1308 Chicago

"When: Thu-Sat, 3-5pm The Deal: $10 pizzas, $8 sliders, $4 fries This is exactly the kind of chill place you want to decompress after a work day that involved forgetting to turn your microphone off during a company-wide Zoom. This little bar and restaurant is hidden in the courtyard of a small office building, only has about 30 seats, and serves outstanding cocktails and great Southern-inspired food. And if an excellent neo-soul soundtrack and a smooth Old Fashioned don’t help you forget about that 4pm Friday meeting request your boss just sent, well, we're sorry." - adrian kane, john ringor, veda kilaru

"A few things to know about 1308 in Goose Island: it's not open on the weekends, they close at 9pm, and it's exactly the kind of chill place you want to decompress when you have a day off during the week. This little bar and restaurant calls itself a “speak eatery,” which is kind of cute and spot on. It’s hidden in the courtyard of a small office building, only has about 30 seats, and serves outstanding cocktails and great Southern-inspired food. If that, an excellent neo-soul soundtrack, and a smooth Old Fashioned doesn’t help you forget about that 4pm Friday meeting request your boss just sent, we can’t help you." - adrian kane, veda kilaru

"1308 in Goose Island closes at 9pm, has a great Happy Hour, and is exactly the kind of chill place you want to decompress after forgetting to turn your microphone off during this morning’s company-wide Zoom. This little bar and restaurant calls itself a “speak eatery”, which is kind of cute and spot on. It’s hidden in the courtyard of a small office building, only has about 30 seats, and serves outstanding cocktails and great mostly-vegetarian Southern-inspired food. Standout dishes on the short, delicious menu include crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside hot water cornbread served with blueberry butter and pimento cheese, and an absurdly good plate of grits and sweet roasted carrots topped with crunchy dukkah. " - sam faye, adrian kane, veda kilaru, john ringor

"A few things to know about 1308 in Goose Island: they’re not open on the weekends, they close at 9pm, and this is exactly the kind of chill place you want to decompress after forgetting to turn your microphone off during this morning’s company-wide Zoom. This little bar and restaurant calls itself a “speak eatery”, which is kind of spot on. It’s hidden in the courtyard of a small office building, only has about 30 seats, and serves outstanding cocktails and great Southern-inspired food. Standout dishes include crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside hot water cornbread served with blueberry butter and pimento cheese, and an absurdly good plate of grits and sweet roasted carrots topped with crunchy dukkah.  " - adrian kane, john ringor

"It's set within a multipurpose space, but owner Kimberly Moore's lively restaurant is single-minded when it comes to food (think the American South in all of its gustatory pleasure). Try the hot water cornbread with its thick fritters of corn meal pan fried to a crisp and served with blueberry, pimento and B&B pickles for spreading. Then, corn ribs are an inventive twist on a staple. Cut from the cob to resemble the meaty original, then lashed with rich saucing and plenty of pickled onions, it's worth the mess. Milk braised-pork belly is dressed up with a maple-chili glaze and served alongside roasted apples and braised red cabbage puree, and don't tell grandma, but the roasted apple-filled empanada served with caramel sauce and spiced ice cream bests her apple pie." - Michelin Inspector