Illinois Earns 2 Spots on Yelp’s ‘Top 100 Places to Eat in 2021’ List

Of the 100 restaurants on Yelp's "Top Places to Eat in 2021" list, two Illinois kitchens made the cut.

Both situated in Chicago, Forastero and Aba were ranked among the best restaurants nationwide, according to the latest Yelp list, with others from the Midwest also earning rankings.

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Forastero, ranking No. 29, opened July 2017 and is located in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. According to the restaurant's website, the spot specializes in tacos with an Asian flare.

The Old Town restaurant also has an entire vegan menu section with more specialty items coming soon in honor of Forastero's select meatless Mondays.

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"For Chef Tony, making the most flavorful, highest quality meal as efficiently as possible is the number one priority," the website reads. "Hoping to capitalize on his culinary experiences across North America and Europe, We bring to you Forastero Restaurant."

Aba, located in Chicago's Fulton Market District, ranked No. 98 on Yelp's best places to eat list. Primarily serving Mediterranean food, the restaurant incorporates flavors from Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Greece.

Aba's menu encourages a la carte dining for the table to share in several dishes at once, including signature dishes such as crispy short rib hummus, the Jerusalem bagel, green falafel, grilled skirt steak and salmon kabobs.

Here's a list of some other Midwest restaurants in the top 100:

Chris's Ice Cream: Indianapolis, IN (No. 24)
A2Z Cafe: Indianapolis, IN (No. 44)
Olive + Oak: St. Louis, MO (No. 50)
Odd Duck: Milwaukee, WI (No. 53)
Egg Roll Number 1: Indianapolis, IN (No. 62)
Boludo: Minneapolis, MN (No. 69)
Lazo's Taco Shack: Milwaukee, WI (No. 82)
Terra GR: Grand Rapids, MI (No. 86)
Berrline Cafe: Milwaukee, WI (No. 87)

In order to achieve a ranking on the list, Yelp said the company reached out to the user community asking for requests, evaluating the various restaurants on ratings, number of reviews and volume of submissions.