Chicago Restaurant Week’s 5 best deals
Chicago Restaurant Week, continuing through Feb. 9) has a way of whipping Chicagoans into a reservations frenzy. Sifting through the more than 430 participating Chicagoland restaurants is a tricky endeavor, and finding great deals takes time. In an effort to cut down on the guesswork, here are some of the best Restaurant Week options, evaluated based on value overall and on specific items — as compared to regular menus and one another — as well as diversity of cuisine and location, offerings for vegetarians, and availability during various times of day.
Big Jones
This haven for regional Southern cuisine continues to serve some of the most soughtafter fried chicken in Chicago. Its Restaurant Week dinner menu ($36 for three courses plus jalapeño cheese cornbread service) includes its famous juicy, crispy birds, fried in gumbo skimmings as a special Restaurant Week touch. Alligator and andouille sauce piquant; crawfish etouffee; and cochon de lait are also featured.
Cabra
“Top Chef ” champion Stephanie Izard’s Peruvian rooftop restaurant in the West Loop made a huge splash when it opened in April, drawing tons of diners to dig into something new from one of Chicago’s most famous chefs. Cabra is offering Restaurant Week menus for brunch ($24 per person, two dishes), lunch ($24 per person, five dishes), and dinner ($48 per person, seven dishes) designed for two people with plenty of on-menu hits such as goat empanadas and duck ceviche.
HaiSous
Restaurant Week offers diners a great opportunity to dig into chef Thai Dang’s Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning Vietnamese dishes in Pilsen. Brunch options ($24, two courses plus a beverage pairing) are slightly limited, but Dang features both meat-friendly and vegetarian family-style menus for dinner ($48, three courses plus a featured cocktail).
Piccolo Sogno
One of Chicago’s best and most beloved Italian restaurants is offering both lunch ($24, three courses) and dinner menus ($36, three courses) loaded with pasta, oxtail and more in River West. Each course contains a plethora of choices, so those who are focused on value will need order wisely to get the best deal — for example, skip the soup of the day in favor of the cozze diavola.
Pacific Standard Time
Acclaimed California-cool River North restaurant Pacific Standard Time isn’t always an easy reservation, but some spots are available for the taking during Restaurant Week. The real bang comes at dinner ($48, four courses plus a shared appetizer), particularly from the rockfish and half heritage chicken (marsala, fideo, mushroom, pickled Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers, niçoise olive).