Please, name a place that is more private and romantic than the front seat of a car. This is the very definition of American romance, immortalized in countless pop songs. At Superdawg, that’s the dining room, just you and your sweetie eating hot dogs, sipping one shake through two straws, watched over by Superdawg’s founders and high-school sweethearts Maurie and Flaurie Berman, reimagined as hot dogs eternally in love. Is that not paradise by the dashboard light?

For those who equate romance with dim lighting, Little Madrid may be the most romantic restaurant in Chicago: a tiny storefront dining room illuminated only by tabletop candles. But the tapas, pintxos, and paella are all exquisite; the wine is abundant; and the service is friendly and makes you feel cared for, all the things necessary for romance to flourish.

This spot on Lincoln Avenue has one of the most exquisite patios in the city, shaded by abundant trees during the day and lit up by twinkling fairy lights after dark. The intimate indoor dining room is lovely, too, and the menu offers a selection of reasonably-priced French bistro classics, from French onion soup to tarte au citron, with cassoulet and steak frites in between.

Led by chef Tayler Ploshehanski, who took over last summer when founders Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark stepped aside to concentrate on raising their children and preparing to reopen their first restaurant, Parachute, this intimate Avondale spot updates its four-course prix fixe menu weekly, complete with wine pairings, based on which ingredients are available. But the dishes that show up on the table are invariably beautifully composed and delicious.

A trip to North Pond requires a stroll into Lincoln Park, green in the summer, snowy in the winter, always with a view of Lake Michigan. Inside, windows let in light and views of the park, and fireplaces keep diners warm. The menus, both dinner and brunch, change with the seasons, but tables are always reserved and attire is always business casual, which certifies this as a special occasion restaurant.

The flagship of one of the city’s most acclaimed restaurant groups serves a rotating seasonal menu, devised by James Beard-nominated chef Lee Wolen, in a luxurious dining room, lined with greenery and whimsical portraits, or on a lovely tree-shaded patio. Boka pivoted to tasting menus only during the pandemic, but it will resume a la carte service in mid-February.

Romance doesn’t just mean love and courtship — it can also be a fantasy, or a yearning for far-away places. Beatnik in West Town, an homage to the hippie trail of the 1950s and ’60s, is opulently furnished with antiques and green plants. The Mediterranean-inspired menu similarly evokes a time and place that’s warmer, more colorful, and romantic than the present.

Located in the luxurious Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai Terrace has an outdoor patio with views of the Chicago skyline. The indoor dining room isn’t too shabby, either: a recreation of a 1930s Shanghai nightclub. The menu, meanwhile, is filled with food from all over China, but with a focus on Cantonese cuisine.

With its marble-topped bar and sunny patio, Piccolo Sogno evokes an Italy of long, lazy afternoons on the piazza, perhaps followed by a ride through the city on a Vespa. The food continues the mood, with antipasti, salads, pizzas, and pasta, though there are also heavier meat and fish entrees for the colder months.

Bavette’s dim lighting, marble-topped tables, cozy red-leather booths, and gilt-edged mirrors are an entire mood, one that calls for rich, fatty bone marrow and steak and one of the extravagant seafood towers, all washed down by a bottle or two from the extensive wine list — and one of those bottles must be Champagne, and yes, Bavette’s offers many choices.

In the summertime, Aba’s leafy rooftop terrace with its view of the Loop skyscrapers is one of the loveliest places in the city. The lamplit dining room is almost as lovely, even without the views. The Mediterranean-California small plates encourage closeness among diners: everything is meant to be shared.

Hidden speakeasy-style behind a flower shop entrance, the West Loop cocktail bar the Darling offers drinks, dinner, and a show. Visitors can sit at the bar or recline in on a red velvet couch and watch the drag queens, dancers, magicians, and puppeteers, or maybe just play a game of Scrabble.

Sepia takes its heritage as a former print shop seriously: the space is filled with antiques and old prints. But chef Andrew Zimmerman’s prix fixe four-course menu is thoroughly modern, offering new interpretations of the classics.

Chef Stephen Gillanders named his restaurant after his wife, Seon Kyung Yuk, who also helped him pick out the location in Pilsen. That’s a romantic gesture right there. The menu is billed as American, but it encompasses influences from all over the world. And the dining room is lined with tables for two.

Many of the restaurants on this list were designed to take diners somewhere they’ve never been. Virtue is about where chef Erick Williams has already been: the American South. Williams’s menu pays homage to his mother, his grandmother, and his aunts, and the whole tradition of Black cuisine. Which isn’t romance, exactly, but it’s love.