Chicago's Winter Warming Restaurants

The Polar Vortex might well have retreated but the Windy City is still pretty nippy. Here are some of Chicago's best sip, sup and snuggle spots to stay warm until springtime.

Riffing on the world-famous NYC original, Wicker Park’s own Mott Street offers a quirky take on Asian-American food with inventive, dim sum-style morsels. Ring in the year of the pig with a lazy susan laden with steaming xiaolongbao, beef shank-broth noodles, and more regional scrumptiousness, as well as a raft of seasonal cocktails – the tingly ‘Roasted & Toasted’, mixed with barrel-aged gin, herbal liqueur, roasted acorn squash and bitters promises to warm those winter-weary cockles. Return in balmier climes to enjoy the vibey, perma-rammed rooftop patio.

You’ll forgive the vanilla decor once you’ve tasted Bittersweet's divine hot chocolate – the city’s undisputed best. Accented with orange zest and cinnamon, this unctuously calorific cuppa is served on an actual silver platter, with a side of prêt-à-scooper whipped cream and the option to amp it up with a double shot of espresso. This simple pastry shop-cafe is also great for families with its kids’ menu and other no-fuss crowd-pleasers like quiche, soup of the day, and club sandwich.

There are few things more comforting on a bone-chilling winter’s day than a big bowl of chicken soup, and Rick Bayless’ XOCO ladles it up and then some. Described as a ‘meal-in-a-bowl soup’, the signature ‘Pozole’ consists in big chunks of sweet pozole corn, wood-roasted chicken and Napa cabbage in a punchy chile and lime broth – simply put, it’s a big warm digestive hug. Nestled on North Clark, side-by-side with the Mexican don’s other ventures Frontera and Topolobampo, XOCO is by far the most casual of the three with its modern fast-food take on Mexican street food favorites.

Having spent decades putting out fires, fire-station-turned-glammy-brasserie Chicago Firehouse Restaurant is now (ahem) firing up USDA prime steaks for the South Loop’s well-heeled crowd, with charming original features and historic atmos intact. Peruse a mouth-watering menu of lamb lollipops, oysters on the half shell, jumbo shrimp, and lobster puttanesca from your own private dining room with toe-toasting fireplace as standard.

Mott Street / 1401 N Ashland Ave / Wicker Park / +1 773 687 9977 / 5pm-9pm Mon-Thurs, 5pm-10pm Fri, 4:30pm-10pm Sat, 4:30pm-9pm Sun, 10am-2pm Sat-Sun brunch / mottstreetchicago.com

Bittersweet / 1114 W Belmont Ave / Lakeview / +1 773 929 1100 / 7am-6pm Tue-Sun / bittersweetpastry.com

XOCO / 67 W. Illinois St / River North / +1 312 723 2131 / 11am-9pm Tue-Fri, 10:30am-9pm Sat / xocochicago.com

Chicago Firehouse Restaurant / 1401 S Michigan Ave / South Loop / +1 312 786 1401 / 4pm-10pm Mon-Sat, 4pm-9pm Sun / chicagofirehouse.com