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Baez.Bitez

@baez.bitez

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I ask your favorite Chefs for their favorite Bitez!
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WHAT A YEAR! Every year, I keep a list of all the mouthwatering Bitez I was fortunate enough to experience throughout the year, and 2025 provided the longest one yet.

It started with 52 different noteworthy bites that I slowly, and painfully whittled down to the 20 you see here. I considered the fact that some of the bites weren’t readily available so I removed all pop-ups that are now defunct or without residency (separate list to follow for my beloved pop-ups and collaborators). After that, I was still left with 38 worthy bites that took me two weeks to narrow down (still flipping as of 3 minutes ago). The ones you see featured here, are the ones I kept going back to, literally, and often mentally. They’re the kind of bites that have you comparing all other bites to it; the anchors, the new standards, the bearers of possibility from which I now eat. There are still so many bites I’ve yet to explore and so many people I owe thank yous to (for making me smile through the gifts they posses) but for now we close 2025 extremely appreciative and incredibly proud to call the BEST city in the US, HOME. Here’s to many more Bitez (sound bites as well) in 2026 🖤

#chicago #chicagofood #chicagosbest #bestbites by @baez.bitez

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9 months ago

🍕BBB - Cecily & Billy Federighi of PIZZ’AMICI

If there is one thing that has become readily apparent through this series it’s that WE, Chicago, have the BEST people. These two exemplify everything right about Chicago. PIZZ’AMICI didn’t just happen overnight and it certainly didn’t come out of nowhere. Through years of grassroot campaigning, and steadfast determination, these two have built what is considered by many (most) in Chicago to be the best tavern style Za in the city. They’ve accomplished all this while simultaneously harboring a tremendous sense of humility, community, and appreciation for all those who have helped them get to this point. The pizza is ELITE, but the people are even better.

#chicago #chicagopizza #chicagorestaurants #pizza by @baez.bitez

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a year ago

BBB - Jim Graziano 🇮🇹 🥪

Sometimes you meet a person and they just feel like a hug. Jimmy is every bit of the warmest, most genuine, and soul-inviting hug of a human you’ve ever met. He walks the walk, and talks the talk. Jimmy is, as I alluded to in the intro, the mfin moon responsible for raising the tides around him. He cares deeply, not just about HIS people, but about ALL people, and no one is a better ambassador for what this city has meant to me, than JImmy.

Go show Jimmy and the entire @jpgraziano team some love tonight as they collab with @pompei_restaurants for their night window!

#chicago #chicagofood #chicagorestaurants #chicagosandwiches by @baez.bitez

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a year ago

@blackbriarchi Chicago is better today than it was just ten days ago. What a meal. What a return. What an exciting start to what feels like an entirely new chapter in the Chicago culinary landscape. @jimmypapadop you have been missed, but missed you will be no longer. This is instantly a rotational spot! 🔥 See you soon!

#chicago #chicagorestaurants taken in Black Briar by @baez.bitez

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6 days ago

Few tickets left in the @comedyandcaviar bio!
See you there!

Thank you! David “Claire” Baez Bitez

#chicago #thingstodo #comedy by @baez.bitez

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9 days ago

Appetizer - @gretelchicago burger 🍔 and lobster roll 🦞
Main - @bouchonchicago steak frites 🥩🍟
Cleanser - @giantchicago the best grapes on earth 🍇
Dessert - @prettycoolicecream deep fried Oreo ice cream sandwich and pickle lemonade popsicle🍦
Thirst quencher - @middle__brow 🍺

I think it’s fair to say that the inaugural @armitagecountyfair was a tremendous success. You’re telling me on a crisp fall day I can walk around listening to live music with portable Manion style steak frites in one hand and a Middle Brow Kolsh in the other?! What heaven on earth did you create Peter?!
Every three feet I was met with another holy sh*+ bite.
I may…just run it back tomorrow 🔥 by @baez.bitez

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17 days ago

I’m not going to bury the lead in some typical BB prose about rising from the ashes yadda yadda… @gingiechicago was outstanding! I usually wait until several months in to form any opinion on a spot but I was very impressed right from the get. The shape of the space is familiar to all of my GT Primers but the feel, lightness, and energy in the room is so fresh and beautiful. As for the food, much like the space, things may seem familiar but they’ve all been infused with a fun, seasonal, and/or vibrant twist. That three day pre-fire trial run may have just been the right amount of smoke this place needed to get off to such a hot start. Extremely excited to go back and see what @chefbrianlockwood has up his sleeve in the coming months.

#gingie #newrestaurant #chicago by @baez.bitez

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19 days ago

Tuesday Teaser with @chefdavidtposey of @elskerestaurant and @creepieschicago

Despite the fact that my mic took the day off, the content certainly did not. What a fun, transparent, and engaging conversation we have for you coming up soon!

#chicago #chicagofood #bestofchicago by @baez.bitez

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21 days ago

BBB - the final @chefisahil @sifrchicago episode.

“Collaboration and Authenticity”

#chicago #restaurant #collaboration by @baez.bitez

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25 days ago

@postboynb 🚢⚓️ Soul - you either have it or you don’t. It’s in the cream and coral accented walls that hug you, the air that smells of summer lakes, the music that summons feelings of the best times memory can serve, the people that feel a lot less like strangers than they should, and the bitez that feels familiar and new all at once.

The menu, whether consciously or not, fits symbiotically with the origin story of New Buffalo. Captain Whittaker, aboard the schooner Post Boy, set sail from Buffalo, New York in 1834 only to eventually find himself shipwrecked not too far from where Postboy finds itself today. He and his crew, enamored with this new land, decided after what was supposed to be a seasonal stay, to make this their new home. Out with the old and in with the new, Buffalo.

Guided by Chef @jamesfgalbraith, the menu masterfully, showcases principles or terms we’re all somewhat familiar with and invigorates it by adding the “new.” Whether is the masa aioli standing in beautifully for your traditional tortilla w an Al Pastor, or the strawberry gochujang dancing with the pimento cheese, there is SOUL here, and it’s undeniable.

* about an hour and 20 from Chicago
#michigan #newbuffalo #restaurant by @baez.bitez

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a month ago

Often it’s not what’s said about a dish but what’s left on the dish, that can provide the loudest commentary. That silent conversation can be the biggest difference in (1) how your next menu shapes up and (2) what customers may come to expect on their next trip back.
@sifrchicago

#restaurant #chicago #lambkebab by @baez.bitez

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a month ago

BBB - Liz Tierney @batch_chi 🍪

Every sweet journey must unfortunately come to an end. This one was special for so many reasons. It’s a wholesome example of someone taking a cruddy and unexpected turn in life and pivoted towards something beautiful and altruistic. I can feel a journey just beginning here for @batch_chi and im thrilled to have met a new friend in the neighborhood! 🍪🖤

#chicago #cookies #bestof #bestofchicago by @baez.bitez

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a month ago