A few buzzwords could fairly easily sum up 2023 from a restaurant trend perspective: maximalism, nostalgia and martinis; inflation pricing, Food- (and Drink) Tok trend-chasing, and the never-say-die QR code menu. I saw each play out in some form or another in a year that marked my return to my hometown of Chicago and to my post as Time Out’s restaurant critic. Yet I also couldn’t shake a prevailing unease that continues to infuse this joyous diversion of dining out.
Moving home from New Mexico in April as the pandemic waned, I saw a city still reeling and forever changed, with higher living costs and more (visible) inequity. Many iconic restaurants closed or morphed into unrecognizable places — for better and worse. Restaurant owners universally lamented staff shortages; soaring labor, fuel and ingredient costs; and lingering supply-chain logjams exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, seemingly everyone I know has had some choice words on how pricey it’s gotten to dine out. Everybody feels pinched yet desperate for normalcy — and unable to let go of the feeling that we might never get back to whatever normal was.
