After ten years, we’ve been to 500 different restaurants. I figured that was too large and round a number to avoid some analysis.  This is based on the restaurant list as it exists today; some places might be closed and we don’t know about it. I removed Trios, Anniversaries and other special events. Commence the navel gazing. (Yes, it’s been slow at work.)

• 123 (24.6%) of the restaurants have closed. I’m surprised this number isn’t higher, to be honest.

• 11 (2.2%) have moved. All eleven remain open.

• 3 (0.6%) have been renamed. All three remain open.

• There are at least 26 locations that we’ve been to at least twice. 5101 North Clark has the record with four restaurants: Atlantique, Rioja, Il Fiasco, and Tapas Las Ramblas. Two have three each: 1119 West Webster (Gracie’s, La Canasta, Kith & Kin) and 4300 North Lincoln (Bransfield’s, Feed the Beast, The Bad Apple)

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Here’s a completely unscientific chart showing picks by cuisine. A lot of restaurants have multiple cuisines listed, so I used only the first one, and then I grouped some together (Japanese & sushi, Spanish & tapas, the entire British Isles, etc.) but left others separate.

I left out cuisines with only one choice each, and here they are: 40′s Cabaret, Bakery, Belgian, Café, Costa Rican, Eastern European, Filipino, Guatemalan, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Mashed Potatoes, Medieval Dinner and Tournament, Mongolian, Nigerian, Noodles, Pakistani, “Pasta, Mostly Italian and Thai”, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Surf & Turf, Swedish and Tex-Mex.

Here’s a chart showing choosings per chooser:

Finally, a couple miscellaneous breakdowns:

Area Code

773: 388 (77.6%)

312: 102 (20.4%)

847: 9 (1.8%)

800: 1 (0.2%)

Price Range (I rounded up here, $-$$ to $$, etc.)

$: 63 (12.6%)

$$: 303 (60.6%)

$$$: 126 (25.2%)

$$$$: 8 (1.6%)