I was with a friend recently who had said out loud how much he hates going to Chicago.

He said he doesn't like going there and tries to avoid The Windy City at all costs.

PEOPLE DISLIKE VISITING CHICAGO

While it took me a minute to get over that gut punch of a reveal, I made peace knowing plenty of people in Illinois would go anywhere other than Chicago.

For me, Chicago has just about the best of everything: culture, you name it.

There are times when there are things that are better that are outside of the city limits.

PEOPLE SHOULD VISIT ROCKFORD JUST FOR THE FOOD

I noticed this while living in Rockford. The city gets a bad rap, usually by people who have never been here or are just generally unhappy, blaming the city they live in for their misfortunes.

Keep Reading: One Illinois Restaurant Nominated For Best Service in America

Anyway, this steak joint isn't in Chicago, and it's not in Rockford but in Evanston.

Cheapism says The Barn is Illinois' "Best Hidden-Gem Steakhouse." The main reason is that the owner's last name is very familiar: Morton.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE BARN AND MORTON'S

If you've been to a steak joint in Chicago, there's a good chance it was Morton's. This place isn't Morton's, but Amy Morton's The Barn is close.

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According to the article, "The Barn pays homage to her father and the classic American steakhouse and food with Heritage Black Angus steak from local purveyor Meats by Linz."

Sounds awesome. The Barn is located at Rear 1016 Church Street in Evanston, not Chicago. Then again, even if it was in the City by the Lake, you should make the trip because this is a steak place well worth the hassle.

If you're not an adventurous eater, maybe seeing some of the finest in fast-food chains across the US will do the trick, see the list of the 20 best below.

From coast to coast: The 20 best regional fast-food chains to try

From burgers to subs and even creamy milkshakes, these tasty fast-food chains, compiled by Stacker, are a must-try on your next road trip.

Gallery Credit: Kiersten Hickman

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

Gallery Credit: Angela Underwood

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