While restaurants were closing left and right in 2020, new joints rose from the ashes of those former places in 2021.

One of those just so happens to also be one of America's best new restaurants, and it's in Illinois too.

According to USA Today's 10 Best Reader's Choice List for Best New Restaurant, the overall winner is Empress by Boon in San Francisco, California.

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While absolutely gorgeous, a trip to the West Coast to try Empress by Boon isn't totally possible for us here in Illinois.

A little closer to home and just a few spots down the list, at #5, is Dear Margaret.

No, it's not the beginning of a love letter, but it could be mistaken that way.

From the look of things, it's a love letter to food though, because the menu sounds delicious and apparently, it's one of the best new restaurants in America.

The most mentioned dishes on the menu at Dear Margaret on Yelp are the Duck Breast, Ice Wine Panna Cotta, Pomme Frites, Smoked Carrots, and Steak Frites.

Adam S. on Yelp says he's "still dreaming of our dinner about 18 hours later." and Liz M. said, "I absolutely loved my experience at Dear Margaret." Sarah H. added, "There aren't enough stars in the world for Dear Margaret."

Since Dear Margaret hasn't been around very long, there are only 40 reviews of the French Canadian restaurant on Yelp. Long story short, I had a hard time finding anything negative regarding the place.

I did find this from Pablo B. who said, "I ordered the lamb" it "was inedible, could only had (sp) 2 bites and throw the rest, that like rubber."

It looks like Pablo's experience was an outlier, but who knows, Dear Margaret is still new so don't forget.

If you want to see it for yourself, Dear Margaret is located at 2965 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.

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