Best French Restaurants in Chicago

This quaint two-story townhouse is set in the heart of Streeterville and decked out with throw pillow-lined banquettes, fresh-flower arrangements, and an upstairs tea salon. Diners look forward to a prix-fixe menu that allows them to choose between various courses, including an ahi tart, warming mushroom soup and sweet Grand Marnier soufflé.

Begin with such signatures as cuisses de grenouilles à la Provençale—frogs' legs cooked with garlic, spinach and just the right bit of butter. Then linger over a perfect bowl of Gruyère-capped French onion soup. A riff on the rustic coq au vin renders the bird crisp on the outside, juicy inside. Profiteroles or crème brûlée make a divine finale.

Roasted chestnuts here are whirled into a creamy soup and poured over compressed apple, wild mushrooms and puffed rice. Spot-on Dover sole meunière is plated with a purée of watercress and golden-crisp pommes rissolées. And for dessert, preserved cherries are just one option to fill the baked-to-order almond clafoutis.