Greek salad and brown butter macaroni.
"The restaurant makes a compelling case that we should be eating better Greek food — and more of it."
The restaurants aren't ranked, and none appeared on a previous edition of the annual list. The selections include places that opened only weeks ago as well as restaurants that have been serving customers for decades.
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