The August Hit List: Esmé, Lula Cafe, Lardon, Dave’s Red Hots, and More

This highly anticipated fine-dining restaurant from husband-and-wife team chef Jenner Tomaska (Next, Elizabeth) and creative director Katrina Bravo (Alinea Group) finally is taking reservations. Expect a 12- to 15-course tasting menu that changes with creative whims and harvests, or drop in at the 16-seat bar for (slightly) more wallet-friendly dishes and personalized cocktails from beverage manager Tia Barrett. Eventually, quarterly collaborative dinners will shine a spotlight on up-and-coming artists and other inspiring local figures, with a portion of the proceeds going to various charities.

Jason Hammel’s pioneering farm-to-table restaurant is open for dine-in again after a year and four months of takeaway, bottled cocktails, roving closures, and outspoken activism from this industry anchor. Whether you’re returning to Lula’s inviting dining room with the white marble bar for cucumber peach gazpacho at lunch, the surprise of a never-repeating Monday night farm dinner, or brunching on the patio over sturdy breakfast burritos, consider booking in advance. We’re pretty sure everyone else has been awaiting this day as much as we have.

Chef Stephanie Izard’s playful spin on the all-day greasy spoon marries stick-to-your-ribs classics with Izard’s globe-trotting flavor influences. Think paratha burritos with chile pepper sauce, sunny eggs and avocado-bean salad on Indian flatbread, blueberry pancakes with vanilla malt butter and oat crumble, and kimchi burgers. Pro tip: Ask your server about daily-changing offerings from Sugargoat, the sweets shop Izard launched mid-pandemic.

Summer is unofficially known in these parts as hot dog season. And while you have countless excellent doggie stands to choose from, why not taste history at one of the city’s oldest? Dave’s serves a perfectly snappy red hot with a mountain of hand-cut fries for $3.10. If you’re looking to branch out, the Polish sausage is excellent.

This elegant, high-ceilinged bar pours seriously sultry cocktails. Smoked, spiced ginger whiskey joins habanero honey and elderflower liqueur in the Lagos, Nigeria Old Fashioned. A similarly globe-trotting small plates menu includes build-your-own baos filled with pork belly or chicken shawarma and truffle-scented mushroom empanadas. Check the site and socials often for weekly happy hour specials and DJ sets.

You won’t find more fun-loving food than at Evette’s, Rafa Esparza & Mitchell AbouJamra’s sorta Mexican, sorta Lebanese all-day cafe with a Midwestern soul and colorful, plant-filled interior. Expect such delights as hangover-curing shawarma fries heaped with savory gyros and a dollop of cooling cucumber yogurt, chicken arabes tacos on housemade tortillas, and decadent lamb melts.

This Randolph Row favorite serves excellent traditional Indian dishes like samosa chaat with fresh tamarind, spicy tandoori chicken, paneer makhani in buttery tomato sauce and aromatic shrimp biryani. The serene, brick-walled space with high-backed banquettes and white tablecloths sits just across the street from Jaipur’s old location (it moved in 2019).

As its name suggests, this all-day cafe and salumeria from chef Chris Thompson is all about cured meat and impeccable accoutrements. Expect salame tinged with Calabrian chiles and oregano, head cheese scented with citrus zest, plus artisanal cheeses and spreads like housemade beer mustard. Lardon aims to please all day long with coffee and baked goods from Aya Pastry in the morning, hefty sandwiches and salads for lunch, and cheese-and-meat boards with cocktails and wine by night.

This bilevel Armour Square newcomer from chef Kenny Yang (Strings Ramen Shop) is Chicago’s first dedicated cart noodle shop — dishing out build-your-own noodle bowls with four varieties of broth and eight types of noodles. You’ll find traditional Chinese dishes too, like salt-and-pepper pork chops, Sichuan-spiced boiled beef, and ginger-scallion chicken served in a neon-accented space featuring artwork inspired by 1950s Hong Kong.

A sibling restaurant to Rebecca Goldfarb’s specialty grocer L&M Fine Foods, L&M Parkside puts playful spins on classic American dishes in cozy, Scandinavian-inspired environs suitable for any night of the week. Chef Justin Kaialoa’s (The Bristol, the Violet Hour) seasonally inclined menu includes chilled corn custard with Old Bay, carrot pate with pickled green strawberries and miso-mustard glaze, pistachios and green onion soubise. Plus, this is one of the only spots in the hood serving freshly shucked oysters.