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Prince, David Bowie, Muhammad Ali and Gene Wilder died. Donald Trump grabbed America by the biscuits, and Brangelina broke up. While Russian hackers can uncover just about anything, Becky with the Good Hair is technically still at large. Things didn’t go so well in 2016. Unless, like me, you ate out over 200 times this year. (Some were admittedly McDonald’s runs. McRib season, y’all.) After months of painstaking research, I’m happy to report that Chicago’s dining scene is going strong. We got another top-notch sushi joint, several upscale Chinese restaurants and a few big-time new chefs to keep an eye on. Of all the restaurants I visited this year, these were the truly stellar experiences.

Additional reporting by Eat & Drink editor Morgan Olsen and nightlife reporter Heather Schroering.

Naoki Sushi
Naoki Sushi

Naoki Sushi
2300 N. Lincoln Park West 773-868-0002
If you like sushi and Al Capone, you’ll certainly love this Lincoln Park sushi spot from the folks at Lettuce Entertain You. Not only does Naoki have some of Chicago’s best raw fish and architecturally composed sashimi plates, but the only way to get to the speakeasy-like dining room is via a gangster-style sashay through the Intro kitchen. Once inside, you’ll commit crimes against your waistline, sucking down irresistible delights such as truffle-perfumed chawanmushi egg custard swimming in soulful dashi broth or an entire lobster split and ready for dipping in citrus-infused ponzu. —Michael Nagrant

Snaggletooth
Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth
2819 N. Southport Ave. 773-899-4711
For too many years, your grocer’s seafood case has been peddling a lie in the form of vacuum-sealed mushy orange lumps they call cured salmon. But Jennifer Kim (Blackbird, Nico Osteria) and Bill Montagne (C Chicago) changed all that earlier this year with a new neighborhood venture in Lakeview. The duo’s technical precision results in translucent slivers of fish that glow with the radiance of freshly polished gems. The texture is silky and the taste so clean you won’t yearn for a schmear of cream cheese, which would only block the brilliant flavors anyway. —M.N.

Kimski
Kimski

Kimski
960 W. 31st St. 773-890-0588
The Bridgeport newbie’s tagline is “Slamming Korean and Polish together.” Every time I read this, I admittedly think it’s a restaurant specializing in international porn. And if you’ve seen their gigantic Polish sausage topped with kimchi slaw and soju mustard, they kind of are. While everything here is a melding of Korean and Polish cuisines, the fast-casual spot within Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar is much more than a sexual metaphor. Not to be missed are the Kopo Wangs, a dish that tastes like something out of a Buffalo Wild Wings if your Polish grandfather owned the franchise and smoked the offerings on his backyard Weber. —M.N.

Lena Brava
Lena Brava

Lena Brava
900 W. Randolph St. 312-733-1975
They recently recast Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World,” but I don’t think they got it right. They should have selected Rick Bayless, ageless wonder, yoga master and godfather of regional Mexican cuisine. Everything Bayless does—including the launch of this wood-fired seafaring Mexican restaurant in the West Loop—turns to gold. I’ve long been the kind of guy who would travel to the ends of the earth for tacos al pastor, but now that Bayless serves a smoky flaky cod version here, I can see myself forsaking pig and going full-on pescatarian. —M.N.

Imperial Lamian
Imperial Lamian

Imperial Lamian
6 W. Hubbard St. 312-595-9440
As the year progressed, my fellow food critics were not as fervent as I about this upscale Chinese restaurant in River North. I suspect it’s because many of the plates don’t trace their origin and authenticity to the deepest corners of Sichuan. But the hand-pulled noodles left me chuffed at their chew, and the soup dumplings burst with badass broth. Other plates, like the barbecue sauce-lacquered ribs, are sweet and salty but also subtle and complex with lilting tea smoke, the kind of touch you’d expect from a high-end chef. —M.N.

Duck Duck Goat
Duck Duck Goat

Duck Duck Goat
857 W. Fulton Market 312-902-3825
Lamian’s cuisine stole my stomach, but Stephanie Izard’s answer to Chinese in the West Loop stole my heart with movie-set-quality pieces and gorgeous interior design. The food—especially lip-numbing fried Chongqing chicken and a mountain of fried rice stuffed with an ocean’s bounty of seafood—is pretty killer too. —M.N.

Roister
Roister

Roister
951 W. Fulton Market
In this line of work, people often ask us where to go for special occasions, birthday dinners, anniversary celebrations, what have you. And for the past few months, the first name out of my mouth has been Roister. I’m certain you’ll find the Alinea Group’s addition to the West Loop on just about every top restaurant list released this year. The space itself orbits around an open-concept kitchen with a smoldering hearth. And the food—my God, the food—is extraordinary. Don’t leave without trying the whole chicken prepared three ways and the aged cheddar rillettes. —Morgan Olsen

Honey's
Honey’s

Honey’s
1111 W. Lake St. 312-877-5929
Yes, the name, which is more befitting of a truck stop diner, is a little cheesy. But like at truck stop diners where waitresses fawn all over you and call you “sweetie” even if you happen to be a nasty, angry human, the service at Honey’s in the West Loop is attentive and warm. The stylish bar and dining room are only outdone by the intricately minimalist plates from chef Charles Welch. —M.N.

Giant
Giant

Giant
3209 W. Armitage Ave. 773-252-0997
I don’t always dine out purely for pleasure, but when I do, I go to Giant in Logan Square. Chef/owner Jason Vincent (Nightwood) cooks the way I like to eat, by applying decades’ worth of technique and skill to comfort food and otherwise common dishes like ribs, biscuits and onion rings. Going to Giant is like visiting your mom’s dinner table if your mom went to the Culinary Institute of America. Even then, I doubt she’d be deep-frying uni dripping with soy and condensed milk, a flavor bomb that sends an umami jolt to the deepest pleasure receptors of your brain. —M.N.

Dixie
Dixie

Dixie
1952 N. Damen Ave. 773-688-4466
Though Charlie McKenna’s (Lillie’s Q) Bucktown “evolution of Southern fare” emerged with a mixed bag of reviews, I won’t stop singing its praises. The seasonal shareable menu is constantly changing, but McKenna’s acute attention to detail is unwavering. Plus, the white-washed A-frame venue is sporting some of the best interior design work I’ve seen all year. If you can, visit with a group big enough to sample the entire menu, because when you see the shrimp middlins—a twist on shrimp and grits with cilantro chile verde and cauliflower—emerge from the kitchen, you might have diner’s remorse. —M.O.

Giant
Giant

GT Prime
707 N. Wells St. 312-600-6305
This is Chicago’s best steakhouse. Except it’s not a steakhouse. Sure, the River North restaurant serves super-marbled high-grade wagyu that costs more per ounce than some street drugs. But it’s also helmed by Giuseppe Tentori, a guy who once ran Charlie Trotter’s kitchens, a dude who has some seriously fancy Italian tricks up his sleeve, including mortadella- and mozzarella-fondue-stuffed arancini balls. The cocktails, too, are some of the city’s finest, especially the X-Ray Yankee Zulu featuring bone marrow-infused bourbon. —M.N.

Entente
Entente

Entente
3056 N. Lincoln Ave. 872-206-8553
Generally when I dine out for a review, I have to over-order to get a good sense of the breadth of the menu. Still, I can’t always order everything, and the first things I usually skip over are the salad section and any mention of pedestrian roast chicken. Thankfully I didn’t apply these rules when I visited Entente in Lakeview. The “wedge” salad here is a barge of crisp iceberg lettuce ferrying housemade green goddess dressing, tomato in various forms, hunks of bacon and sprigs of dill, resulting in one of the finest assemblages of roughage I have ever tried. Chef Brian Fisher’s (Schwa) cuisine makes a case for him as a supreme talent on the rise. —M.N.

Bad Hunter
Bad Hunter

Bad Hunter
802 W. Randolph St. 312-265-1745
Before you scoff at a “vegetable-focused” concept, let us say this West Looper from Heisler Hospitality (Pub Royale, Lone Wolf) is just as much indulgent as it is refreshing. The fry bread with burrata and the tempura-fried lemons and delicata squash are among the more decadent options, but meat-eaters will be just as happy with the daily menu of rotating seasonal protein dishes. The real star is the Bad Hunter burger, a textured double patty of black beans glued together with cheddar and topped with more cheese, tomato jam, raw onions, iceberg lettuce and dill pickle-mustard aioli on a charred brioche bun. —Heather Schroering