The city of bread—that's what Artopolis Bakery & Cafe's name promises, and with big ovens wafting their aromas up from the lower level into the loft-like cafe, it delivers. The selection of what the Chicago Reader calls "fantastic breads and pastries" includes classic cakes, tarts with fillings such as whiskey-walnut, and Greek delicacies that go beyond baklava to include rarer bites such as the honey-puffs known as loukoumades. It's not all sweet stuff, though. Artopitas are flaky pies stuffed with a choice of five complex savory fillings, and rosemary-scented house-baked bread forms the foundation for sandwiches such as the Mediteraneo, layered with roasted lamb, greens, and mint.

That same bread, along with Artopolis Bakery & Cafe's coffee and wine, can be purchased to take home from the agora, a European-style marketplace. (If the artisan loaves taste familiar, it doesn't necessarily mean you've accidentally time-traveled from a post-lunch future: they're also served at area restaurants including the Palmer House.) There, shoppers can pick up everything from cards and homemade gifts to wine and extra-virgin olive oil. While in line, there's plenty of people-watching to do: as TimeOut Chicago put it, "This always-bustling Greek spot is popular for good reason: The food is inexpensive, you get it fast, and it tastes great."