The Resy Guide to Chicago’s Wine-Loving Restaurants

Following the success of Osteria Langhe, which highlights Piedmontese cuisine, owner Aldo Zaninotto moved over to Rome for Testaccio, which quietly opened last summer. With an array of rich housemade pastas and plentiful dishes coming out of the wood-fired oven — thin crackly crust pizzas; whole roasted branzino; porchetta with apple and pistachio pesto; fried Roman artichokes with tangy lemon aioli — you need wines that stand up.

Zaninotto compiled an Italian-heavy list buoyed by lovely island wines from the Canaries to Greece (think the food-friendly Bodegas Viñátigo gual, with its aromatic tropical notes, or the elegant and silky Cos Nero di Lupo nero d’avola) — even a group of amphora-aged wines and gems from Israel, Lebanon and Turkey.

After being closed for the duration of the pandemic and turning Giant into a roving food truck, owners Jason Vincent and Josh Perlman reopened their intimate-yet-acclaimed Logan Square spot. The menu highlights Vincent’s tried-and-true favorites from the blue crab salad and waffle fries to the 50-layer lasagna (don’t worry: it’s much lighter than it sounds) to the chimichurri and feta-adorned grilled pork. This lets Perlman offer minimal intervention and natural-leaning wines to play against the food’s big, textured flavors.

The producers on Perlman’s list tend to farm organically or biodynamically, providing wines that won’t overpower like the super drinkable Broc Cellars 2019 ‘Le Clairet’ cabernet (with just a hint of carignan); a Bloomer Creek 2007 Tanzen Dame dry riesling from the Finger Lakes, with its spice and candied citrus; or the Enderle and Moll 2019 grauburgunder from Germany that will make you think it’s rosé — but no, it’s pinot gris, clearly ramato with a burst of strawberry. Tuck into the main dining room or reserve a spot in the backyard patio — either way, just get back to Giant.

Chef and owner Doug Psaltis and his pastry-chef wife, Hsing Chen, created an airy, plant-filled, beautifully designed modern Greek restaurant that reflects their culinary pedigrees. He helped launch a number of Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, notably the RPMs (he was the ‘P’); she worked in esteemed kitchens like The French Laundry and the Peninsula Chicago. Look for the cut-to-order gyros with Chen’s fresh-from-the-wood-oven hand-pulled pita; crispy kataifi cheese pie; grilled prawn saganaki; creamy taramasalata dip; and and other Psaltis family recipes like eggplant moussaka and flaky spanakopita.

Through it all, dive into wine director Kristin Francesco’s majority Greek wine list featuring the best of the Aegean Peninsula, often featuring wine imbued with volcanic terroir, highlighted via such Santorini saline-driven assyrtikos as Sigalas, Hatzidakis, and Santo Wines, and bold xinomavro from Macedonia’s Kir-Yianni and Tatsis.

Having spent many years living in South America, chef John Manion has a deep connection to that region’s food and culture. Which is why, after hunkering down during the pandemic, he honed the restaurant’s focus to highlight grilled fare often found at asaderos throughout Argentina. With a team that expertly works the open hearth at the back of the bustling restaurant, expect an array of grilled fare. Yes, you can get a New York strip or lobster tail. But dive in deeper with the head-on prawns. sweetbreads, or the fall-off-the-bone quail.

General manager and beverage director Alex Cuper has built a 100% South American wine list, pulling from producers throughout Argentina (Viña Alicia’s limited-production nebbiolo), Chile (the naturally farmed, bright Roberto Henriquez “Super Estrella” rosado) and Uruguay (the bright “Estival” white blend from the cool Viendo de los Vientos). To make it a true Argentinian meal, kick it off with a vermouth and soda made with La Fuerza vermouth from Mendoza.

Editor’s Note: As of Sept. 14, 2023, Verve Wine has rebranded into a new concept, Argot.

This relative newcomer to the upscale Lincoln Commons development in the heart of Lincoln Park expands this brand, which has bottle shops in New York and San Francisco. The bright, high-ceilinged design opens up into a room split between a robust wine shop focusing on small growers that farm sustainably and organically, and Verve’s first restaurant, featuring food from chef Ryan Epp (Roister, Per Se). Linger over seasonally driven shared plates like burrata with smashed spring peas; heirloom beets with whipped ricotta; and eggplant Parm in a bubbly San Marzano tomato sauce.

Sit at one of the tables or booths —  the clutch spot is at the bluish-gray veined marble-topped bar — and top off your glass with a bright and slightly nutty fiano from Guido Marsella or a gem of a pinot noir-gamay blend from Bernard Moreau, from the wine chillers built into the bar.

Channel your inner cool kid and pop into this spot from folks behind Scofflaw and Heavy Feather — so you know you’re going to find quality. This small spot — with a patio offering time-limited seating — is a great neighborhood hang that happens to focus on low-intervention and natural wines.

The short list from around the world has just enough to make it interesting, hitting buzzwords like pét-nat, lambrusco and picpoul, without the esoteric options being overwhelming. You could simply go for an apéritif, choosing bottles from Portugal’s Casa de Mouraz, Lebanon’s Chateau Musar, Slovenia’s Peter Gönc, or even Michigan’s Shady Lanes. Or grab some bar snacks like fries and aioli; a chicken Parm sando (vegan option available); or a cheesy Bavarian pretzel and make a night of it.

Stepping into the breezy, cerulean tile- and light wood-laden Fulton Market hot spot from former Spiaggia exec chef and “Top Chef” winner Joe Flamm feels like you’ve walked into a welcoming seaside haunt — and that’s the point. Flamm’s homage to Italian and Croatian coastal fare, which he lovingly dubbed “Adriatic drinking food,” showcases an open hearth in the kitchen for grilled meats, seafood, and seasonal vegetables alongside handmade pastas and a selection of risottos.

Wine director Sarah Traynor built a fantastic wine list to match those bright flavors featuring bottles from around the world, but a nice focus on many throughout the Mediterranean, like Menti’s garganega pét-nat or a Cos frappato from Sicily and handpicked Croatian delights like a pošip from Merga Victa or a red, zinfandel-like Dingač from Saints Hills.

Call 872-260-3921 for reservations.

Newly minted with a Michelin star, Porto offers a taste of the Iberian Peninsula in West Town, mainly focusing on the Galician region of northwest Spain and southern Portugal — with jaunts to the islands. You feel like you’ve walked into a sophisticated tapas bar, where the chefs cut fresh ham straight off the leg, and open tin after tin of some of the world’s best conservas: hand-packed seafood scallops, octopus, sardines, and more. Chef Marcos Campos channels family recipes with dishes like charcoal-grilled wild prawns and Galician seaweed lobster pasta.

What’s even more special is the ever-rotating wine list of handpicked Spanish and Portuguese wines showcasing of-the-moment winemakers like Mesquida Mora’s Sòtil”,featuring the light-bodied indigenous Mallorcan callet; Rodrigo Méndez’s elegant, skin-contact albariño; and Luis Seabra’s small-production Xisto Ilimitado and Xisto Cru from Portugal’s Douro Valley.

When you have a classic, you don’t mess with it; you only make it better. That’s essentially what happened when the then-20-year-old Lincoln Park wine bar shuttered its original location and moved to Logan Square. Now, seven years later it continues to prove itself one of the best wine bars in the country.

Focusing on a vast list of minimal intervention wines, the educated staff at Webster’s can introduce you to a number of small wineries from around the world: Birichino in California’s Central Coast; Laurent Cazottes from southern France; a citrusy-yet-lean grüner veltliner from Bauer in Austria — and these are just some of the glass pours. There are dozens more in bottle. While the emphasis clearly rests on wine, expect “drinking food” to pair perfectly: oysters on the half-shell; snackable dishes like olives, fries and candied nuts; conservas; rillettes; cheese and charcuterie. When you’re looking to simply enjoy, Webster’s is where you go. It’s why it has been around for nearly 30 years.

Chef Stephen Gilanders made a splash when he opened Pilsen’s S.K.Y. — a New American restaurant with a noted Asian influence. He’s doing it again with the South Loop’s Apolonia, focusing on flavors from around the Mediterranean and Europe — scallop tagliatelle in piquillo sauce; hearth-baked calamari; olive oil-roasted mushrooms; wood-fired chorizo.

But just like its Pilsen sibling, Apolonia’s wine list, with a healthy selection of glass pours, doesn’t disappoint. You’ll find choice picks from around Europe — like Skouras’ Salto moschifilero, a Sicilian grillo from De Bartoli, or a Paul Cherrier red Sancerre to perfectly complement the food.