This year's Chicago Restaurant Week runs from Jan 22 to Feb 4, with great menus so you can try restaurants that may normally be a little harder on your wallet. But with over 350 restaurants to choose from, how can you know what deals and meals are the best? We've sifted through the menus to come up with seven that are sure to satisfy. Pricing is fixed, with lunches for $22, three-course dinners for $33 and four-course dinners for $44 (with some exceptions). Make reservations now—these spots will fill up fast.
Jimmy Papadopoulos's Bohemian House puts on a lunch featuring entrees like spaetzle with mushrooms, caramelized onions, broccoli and Emmentaler cheese and starters like sauerkraut soup with potatoes and carrots. Grab an apple strudel for dessert with crème fraîche—the pastries are sure to shine.
The four-course dinner menu at Boka shows off some of the regular menu dishes, like the lightly smoked arctic char and roasted chicken, but some of the hot starters, crispy pork belly and cavatelli, are just for Restaurant Week. The other two courses, a starting cold course and dessert, make this dinner a steal.
De Quay has a menu almost totally made for Restaurant Week. Its melding of Indonesian and Dutch food has us interested. We'd love to try the spiced beef and sesame lumpias—an egg roll primarily made of meat—lamb rendang curry and, of course, a homemade stroopwafel.
GT Fish and Oyster will offer a lunch and four-course dinner menu to satisfy your seafood cravings. Both menus will offer favorites like an oyster po' boy roll, clam chowder and key lime pie, so sidle up to the bar and prepare for a good meal at the right price.
Chef-in-residence Stephen Gillanders brings a menu from Intro to Restaurant Week at a great price. It's a three-course meal for $44, but the entrees almost cover that price on their own. Choices for entrees like prime flat iron steak (normally $34), Berkshire pork chop ($29) and black truffle salmon ($30), starters like potato and leek soup ($14) and wilted kale salad ($12), and dessert like banana budino and chocolate cake make this meal worth its price.
We're fans of Salero's Spanish fare, with regular menu dishes like grilled swordfish and confit potatoes, so this four-course dinner is a must for us. Other choices include jamón serrano, grilled octopus, grilled shishito peppers and olives, topped off with desserts like churros and flan. It's a good deal—and a delicious one at that.
Sepia's offering a lunch tasting menu and a three- and four-course dinner menu, fit for whatever price range you want. Try well-executed dishes from chef Andrew Zimmerman like braised duck ravioli with rosemary medjool date and grana padano for dinner or smoked rainbow trout with crushed potatoes, dill, capers and crème fraîche for lunch.