Best view of...360 degrees of awesome

Photograph by Martha Williams

Room 21 (2110 S Wabash Ave, 312-328-1198)
Of all of the lavish rooms restaurateur Jerry Kleiner has designed—from the chic whimsy of Opera to the manic Caribbean colors of Carnivale—his greatest work is this antiroom, a lush courtyard so full of greenery you’ll forget it has walls. (Note: The walls are there, you just have to look away from the glowing, underlit, 40-foot evergreens.) Surrounded by barren lots and soulless condos, it’s an unlikely oasis. But that—combined with the meaty crab cakes and the white-peach mint julep—is its charm. It feels like a secret. Then again, we should have known this place had potential. After all, Capone used to chill here—and that dude didn’t hang out anywhere shabby.

—David Tamarkin

NEXT>>