Chicago Restaurant Week 2019: Best deals, recommendations for reservations

Chicago Restaurant Week begins on January 25. There are 10 of the best deals you can get, as chosen by our Hungry Hound.

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago Restaurant Week begins on January 25 and lasts until February 7. There are 10 of the best deals you can get, as chosen by ABC7’s Hungry Hound Steve Dolinsky.

The Allis at Soho House

113-125 N. Green Street

312-521-8000

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Lunch

This restaurant in the Soho House is open to the public, and while it offers three-course lunch ($24) and dinner ($36) Restaurant Week options, Dolinsky says lunch is where it’s at. Enjoy the large, airy space as you sip great drinks and eat great bites. The Atlantic fluke crudo and arctic char are great choices, and you can’t go wrong with the almond and lemon cake for dessert.

Arami

1829 W. Chicago Avenue

312-843-1535

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Dinner

This West Town Japanese restaurant is a jewel box, and Dolinsky’s never had a bad meal there. Arami is offering a $48, four-course menu for both lunch and dinner, as well as a four-course vegetarian option for the same price for both meals. Dishes include king crab with tobiko sauce and braised wagyu shortrib. You can add sake pairings to your meal for just $25 more.

avec

615 W. Randolph Street

312-377-2002

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Lunch

For $24, you start with the lentil soup and whipped feta, but then choose between their famous chorizo-stuffed dates, chicken shawarma, or charred cabbage with roasted beets, walnut and sumac. For dessert they’ll serve you their caramel cashew squares, which Dolinsky calls “some of the most memorable bites you’ll have, and they provide just the right amount of sweetness without being overbearing.”

BOKA Restaurant

1729 N. Halsted Street

312-337-6070

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Dinner

BOKA usually offers a tasting menu-level experience from one of the city’s most talented chefs, Lee Wolen. Their $48 dinner menu serves four courses, and three to four options to choose from or each, including vegetarian and gluten-free dishes. The kampachi, foie gras, cauliflower soup, glazed pork neck and mushroom Bolognese all sound exquisite, Dolinsky says.

Cindy’s

12 S. Michigan Avenue

312-940-3552

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Lunch

Come for the food, stay for the view. Tucked on the top floor of the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, the rooftop dining room offers one of the city’s most breathtaking views. Their Restaurant Week lunch menu ($24) is solid, including squash-parsnip soup, gnocchi, and a s’mores baked Alaska that will fill you up without knocking you out for the rest of the day.

Dos Urban Cantina

2829 W. Armitage Avenue

773-661-6452

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Dinner

Chef Bryan Enyart, who was sous chef at Frontera Grill for 14 years, and his wife Jennifer Jones Enyart, who was pastry chef there, set up their a cozy, casual, Mexican-inspired restaurant in Logan Square. Dolisnsky’s picks on their $36 Restaurant Week dinner menu include the salmon tartare and red chile trout. If you like pork, the cochinita pibil is not to be missed. And Jennifer’s coconut tres leches cake and chocolate cake, both options for dessert, are crowd-pleasers.

Duck Inn

2701 S. Eleanor Street

312-724-8811

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Dinner

Head to Bridgeport to experience Kevin Hickey’s well-executed dishes in a gussied-up tavern space. Dolinsky is curious about the “pig head candy bar” that’s one of your first course choices on the $48 dinner menu, as well as the arctic char, but if you want surf ‘n’ turf as interpreted by the former Ritz Carlton chef, try the pork belly and scallop with XO sauce and jalapeno.

Free Rein

224 N. Michigan Avenue

312-334-6700

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Lunch

If you’re choosing between the $24 lunch or the $48 dinner, Dolinsky says pick lunch. Don’t miss Chef Lirette’s saffron spaghetti, and enjoy the beautiful space. And if you’re feeling a little tired after lunch make a stop in the full bakery and coffeeshop in the front.

Joe’s Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab

60 E. Grand Avenue

312-379-5637

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Dinner

It’s normally impossible to get out of Joe’s for less than $48, so Restaurant Week dinner is a good deal. Dolinksy’s picks are the Alaskan king crab with Lyonnaise potatoes and creamed spinach, but you won’t go wrong with the 8 oz. filet with grilled tomato and mashed potatoes either. Both dessert choices – key lime pie or banana cream pie – are great calls, too.

Marisol

205 E. Pearson Street

312-799-599

Website | Pre Fixe Menu

Best Deal Pick: Dinner

Take your Restaurant Week experience up another level and dine in one of Chicago’s best museums, the Museum of Contemporary Art. The contemporary American restaurant’s $48 dinner menu offers several options for each of its four courses. Dolinsky is intrigued by the pate toast and sweet potato-almond soup, as well as the roasted pork or trout in the main courses. As a bonus, you get to dine in a gorgeous room decorated with art from the museum’s collection.