Illinois Eatery Named One of America’s Best Women-Led Restaurants

In an industry dominated by men, it's excellent to see a restaurant fronted by a female chef called one of the greatest restaurants in America.

Here's the best part, this eatery is located in Illinois.

Far & Wide listed the 30 Best Women-Led Restaurants in the U.S. and they featured a whole slew of places in Illinois to get your food on.

But way up at the top spot, considered the second best women-led restaurant in America is called Girl & the Goat.

Far & Wide:

After two restaurants from Chef Stephanie Izard appeared on this list, it should be no surprise that her first restaurant after winning "Top Chef" is the highest on this list. Girl & the Goat, which opened in 2010, won her the James Beard award for Best Chef Great Lakes in 2013. The success has been so great that a second location opened in Los Angeles in 2021.

The menu at Girl & the Goat appears to be very seasonal and right now it's loaded with plenty of light summer options like Olive Sourdough, Roasted Summer Squash, and Chickpea Fritters.

My jaw dropped though when I looked at the dessert menu. Girl & the Goat have something called The Popcorn Situation.

Girl & the Goat:

cheesy butter cake . strawberry sumac jam . popcorn ice cream . caramel corn

I've said before that I rarely go in on desserts but I think the Popcorn Situation is going to change all of that.

Just so you know, Bob T. on Yelp called his time at Girl & the Goat an "Amazing experience..highly recommended." and Keely S. said "My favorite restaurant in Chicago. You must dine here."

However, James P. mentioned "Food is eh. Staff is eh. I was pretty disappointed with my dish."

I'd love for the chance to be "disappointed with my dish" too. What I'm saying is, I've got to check this place out for myself.

You can too. Girl & the Goat is located at 809 West Randolph Street in Chicago.