Red Light, located in the Randolph Street Market District is home to Executive Chef Jackie Shen. The atmosphere is warm and tropical while you view Jackie put her passion into each artful Pan-Asian dish in the exhibition kitchen.

If you are looking for authentic Thai cuisine try Siam Noodle. Great food for an awesome price.

Soulful fare without the meat. Go for the vegan mac and cheese stay for the peach cobbler. And don't forget the collard greens.

A simple Argentine storefront tucked away at the north end of the hot Southport strip. It's a bonanza for beefeaters on a budget. Friendly service and recorded folk music enhance the experience.

Atwood Cafe serves all-American comfort foods and cafe cuisine prepared in a traditional style. Specialties include a pot pie with a flaky buttermilk crust and a maple-glazed grilled pork chop. Pre-theater diners will enjoy the cafe's proximity to the Shubert Theatre, Cadillac Palace and Oriental Theatre.

This low-key Chinatown eatery, a sibling to Argyle Street's Cafe Hoang, features Vietnamese and Thai fare. The menu, which mirrors the Uptown location, covers plenty of ground, offering appetizers and soups, noodle and rice dishes and entrees from both countries. You'll find standards such as egg rolls, tom yum soup, pho, pad Thai and chicken fried rice. But there are more adventurous options too; including spicy catfish simmered in a clay pot, soft shell crab with tamarind sauce and crispy-fried whole red snapper with sweet and sour fish sauce. Not familiar with Southeast Asian staples? Food photos (with corresponding menu numbers) are mounted on the storefront's windows, in the entryway and on the walls inside to help you make a decision. Cafe Hoang is BYOB.

The menu changes frequently, but recent antipasti offerings included favorites like caprese salad, plus more unusual options such as salmon and spinach quiche. Half a dozen thin-crust pizzas -- including a quattro formaggio (gorgonzola, Taleggio, mozzarella, and Parmigiano-Reggiano) -- are baked in a wood-burning oven. Several pastas, including a risotto of the day, are available, as well as entrees like veal scaloppine with porcini mushrooms and New York strip steak with fresh rosemary. Desserts are made in-house and generally include at least one chocolate treat.

This small -- seating for 36 -- but cute Ravenswood storefront features exposed brick with bright, perky hues and cutesy faux egg accents. Chef-owner Jon Cignarale, who clocked time in the kitchens at M.Henry, Tweet and Karyn's Cooked (among others), has created a menu full of inspired takes of breakfast faves like banana-spiked French toast, upside down apple pancakes and "frazzled " eggs with bologna (yes, bologna) with herbs and a spicy maple mustard. Lunch moves into salads and burgers, plus sandwiches like the Vietnamese pate sandwich and muffalatta. The Sunday brunch menu changes weekly; look for options like chocolate raspberry French toast and lemon poppy seed pancakes.

Seasonal full-service Riverwalk concession (with wait staff), which is an offshoot of Auburn Greshama's Lagniappe Creole Cajun Joynt, specializes in Creole and Cajun fare. The opening menu includes dishes such as Cajun chicken wings and waffles (they call them wangs and waffles), jambalaya, fried green tomatoes, blackened chicken and po'boys.

This modern Logan Square BYOB treasure features frequently changing five-course ($55) and seven-course ($80) tasting menus. Sample dishes include: sweet corn and green gazpacho with fried green tomato and juniper; grilled Kobe beef rib-eye with shaved asparagus salad and summer truffles; and a chocolate mousse pyramid and saffron beignet. Planning a get-together? Owners also run a catering company from the back of the space.