One of Chicago’s finest Italian restaurants, Spiaggia has drawn celebrities, politicians, and Chicagoans to its dining room for 35 years. Founded as a partnership between legendary chef Tony Mantuano and Levy Restaurants, the restaurant features top-notch pastas, sweeping views of downtown, and a Michelin star. Mantuano is ceding the helm to executive chef Eric Lees, but said he feels confident in Lees’s ability to keep standards high and diners happy. While the restaurant is expensive, budget-conscious diners can choose to eat inside its more affordable sibling, Cafe Spiaggia.

This essential food hall from Hogsalt Hospitality is located on the fifth and sixth floors of the 900 North Michigan Shops. It offers 16 different “vaults,” or stalls, each featuring a different type of cuisine. Options include Small Cheval’s popular burgers, chopped brisket and pulled pork from Green Street Smoked Meats, and pasta and Italian subs from Lil Boots.

High atop the John Hancock Center, Signature Room is a classic Chicago restaurant with perhaps the best city’s views from its 95th floor. Food at the fine-dining restaurant can be pricey, so those not willing to shell out big bucks can head to the bar for a drink and those views.

NoMI, the seasonal, French-inspired restaurant on the seventh floor of the Park Hyatt Chicago, is ideally located for hungry downtown visitors seeking a fine dining experience. The space includes a restaurant, lounge, and rooftop bar with views of the city and bustling Michigan Avenue below.

This five-tiered 35,000 square-foot coffee wonderland, now the largest Starbucks on the planet, resides on the prominent corner of Michigan and Huron. Fans can try rare coffees, specialty chocolates, cocktails designed by Chicago pros, and more. They can also take a ride (or several) on the space’s curved escalator, one of 18 in the entire country.

A Chicago-style hot dog is a can’t-miss while visiting the Windy City, and eaters don’t have to leave downtown to check out the most beloved local chain in the area for dogs, Italian beef, addictive milkshakes, chocolate cake, and much more for cheap. It’s not actually on the Magnificent Mile itself, but is worth a brief detour to refuel.

The only Midwest location for Joe and Lidia Bastianich’s Italian food wonderland, the Chicago spot includes two floors full of restaurants focusing on an array of dishes, grocery and retail items, a microbrewery, a Nutella bar, gelato, and much much much more. Though it’s two blocks off of the Mag Mile itself, a little side trip will lead to serious payoff. Former partner and disgraced celebrity chef Mario Batali sold his shares and stepped away from the business in 2017.

This three-prong operation from a partner in the popular Stan’s Donuts chain includes a restaurant, cafe, and bakery featuring Italian favorites such as baked ziti, chicken vesuvio, and more. Some believe its pizzas are among the best in the city.

Though his days playing for the Bulls are long gone, Michael Jordan is still a Chicago icon and the steakhouse that bears his name continues to reign as one of the city’s best. Popular with both locals and tourists, the restaurant inside the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile hotel features winning cuts such as a 16-ounce prime Delmonico. Superfans can kick the experience up a notch by reserving his airness’s corner booth, Table 23, which includes a special prix-fixe menu and drink pairings. The hotel is also home to vino bar Eno Wine Room.

Many diners regard this Mediterranean small plates favorite to be the best restaurant on the touristy shopping-driven Magnificent Mile. Known for its meaty bites and outstanding wines, the always-bustling Purple Pig recently moved from its longtime home to a larger location slightly south of the original. It reopened in late June with a new food menu and more seats.

The epicenter of Rick Bayless’s Mexican empire, the building is home to all three of the celebrity chef’s landmark restaurants. The original, Frontera Grill, is still an extremely tough table with long waits nightly for groundbreaking mid-priced food; Topolobampo is Michelin-starred fine dining that won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant; and XOCO is casual counter service for outstanding tortas, churros, hot chocolates, and more. In addition, Bayless and daughter Lanie opened speakeasy-style spot Bar Sótano in 2018 right underneath Frontera Grill. None bear a Michigan Avenue address, but Bayless’s acclaimed spots are close enough to the Mag Mile that it would be a shame to neglect them.

The legendary bar and grill behind the since-broken curse on the Chicago Cubs, Billy Goat Tavern is a must-visit for any out-of-towner hoping to soak up Chicago food and drink history. The no-frills subterranean spot, accessible via staircases from Michigan Avenue above, serves burgers, breakfast, a full bar, and just two beers on tap: Billy Goat Light and Billy Goat Dark.

Trendy hotel LondonHouse offers three spots to eat and imbibe — lobby space Bridges, indoor lounge LH on 21, and perhaps the busiest rooftop bar in town, LH Rooftop. Bridges also offers afternoon tea service with sweet and savory small plates. The building is also home to stylish steakhouse Ocean Prime.

The gorgeously reborn hotel across from tourist-magnet Millennium Park is home to multiple terrific restaurants and bars. There’s a multiple-course cocktail experience like no other (Milk Room), a gorgeous throwback restaurant serving American classics (Cherry Circle Room), a bar and eatery with bocce and other parlor games (Game Room), a Shake Shack on the ground floor, and the biggest draw of them all — perhaps Chicago’s best rooftop bar and restaurant, Cindy’s on the top floor.

An upscale Irish pub and restaurant, the Gage is consistently one of Chicago’s best-executed and best-run bars and eateries year in and year out. Right on Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park, it’s a perfect pit stop for a drink and a snack while doing touristy things, for a full dinner, or for drinking.