Restaurant in Chicago, United States
12-course Mexican tasting menu worth booking now.
Cariño is a Michelin-starred Mexican tasting menu in Chicago's Uptown neighbourhood, opened in December 2023 and recognised within its first year. Chef Norman Fenton runs approximately 12 courses that reframe Mexican cooking through technically demanding preparations — huitlacoche ravioli, lamb tartare tostada, Michelada-as-oyster — at a $$$$ price point. Book the counter seats, and plan several weeks ahead.
Cariño earns its 2024 Michelin star honestly. This is one of the most technically ambitious Mexican tasting menus in the United States, and at a $$$$ price point in Uptown Chicago, it delivers enough invention and precision to justify the commitment. If you have been once and are weighing a return, the answer is yes — the format rewards repeat visits, and the 10 PM taco omakase alone is reason enough to come back. Book well in advance: this is a hard reservation to land.
Cariño sits at 4662 N Broadway in Uptown, a neighbourhood where the refined train runs overhead and the dining scene skews casual. That contrast is part of what makes the room work. The space is small and close, and the counter seats are the ones to request. From the counter, you get an unobstructed view of Chef Norman Fenton and his team moving through 12 or so courses at an energetic pace, explaining, engaging, and clearly enjoying the work. It is an interactive format — closer in feel to a chef's table at Lazy Bear in San Francisco or Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg than to the white-tablecloth remove of somewhere like The French Laundry in Napa. The intimacy is a feature, not a compromise. If you came once and sat at a table, try to get the counter on your next visit.
Cariño opened in December 2023, and the Michelin recognition came quickly , within its first year of operation. That speed of credentialing is worth noting: the kitchen did not take time to settle into its identity. The tasting menu format was the concept from day one, and the cooking reflects a program that knows exactly what it is doing.
The tasting menu runs approximately 12 courses and opens with a reframed version of chips and salsa , salsa verde jelly alongside a tortilla crumble , that signals immediately how Fenton approaches the format. He is working with the grammar of Mexican cuisine rather than simply replicating it. Dishes like a huitlacoche ravioli filled with earthy corn fungus, finished with sweet-corn foam and fried corn silk, or a lamb tartare tostada seasoned in the style of al pastor, show the same logic: the reference point is legible, the execution is technically demanding, and the result is something that could not exist anywhere else in the city.
The creative range is wide. A pumpernickel quesadilla with black garlic and a chicken liver taco dorado both retain the elemental appeal of their source material while operating at a different technical register. A Michelada arrived as an oyster topped with Clamato pearls and beer foam , the flavour logic of the drink translated into a bite. Spherification and nixtamalization both appear across the meal, deployed with purpose rather than for display. If you compared this kitchen's approach to Mexican fine dining against what Pujol in Mexico City does, the shared instinct is clear: deep respect for the tradition, zero interest in nostalgia as a ceiling.
For diners who have eaten at Topolobampo or the more relaxed Mexican formats around the city , Big Star, Birrieria Zaragoza, Chilam Balam , Cariño operates in a different register entirely. It is not a replacement for those places; it is a different kind of outing. The decision is not which is better but which format you want on a given night.
One note on timing: the kitchen offers a taco omakase available only at 10 PM. If you are returning and have not done this, that is the version to book. It is a late-night extension of the same kitchen's logic, and it is not available at the regular service time.
Reservations: Hard to book , plan at least several weeks ahead and check consistently for cancellations. Address: 4662 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640 (Uptown). Price tier: $$$$ , tasting menu format, so budget accordingly for a full evening spend including beverages. Format: Tasting menu, approximately 12 courses. Counter seating recommended. 10 PM taco omakase available separately. Awards: Michelin 1 Star (2024). Google rating: 4.8 from 108 reviews. Getting there: The Red Line runs overhead in Uptown; the Broadway address is walkable from the Wilson stop.
For a broader look at where Cariño fits in Chicago's dining options, see our full Chicago restaurants guide. If you are planning a full trip, our Chicago hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the rest. For Mexican tasting-menu comparisons beyond Chicago, Alma Fonda Fina in Denver is the closest regional peer worth knowing about. For the broader US fine dining conversation, Le Bernardin in New York City and Providence in Los Angeles anchor what Michelin-starred cooking at this price tier looks like in other markets.
Cariño is a small, intimate space in Uptown Chicago, and the format is a fixed tasting menu — not a setup that suits large groups easily. Parties of two are the sweet spot; if you're bringing four or more, contact the restaurant well in advance to discuss availability and seating configuration. Do not assume walk-in flexibility at a Michelin-starred counter-focused venue at this price point.
Yes, and it's the recommended way to experience Cariño. The counter seats offer a direct sightline to the kitchen team across the 12-course menu, and the staff engage with guests openly. If you have a choice between a table and the counter, take the counter.
It's a strong solo option. The counter format means solo diners are never marooned at a table, and the kitchen's pace and engagement make the 12 courses feel active rather than solitary. At $$$$ for a set tasting menu, it's a meaningful solo spend, but the counter experience justifies it more than most formats would.
Yes, if technically ambitious cooking and a creative reframing of Mexican cuisine is what you're after. The menu opens with deconstructed chips and salsa, works through huitlacoche ravioli and lamb tartare tostada, and closes with a late-night taco omakase at 10 p.m. — that range of invention across 12 courses is what earned the 2024 Michelin star. If you want à la carte Mexican, this is not the right room.
At $$$$ for a Michelin-starred tasting menu that opened in December 2023 and earned its star within the year, the value holds up against Chicago peers like Smyth and Alinea. What separates Cariño is the specific angle: serious technique applied to Mexican culinary traditions, not European fine dining with a nod to global flavour. If that's the experience you want, the price is justified.
Yes. A Michelin-starred tasting menu with counter seating, an engaged kitchen team, and a 12-course format built around genuine creativity reads well as a celebration dinner. The Uptown location — elevated train overhead, casual neighbourhood surroundings — adds contrast rather than detracting from the occasion. Book the counter if it's a two-person celebration.
No dietary restriction information is documented for Cariño. Given the fixed tasting menu format and the technical complexity of dishes like spherification-based preparations and multi-component courses, check the venue's official channels before booking if you have serious restrictions. Do not assume flexibility without confirmation.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
