How werank.
Chicago Ranks is the independent authority on the best of the city. We are anonymous, we pay our own way, and we are not for sale. What follows is how — and why — we put Chicago in order.
Six rules we don’t break.
We pay our own way.
Every meal, every drink, every appointment is anonymous and on our own dime. No comps, no press dinners, no exceptions. The room treats us like it treats you.
Nothing is for sale.
No sponsored placements. No advertising. No affiliate links. A place on a Chicago Ranks list cannot be bought — only earned, and only by being better than the place below it.
Taste over hype.
We rank what is genuinely best, not what is newest, loudest, or trending. A counter that has been perfect since 1949 outranks this month’s opening unless the opening truly earns it.
Consistency is the test.
The best place is the one that is excellent every single time, not the one that was transcendent once. We judge the floor, not the ceiling.
The whole experience.
The plate, the pour, the cut — but also the room, the welcome, the wait, the value. A great dish in a joyless room is a lower ranking. All of it counts.
We commit to the order.
A ranking that refuses to choose is useless. We argue it out, we decide, and we stand behind the number — even the controversial ones, especially the controversial ones.
The list is the whole point.We don’t hedge, we don’t pad,and we don’t apologize for the order.
How a ranking is made.
No formula, no algorithm, no reader poll. A ranking is editorial judgment, earned the slow way.
We go.
Quietly, repeatedly, and unannounced.
We go back.
One visit is an anecdote. We return until we are sure.
We argue.
The order is fought over, never assigned.
We commit.
We publish a number and we defend it.
Chicago Ranks.
We are a small, anonymous team of Chicagoans who care more about the city’s tables, chairs and bar stools than about access to them. We have no investors to please and no advertisers to flatter. The only thing we owe you is an honest list — and the conviction to put it in order.
- Founded
- MMXXVI
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois
- Sponsors
- None
- Advertising
- None
- Independence
- Total
- Chicago River & downtown skyline at night — Roman Boed, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Chicago at night from 360 Chicago — Robert Lowe, CC BY-SA 2.0
- State Street at night, 1953 — Victor Albert Grigas, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Grant Park night panorama — Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Elevated train tracks, the Loop — Roman Boed, CC BY 2.0