Time Out New York Eating and Drinking 2008: The Essential Guide to the City's Best Restaurants and Bars

This guide to restaurants in Chicago is organized by category: African, Bakeries, Caribbean, Chinese, Classic American, Contemporary American, Deli, Eastern European, Eclectic, French, Gastropubs, German, Greek, Ice Cream, Indian, Italian/Pizza, Japanese/Sushi, Korean, Kosher, Latin American, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Pan Asian, Polish, Seafood, South American, Southern, Spanish, Steak, Thai, Vegetarian, Vietnamese, and Bars & Lounges. Each entry gets a paragraph followed by address, phone, closest El stop, hours and price information. Each is also notated for being a critics' pick, vegetarian friendly, cheap, gay/lesbian friendly, or for having a fireplace, outdoor seating, brunch, BYOB or late hours. There is a lot of information here. We ate at a number of places listed on our latest trip to the city, and the informaton was accurate, though the reviews were necessarily pithy. The book finishes with a subject index (good bar food, good for large groups, great wine list, view, etc) and a neighborhood index as well as an alphabetical index and city maps. Very nicely done, filled with good information, some color pictures, and compact.

I love this book! It is organized by category, rather than alphabetically or by neighborhood, so it is a great companion to traditional travel guides that might have restaurants sorted by location or alphabetically. The categories are in alphabetical order, and the restaurants are alphabetical within each category. There are plenty of color pictures, and the book is small enough to throw in your bag while you're exploring the city. There is a neighborhood index and an alphabetical index in the back which are useful. The only drawback is that some restaurants in the main category section are not cross-referenced in the alphabetical and/or neighborhood indexes, which makes it hard to find specific restaurants. For example, the now-shuttered Tucci Benucch is listed in the Italian section but not in the alphabetical index. It makes it into the neighborhood index though. The copy editor should have caught this sort of thing. But otherwise this book is useful and comprehensive and is an invaluable guide to Chicago restaurants for both the native and the visitor.

If you're a city slicker, club crawler or any other stripe of sure footed cement stomper this is the guide for you. While your at it check out TimeOUT's other city guides London, Paris? pourquoi pas mon amie? Just thing for those urbane urbanites!