Hidden gems for lunch in downtown Chicago

Downtown restaurants were hit hard by the pandemic, with many lunchtime staples closing, but some of the Loop's hidden gems survived.

• We're highlight three fun ones to impress your friends.

Oasis Cafe: Tucked in the back of a jewelry store on Wabash's Jeweler's Row, this Palestinian-run cafe has been serving up delicious falafel sandwiches ($7.49) for more than a decade.

• The intrigue: Don't miss the excellent Egyptian koshari specials on Wednesdays and Moroccan couscous on Fridays.

Basement food court at 105 W. Madison St.: Walk through the gilded lobby in this vintage building and down a small staircase to the left to find a basement food court where Green Apple PhoEver serves Vietnamese pho ($14.49) and Korean specialties including kimchi stew ($14.45) and bibimbap ($13.45)

• At La Bamba, you can find burritos, tacos, tortas, tamales and more.

Pittsfield Cafe: This fabulous old-school diner is in the lobby of another gilded building you can marvel at while lunching on throwbacks like toasted pecan rolls, cherry Jell-O and Chicago Francheezie — a cheese-injected, deep-fried dog wrapped in bacon.

• Check out a NSFW photo of the dog on our Instagram.