Chicago Restaurant Week returns on January 20, 2023- February 5, 2023, with lots of tasty opportunities to dive into the city’s award-winning food scene. Technically, it’s not just a week, it’s a 17-day eating extravaganza. The 16th annual event features over 300 restaurants across the city and suburbs with a wide range of cuisines and culinary options.
The prix-fixe set-up offers multi-course meals for $25 for brunch or lunch and either $42 or $59 for dinner, excluding drinks, taxes and tips.
The appeal of Chicago Restaurant Week is the chance to explore different restaurants, neighborhoods and cuisines at discounted prices. Diners will get to sample some of the city’s best restaurants for less than it would usually cost. Although not required, reservations are recommended because many restaurants are packed for restaurant week.
Here are some of our picks for this year’s offerings.
65 E. Kinzie St.
You can never go wrong at this sleek and popular Italian restaurant. Headed up by talented Top Chef alumni Fabio Viviani, Sienna Tavern serves up flawless pastas, pizzas and entrees that will haunt your dreams with unforgettable flavors. All the menus are great but the best deal is the four-course dinner with grilled octopus, rigatoni all vodka and vanilla bean cheesecake as highlights.
1462 E. 53rd St.
This James Beard Award-winning restaurant is a destination anytime but restaurant week supplies another reason to enjoy its flavorful Southern cuisine. The dinner menu features signature dishes like shrimp & crawfish, chicken jambalaya and black kale. Reservations are highly recommended because the art-covered dining room is always packed.
Bites Asian Kitchen + Bar
3313 N. Clark St.
This lively space always serves high quality at great prices but the lunch menu is filled with deals. Munch on choices like jumbo shrimp shumai or spicy crab rangoon for the first course, 5-spice duck ramen or honey bourbon sesame chicken for the second course and blueberry-yuzu cheesecake for the third.
4801 N. Broadways St.
A beloved Ethiopian eatery with award-winning cuisine, Demera provides an array of classic dishes from the east African country and the restaurant week lunch menu features some great deals. The sambussa with cherry tomato salad for the first course and Demera Messob tasting platter of meat and veggies for the second course finished with red chai ice cream for the third is a winning combination.
Tanta
118 W. Grand Ave.
Tanta supplies an upscale take on Peruvian cuisine in a welcoming setting. Go for the flavor-packed dinner of Tiradito Coco (whitefish, coconut sauce, avocado, toasted peanuts), Pulpo Olivo (grilled octopus), Chanchito Glaseado ( pork tenderloin marinated in Peruvian spices) and seasonal fruit sorbets.
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