Virtue is one of Chicago’s most celebrated modern Southern restaurants, led by chef Erick Williams. The menu honors traditional Southern cuisine while elevating it with refined technique and thoughtful sourcing. Located in Hyde Park, the restaurant is known for its warmth, generosity, and deeply rooted cultural storytelling through food.
Why It Belongs on the List
Erick Williams' James Beard Award-winning restaurant in Hyde Park is a love letter to the Southern food carried north through the Great Migration — skillet cornbread with honey butter, fall-apart short rib, Geechie Boy grits with white cheddar, dirty rice with chicken gizzards. The restaurant wears its community identity proudly: activist quotes on the windows, art celebrating Black cultural figures, and a neighborhood mentorship program. Williams made history in 2022 as the first Black chef to win James Beard Best Chef: Great Lakes. Michelin Bib Gourmand. Worth the trip to Hyde Park.
What Stands Out
- Elevated Southern cuisine
- Chef Erick Williams (James Beard Award winner)
- Thoughtful, culturally rooted menu
- Warm, community-driven atmosphere
- Signature dishes like fried chicken and short ribs