Restaurant in Chicago, United States
High-concept tasting; commit to the theme.
Next Restaurant is a Michelin-starred tasting menu in Chicago's Fulton Market that rebuilds its entire menu every four months around a new culinary theme. Founded by Grant Achatz and ranked #76 on Opinionated About Dining's 2025 North America list, it delivers a theatrical, narrative-driven experience at the $$$$ tier. Book when the current theme aligns with your interests — the format rewards planning.
Next Restaurant is worth booking if you want a structured, high-concept tasting experience that changes completely every four months. The rotating theme format means the menu you eat in March will not exist by July, which makes timing your visit a real decision. With a Michelin star, a 2025 ranking of #76 on Opinionated About Dining's North America list, and Pearl Recommended status, the credentials are solid. But this is a specific kind of dinner: theatrical, pre-set, and tied to a historical or cultural concept. If that format suits you, few places in Chicago execute it at this level. If you want a flexible à la carte experience, look elsewhere.
Next sits in the Fulton Market district at 953 W Fulton Market, in a neighborhood that has become one of Chicago's most concentrated corridors for serious dining. The restaurant was founded by Grant Achatz, who also runs Alinea nearby and has been named leading cook in the United States by the James Beard Foundation, as well as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. Those credentials matter here because Next's format only works if the kitchen can execute across wildly different culinary traditions, and the Achatz operation has the track record to do that.
The core concept: every four months, the entire menu changes to reflect a new culinary theme. Past themes have included ancient Rome, Latin America, contemporary Chinese gastronomy, and classic French. The most recent documented theme, "Paris 1906," focused on Auguste Escoffier's cuisine and included dishes like carrè d'agneau avec sauce choron, lamb paired with crispy sweetbreads and a well-constructed sauce choron, and a dessert of bombe Ceylan, a half-sphere of ice cream with rum, coffee, and a chocolate shell, served with griottine cherries and sauce anglaise. An earlier Italia theme produced dishes around cacio e pepe and guanciale-wrapped branzino. The quality of execution across these very different reference points is what keeps Next on the serious dining radar year after year.
The rotating theme format has a direct implication for how you should plan your visit. Checking which theme is currently running before you book is not optional here — it determines the entire character of your meal. Someone excited about French classical cuisine will have a different experience than someone who arrives during a Chinese or Latin American rotation. The menu is set in advance and there is no meaningful à la carte alternative, so alignment with the current theme is part of the booking decision. For special occasions, this can work strongly in your favor: the dinner has a clear narrative arc, a defined beginning and end, and a visual and theatrical coherence that most tasting menus cannot match. For guests who want to choose their dishes or avoid a specific cuisine, it is a limiting format.
Chef Masamitsu Hisano currently leads the kitchen. The theatrical dimension of the experience is structural, not decorative. The dining room, the plating, and the progression of courses are all calibrated to the theme in ways that become apparent as the meal unfolds. This is not background storytelling — it shapes what lands on the table and in what sequence. That quality of curation is part of what the price point reflects.
On the Opinionated About Dining ranking, Next has moved from #98 in 2023 to #81 in 2024 to #76 in 2025, a consistent upward trajectory that suggests the execution has been getting tighter rather than coasting. Google reviews sit at 4.6 across 612 ratings, which for a restaurant operating at this price tier and this level of conceptual ambition is a reliable indicator of strong guest satisfaction.
For special occasion dining in Chicago, Next competes directly with Smyth, Kasama, and Ever, all of which operate at the $$$$ tier. What differentiates Next is the rotation: you are committing to a specific culinary world, not just a chef's general vision. That specificity makes it more memorable for the right guest and less suitable for someone who wants a broadly accessible fine dining experience. If Alinea is the more experimental and technically extreme option in the Achatz portfolio, Next is the more narrative-driven and historically anchored one. They are not interchangeable , the experience profiles are genuinely different.
For context on how Next's rotating American fine dining format compares to similar concepts nationally, Lazy Bear in San Francisco and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg both operate structured tasting formats with strong conceptual framing. The French Laundry in Napa and Le Bernardin in New York City are the more stable reference points in American fine dining if you prefer a menu that does not change by season. Saga in New York City, Providence in Los Angeles, Emeril's in New Orleans, and Aqueous at Nemacolin in the Laurel Highlands offer different points of comparison across American fine dining formats and price tiers.
Explore more options across our full Chicago restaurants guide, or branch into Chicago hotels, Chicago bars, Chicago wineries, and Chicago experiences to plan the full trip around your dinner.
Address: 953 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607. Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 5 PM to 10 PM; closed Monday and Tuesday. Price range: $$$$. Reservations: Hard to secure , book as far in advance as possible; demand is consistent and the rotating theme format creates concentrated booking windows when a new menu is announced. Dress: Not specified in available data, but the price point, Michelin star, and theatrical format suggest smart to formal dress is appropriate. Group suitability: Well-suited to special occasion dining for two or a small group; the fixed tasting format works especially well for celebrations where a defined, curated experience is the point.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next Restaurant | American Cuisine | Whether you come to experience the cuisine of ancient Rome or Hollywood, a meal here is pure dinner theater. These culinary themes are unique and thoughtful, leaving diners wondering what's "next."While an earlier Italia menu showcased complex ingredients and flawless flavors and textures (think cacio e pepe and guanciale-wrapped branzino), the most recent "Paris 1906" culinary theme showcased celebrated French chef Auguste Escoffier's classic cuisine. Highlights included carrè d’agneau avec sauce choron, a well-executed plate of lamb and crispy sweetbreads with a vibrant sauce choron. The theme ran through to dessert, with a bombe Ceylan, a half-sphere of ice cream, rum and coffee with a delicate chocolate shell, served with griottine cherries and sauce anglaise.; Next, founded by Grant Achatz, known for the top restaurant Alinea and named the best cook in the United States by the James Beard Foundation and by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He explores the world cuisine and changes his menus every four months. Also, he navigates from classic and new French cuisine to that of ancient Rome with a detour through Latin American cuisine and contemporary Chinese gastronomy. And that always includes vegetables.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #76 (2025); Whether you come to experience the cuisine of ancient Rome or Hollywood, a meal here is pure dinner theater. These culinary themes are unique and thoughtful, leaving diners wondering what's "next."While an earlier Italia menu showcased complex ingredients and flawless flavors and textures (think cacio e pepe and guanciale-wrapped branzino), the most recent "Paris 1906" culinary theme showcased celebrated French chef Auguste Escoffier's classic cuisine. Highlights included carrè d’agneau avec sauce choron, a well-executed plate of lamb and crispy sweetbreads with a vibrant sauce choron. The theme ran through to dessert, with a bombe Ceylan, a half-sphere of ice cream, rum and coffee with a delicate chocolate shell, served with griottine cherries and sauce anglaise.; Pearl Recommended Restaurant (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #81 (2024); Michelin 1 Star (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #98 (2023) | Hard | — |
| Alinea | Progressive American, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Smyth | Progressive American, Contemporary | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kasama | Filipino | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Boka | New American, Contemporary | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Esmé | Nordic-American, Contemporary | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
How Next Restaurant stacks up against the competition.
Solo diners can absolutely book Next, and the structured tasting format works well for one — there's no shared plate awkwardness and the theatrical, theme-driven progression gives a solo visit its own momentum. That said, at $$$$ per head, the cost-to-experience ratio lands better when you have a dining partner to process the concept with. If solo dining is your default, confirm seating configuration when you reserve, since counter or bar availability is not documented in current venue data.
At $$$$ per head, Next delivers genuine value if the concept appeals to you: a fully committed rotating tasting menu, Michelin-starred execution, and a kitchen with verifiable credentials behind it — Grant Achatz holds a James Beard Foundation 'Best Cook in the United States' title, and the restaurant ranked #76 in Opinionated About Dining's North America list in 2025. If you want à la carte flexibility or a more intimate chef-driven format, Smyth offers a similar price tier with a different approach. Next is worth it specifically because no other Chicago restaurant rotates its entire identity every four months.
Bar seating availability at Next is not confirmed in current venue records. Next operates as a tasting-menu-only restaurant, so walk-in or bar dining in the casual sense is unlikely — the format requires advance reservation. check the venue's official channels to ask about any counter or bar options before assuming flexibility exists.
Next runs a single fixed tasting menu tied to its current theme, so there's no ordering in the conventional sense — you commit to the full experience when you book. Past themes have included Paris 1906 (Escoffier-era French cuisine) and an Italia menu; the current theme rotates every four months. Check the restaurant's active theme before booking to make sure the concept aligns with what you want that evening.
Next's dress code is not explicitly documented, but at $$$$ pricing with Michelin recognition and a theatrical tasting format, smart to formal attire is the practical baseline. Showing up in casual clothes at a restaurant of this calibre risks standing out for the wrong reasons. When in doubt, dress as you would for any Michelin-starred tasting menu in Chicago.
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