Courtesy of Gemini Bistro

Roasted salmon with savoy cabbage, smoked bacon, and coriander vinaigrette

Gemini Bistro (2075 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-525-2522). American.

  ½ (very good to excellent)

$$ ($30–$39 per person for a meal, without tax, tip, or alcohol)

This kind of neighborhood restaurant is more often encountered in the mind’s eye than around the corner. It's unassuming enough for a quick Tuesday night bite, yet suitable for a weekend tête-à-tête.

If there were nothing else on the menu, the rich, creamy mushroom risotto with rosemary would justify Gemini’s existence. Fortunately there’s also a solid frisée salad with lardons, a well-executed crab cake, and a hearty plate of roast chicken and mashed potatoes. A homey peach crisp carries the comfort-food theme through to the very end.

If it feels like a throwback, well, you can’t eat grilled fish head and sous vide pork belly every night. Right?

Dishes We Liked: bistro salad ($11), crab cake ($16), mushroom risotto ($14), roast chicken with mashed potatoes ($19), peach crisp ($9), crème brûlée ($8)

New restaurant reviews, updated to reflect critics’ recent visits, appear each month in Chicago magazine, in Dine, as well as on our website. Listed restaurants are rated from one to four stars, where one is good, two is very good, three is excellent, and four is superlative. Gemini Bistro’s rating increased from two stars to two and a half; Gilt Bar’s rating increased from one and a half stars to two and a half. The updated reviews appear in the April issue, on newsstands now.