Only 2 Illinois Restaurants Make Yelp’s “Top 100 In The US”

Even though the pandemic, and the reaction to it, forced many restaurants to close their doors forever, Illinois still boasts around 25,000 different eateries throughout the state, with Chicago alone having over 7,000 of them.

To put that into perspective, if you went to dine at a different Chicago restaurant every single day, it would take you 19 years to hit them all. If you wanted to grab a bite at every restaurant in the entire state, that would take you 68 years!

So, I guess we can thank Yelp, a crowd-sourced local business review and social networking site, for only naming two Illinois joints to their list of the top 100 places to eat in the US.

Doing the math, if you wanted to grab a bite at these two spots...it'll take you 2 days. One day, if you're really hungry.

Illinois Only Having Two Restaurants That Make The Top 100 List Does Kind Of Suck, But When You Consider That 22 States Didn't Have A Single Restaurant That Qualified, It's Not As Bad

I figured that with 50 states, Yelp was picking two per state, but I couldn't be more wrong. Only 28 states (and the District of Columbia) had eateries that were chosen for inclusion on the top 100 list, and several of those states have multiple restaurants that qualified. Here are the states with the most:

1. California: 10 entries, with 5 of them in the top 10.
2. Florida: 13 entries
3. Arizona: 8 entries
4. Texas: 8 entries
5. Nevada: 6 entries

And Yelp's overall top ten:

1. Tumerico – Tucson, Arizona
2. Menya Rui – St. Louis, Missouri
3. Sunny Side Kitchen – Escondido, California
4. GS Cafe and Ethiopian Cuisine – Covina, California
5. Fratellino – Coral Gables, Florida
6. Broken Mouth | Lee’s Homestyle – Los Angeles, California
7. Adela’s Country Eatery – Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii
8. Sierra Subs and Salads – Three Rivers, California
9. Gino’s Deli Stop N Buy – San Antonio, Texas
10. Uncle Af’s – Agoura Hills, California

Let's Get To What You Came Here For---The Two Illinois Restaurants On Yelp's Top 100 List

The two Illinois restaurants on the Yelp list come in at #74 and #76, respectively. Coming in at #74 is a Northbrook restaurant named New Village Gastro Pub.

WGNTV.com:

Northbrook is home to the 74th-ranked New Village Gastro Pub, which according to Yelp, offers a modern take on traditional Korean dishes. The Korean market-style chicken, Army stew, and seafood pancakes were among the favorites of Yelpers.

“The best Korean restaurant that I’ve had overall,” one reviewer told Yelp.

Moving on to #76, we'll need to take a trip to Evanston to visit Habibi In Mediterranean Grill. Out of 184 reviews on their Yelp, every single one of the reviews is 5 stars. Here are some quick reviews from their Yelp page:

• This place is fire ! Got a big plate of chicken shawarma. It was delicious and sauce is great.
• ...this was a satisfying and enjoyable experience and highly recommended. Great food, relaxed atmosphere, and outstanding service.
• Went there twice. YES, the food is that good. Staff and Ambiance 10/10. Staffs are really nice, Ambiance is also good. The place is nice & clean.