Did you know Illinois has one of the largest populations of Ukrainian Americans?

That means an influx of Ukrainian culture and that includes restaurants.

Photo by Marjan Blan | @marjanblan on Unsplash
Photo by Marjan Blan | @marjanblan on Unsplash
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So Mashed decided to take a close look at some of The Absolute Best Ukrainian Restaurants In The US.

The list is loaded with plenty of different restaurants on both coasts of the US but plenty right here in Illinois.

Photo by Nathan Bieneman on Unsplash
Photo by Nathan Bieneman on Unsplash
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Mashed references Axios data mentioning there are over 54,000 Ukrainian Americans living in Chicago, second only to New York City.

The Ukrainian population is so robust in Chicago, there's even a neighborhood in The Windy City referred to as the Ukrainian Village.

Photo by Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash
Photo by Jennifer Griffin on Unsplash
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All that said, it makes total sense that four of the very best Ukrainian restaurants in America are in Chicago.

Ready to eat? Check out the best Ukrainian restaurants in Illinois according to Mashed.

Magic Jug

6354 West Irving Park Road, Chicago

In addition to all manner of dumplings (varenyky, pelmeni, and galushky), Magic Jug has cheese and meat or cabbage-filled crepes (nalysnyky), a hearty meat, potato, mushroom, and bean soup (chanachy), a pork and potato pancake dish known as pechenia, and cheburkey, which is a fried meat pie.

Old Lviv

2228 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago

Menu items include potato and cheese varenyky, borscht, the blintz-like cheese-filled nalysnyky, cabbage rolls, sausage, and paprika-sauced chicken.

Shokolad

2524 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago


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While Shokolad bills its bakery as European-style, it does offer some Ukrainian-inspired desserts like a honey-walnut cake, a drunken cherry cake, and the classic Spartak, a custard-filled chocolate cake.

Tryzub

2201 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago

The restaurant has a tempting Ukrainian pork burger topped with pickled onions. Or, try the new style banosh: a polenta-like dish topped with mushroom sauce and a salty cheese called brynza.

All four of the restaurants mentioned above review very well on Yelp. Magic Jug, Shokolad, and Tryzub are all rated 4.5 out of 5 on the popular restaurant review service.

Old Lviv wasn't far behind, scoring a 4 out of 5 on Yelp.

Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash
Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash
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There has been a massive influx of interest in Ukrainian restaurants worldwide. Lucky for you, what appears to be four of the best in America is within driving distance.

Get out, try the food and support a Ukrainian American business.

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