Oak Park, IL is a melting pot of culture reflected in its cuisine. Use this list when you visit to make sure you try Oak Park’s best Brazilian, Italian, Serbian, Mediterranean, Chicago Italian, Japanese, Latino, Mayan, American, Mexican and more. This writer looked at websites, articles, and reviews to find you the 15 best restaurants in Oak Park! We hope you enjoy!
1. RUSTICO MEDITERRANEAN FUSION
$$$ | 708-948-7855 | WEBSITE
The description is confusing due to inconsistent cuisines. The restaurant is described as “very Italian”, yet it offers Spanish dishes (paellas, raciones). Rustico is located in Oak Park’s Hemingway District (Ernest Hemingway was born and spent his boyhood in Oak Park, IL.)
2. AMERIKAS NUEVO LATINO
$$$ | 708-613-4254 | WEBSITE
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Amerikas offers “tamales, churros, and hot chocolate”! Well, that’s just their tagline. They also offer fish, meat, and plenty of vegetarian dishes, with craft beer and cocktails and wine to boot.
Amerikas has events on occasion; their next one is a wine dinner on Nov. 19: four courses, plus hors d’oeuvres and wine pairings. Previously, their most recent event in September paired artisanal indigenous Mexican-inspired dinners with mezcal!
3. HEMMINGWAY’S BISTRO
$$$ | 708-524-0806 | WEBSITE
Hemmingway’s uses all natural meats only, and in particular chicken that is Amish free-range. The website says “Chef Ala visits the market three times week and selects only the finest produce and freshest Midwest ingredients.” Try the Duck a l’Orange, Bouilliabaisse, Beef Wellington, Mussels Mariniere and Steak Frites.
4. MAYA DEL SOL
$$$ | 708-358-9800 | WEBSITE
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Maya Del Sol is available to host your private events: There are three dining rooms, a full bar, and an outdoor patio for fine weather. The venue also has live music every Friday and public events open to all! Open for both brunch and dinner, try the chilaquiles, the Maya favorites like the rope vieja, and the blackened fish tacos!
5. IL VICOLO TRATTORIA
$$ | 708-386-5801 | WEBSITE
Opened in 2011 by Vito Tufano, Il Vicolo Trattoria has salad, pizzas, pastas, fish and beef dishes “influenced by traditional Neapolitan cuisine.” The restaurant accommodates 92 diners plus 5 at the full bar.
The Oak Park, IL Development Corporation presented Il Vicolo Trattoria with the Nicholas Award in 2012, for “significant investment in the Oak Park business community.”
6. MULATA KITCHEN
$$ | 708-383-3550 | WEBSITE
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Founder Christine Pereira is herself a proud Brazilian mulata. Besides the scrumptious coffee, the restaurant’s cuisine is Brazilian inspired. Come and try their “soups, salads, empanadas, gourmet sandwiches” and more. Mulata Kitchen’s coffees are custom blends that highlight various regions of Brazil.
7. BETTY’S PIZZA & PASTA
$$ | 708-434-5526 | WEBSITE
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Billed as “Oak Park’s only New York-style pizza joint,” Betty’s not only offers pizza and pasta but also salads, appetizers, and an excellent menu for kids. Oh, and desserts. “Traditional red and white checkered tablecloths and traditional red cups … evoke a throwback vibe.” Try the garlic knots!
8. THE LITTLE GEM CAFE
$$$ | 708-613-5491 | WEBSITE
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Little Gem just opened a new dining room: the Encore restaurant bar and lounge! Available for private parties, the Encore room also is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday nights, offering live jazz. Little Gem’s chefs have 15 years of experience cooking regional cuisines in the finest kitchens. Menus include seasonal specials and fresh, local ingredients.
9. SCRATCH ON LAKE
$$ | 708-434-5643 | WEBSITE
Burger are ground in-house and served with rolls that are sourced locally. Try the Mac Attack with added truffle parmesan and mushrooms. Specials change daily and include such deals as half-price mac, IPA-battered fried fish and chips, a prime rib French dip, or half-price burgers!
10. COURAGEOUS BAKERY & CAFE
$$ | 708-894-2253 | WEBSITE
Courageous bakery and cafe is so popular that they now have a food truck, too! In 2010, Kathryn Pekarik was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s T-cell lymphoma; soon, a benefit was held to help defray her medical costs.
Her sister Laura baked 250 cupcakes to host a bake sale at the benefit – and they were so popular, Courageous bakery and cafe was born. They use only packaging that is unbleached, recyclable and plant based, and they bake only with all natural ingredients without chemical stabilizers or preservatives.
11. KATY’S DUMPLINGS
$$ | 708-383-9888 | WEBSITE
Katy’s Dumplings has received rave reviews from several Chicago publications. Chicago Magazine voted it one of the 30 Best Restaurants in the Suburbs; Chicago Tribune named it one of its Takeout 100: Chicago Best Restaurants for Takeout and Delivery Right Now; and Eater voted it one of the 20 Best Essential Chicago Suburban Restaurants!
12. SEN SUSHI BAR
$$ | 708-848-4400 | WEBSITE
Opened in July of 2009, “the menu features an array of fish, some imported from Japan … they only keep them for two days to stay fresh.” Available for delivery or carryout, Sen Sushi Bar boasts such dishes as market price uni or sea urchin, Dragon Maki (with shrimp tempura,) and a host of vegetarian maki.
13. VICTORY ITALIAN OAK PARK
$$$ | 708-434-5766 | WEBSITE
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Victory Restaurant Group has three locations total in the Chicago area. Chef Joe Farina classifies his cuisine as “Chicago Italian.”
He’s featured on Chicago radio and TV frequently as well as at Chicago foodie events like Chicago Gourmet and Taste of Travel, and has won the Golden Rasher award for Best Bacon Dish, People’s Choice at Chicago Baconfest. “[Farina] and his family learned to adapt classic Italian recipes to accommodate local ingredients.”
14. HECHO EN OAK PARK
$$ | 708-383-6900 | WEBSITE
Hecho was established in 2016. The Mexican restaurant works hard to reduce its greenhouse footprint, using paperless QR code menus instead of paper menus, using compostable and biodegradable to-go containers, and furnishing with furniture recycled from past venues. Hecho also hosts events, from wedding packages to corporate events and “cool parties.”
15. CITRINE CAFE
$$$ | 708-948-7328 | WEBSITE
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Citrine Cafe may sum up the variety of the rest of this list in one restaurant. On the menu you’ll find shrimp & grits, lamb sausage with tzatziki, squid ink spaghetti, and lake superior whitefish among many more dishes. Citrine’s Mediterranean influences have an American twist.
Their meats are brined and braised, and they are cooked with vegetables in clay pots inside a brick oven. The owner is Serbian and draws upon that influence. Citrine Cafe won Opentable’s Diner’s Choice Award in 2022.
In Summary
We just as enthralled finding the 15 best restaurants in Oak Park, Illinois for you as you should be when you visit, if just by the menus alone!
From New York style pizza to sushi made with real Japanese fish … from empanadas and Brazilian coffee to macaroni made from scratch, the chefs of Oak Park, IL have your well-being as well as the planet’s in mind (as well as your taste buds.) Get that napkin ready!
