Chicago Restaurant Week is back: Try foods from all of the restaurants you’ve admired from afar but have been unsure of trying, or revisit your favorite places to experience their exclusive Restaurant Week menus. Chicago Restaurant Week 2023 will run from Friday, Jan. 20 to Monday, Feb. 5 and we’ve rounded up the specials you should try.
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1904 W North Avenue / Website
Enjoy a Pan-Latin meal from Jame Beard-nominated chef Rodolfo Cuadros this Restaurant Week. Guests will be able to choose between a three-course and four-course dining experience. For the three-course menu, find highlights like reina pipiada empanada, Cuban oxtail and coconut pineapple tres leches. For the four-course menu, find dishes like fresh ceviche, charred pulpo a la plancha with fermented pumpkin seed romesco, fideos a la huancaina with jackfruit barbacoa, and raspberry rose gelato for dessert. The three-course menu is priced at $42 per person while the four-course menu is priced at $59 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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615 W Randolph / Website
Head to avec for special Chicago Restaurant Week brunch and dinner menus. For brunch, enjoy a raspberry rose donut, your choice of entree and coffee or fresh juice for just $25 per person. Entree options include highlights like a pepper and egg sandwich on an English muffin, maple sausage cocotte with fried potatoes, and chickpea fried chicken.
The specials don’t stop there. For dinner, enjoy a six-course tasting experience, with highlights including house-marinated olives, chorizo-stuffed Medjool dates with bacon, cucumber salad, and roasted chicken with pancetta, among other mouthwatering items. The meal is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
141 W Erie Street / Website
The West Loop location of avec will feature its own unique lunch and dinner menus. For lunch, explore lentil soup with yogurt and zhoug, roasted beet tartine, yogurt-marinated chicken, and ‘nutter butter’ squares. The lunch menu is priced at $25 per person.
Then, for dinner enjoy highlights like roasted sweet potatoes with avocado, rotisserie chicken shawarma, and fried semolina donuts. Dinner is priced at $59 per person and an optional wine pairing for $22 per person. Reservations for avec West Loop can be made here.
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Multiple Locations / Website
Head to any of Avli’s locations for a unique Restaurant Week menu. At the Lakeshore East location, dine on kataifi shrimp, himoniatiki salad, and lavraki filetto with oven-baked branzino filet and smoked eggplant. The three-course menu will be available for dine-in Tuesdays to Fridays. The meal is priced at $42 per person and reservations can be made here.
At Avli’s in Lincoln Park, visit for brunch for a loaded Greek or beet salad bowl with your choice of protein. Then, for dinner, guests will enjoy a three-course menu with highlights like pork souvlakia, Greek-style half chicken and your choice of the restaurant’s signature spreads. Brunch will be priced at $25 per person while dinner will be priced at $42 per person. Reservations can be made here.
Finally, at Avli’s River North location, enjoy a three-course brunch with highlights like Greek salad, yogurt mousse and avgolemono soup. Then, for dinner, enjoy a three-course dinner with soutzoukakia, chicken riganato and rizogalo, among other items. Brunch will be priced at $25 per person and dinner at $42 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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2200 N Clark Street / Website
For the first time, experience Michelin starred-restaurant Bar Esmé at Restaurant Week. On the menu, indulge in the restaurant’s signature ‘flamin’ hot cheeto’, then choose between butternut squash soup or mushroom conserva. For the entree, select the Wagyu pithivier with beets and balsamic, or the trout with New Zealand spinach, carrots and sauce Normandy. Dinner is priced at $59 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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551 N Ogden Avenue / Website
Enjoy coastal Mexican-inspired lunch and dinner menus devised especially for Chicago Restaurant Week. For lunch, enjoy a three-course menu with highlights including ceviche, pescado tostada and tres leches cake, available for $25 per person. The dinner menu will feature almost the same highlights as the lunch menu, with the addition of a taco course. Dinner will be priced at $42 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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1559 N Milwaukee Avenue / Website
Calling all vegans and veggie lovers! Bloom Plant-Based Kitchen will offer an entirely gluten-free and vegan Restaurant Week menu, crafted by James Beard-nominated chef Rodolfo Cuadros. The four-course menu is set to feature options like plum and celery ceviche, cashew requeson with tamarind saba, herbs and agave on toasted sourdough and Baja tacos. However, the star of the third course is the restaurant’s signature yuca gnocchi, served with celery root puree, mushroom sofrito, kale and shaved cashew pecorino. For dessert, all guests will be treated to a dessert trio. The menu is priced at $59 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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1300 W Wellington Avenue / Website
Celebrate the bountiful harvests of the Midwest with this farm-to-table Restaurant Week menu. Using ingredients from owner TJ Callahan’s family farm, Brown Dog Farm, the seasonal three-course menu will be customizable and feature hits like Wisconsin cheese curds, roasted chicken, farmer’s cut steak, and cauliflower steak served with basil chimichurri, pickled vegetables and chicory. Finish off your meal with a choice between a triple chocolate brownie, apple cider donuts and sorbet for dessert. The menu is priced at $42 per person and reservations can be made here.
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Multiple Locations / Website
Often hailed as Chicago’s best barbecue, Lexington Betty Smokehouse will serve a tasty three-course lunch menu in honor of Chicago Restaurant Week. Guests can choose their own “BBQ adventure” with first-course options including a salmon burger slider and a Wagyu dog “Chicago style” slider, and second-course options featuring beef brisket gouda macaroni or a rib tips and Wagyu beef andouille sausage combo. For dessert, enjoy banana pudding or peach cobbler. The limited-time lunch menu is priced at $25 per person and will only be served during lunch service.
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739 N Clark Street / Website
Check out one of River North’s newest and trendiest restaurants, LIVA, as they participate in Restaurant Week for the first time. The lavish four-course menu is set to feature smoking goose capicola, potato croquettes, smoked fish dip, smoked pork hoc, and lamb and squash sugo, among other items. For an additional $20, guests can add curated wine pairings to the meal featuring selections from the on-site winery. The menu is priced at $59 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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638 South Michigan Avenue / Website
Head to Catalan-inspired tapas restaurant Mercat a la Planxa for a stunning three-course dinner. The menu features highlights like steamed mussels with white wine butter sauce and chorizo, white fish a la planxa, and red wine poached pear with ricotta ice cream for dessert. The meal will be priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
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505 N Michigan Avenue / Website
Head to the G.O.A.T.’s luxe steakhouse for a hearty four-course dinner. On the menu, choose from hits like garlic bread with Wisconsin blue cheese fondue, arugula with apples, tomato bisque, filet with truffle butter, New York strip steak with Lyonnaise potatoes, miso-marinated shrimp, and banana bread pudding or chocolate panna cotta for dessert. The menu is priced at $59 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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800 Michigan Avenue, 7th Floor / Website
This luxe restaurant is located on the seventh floor of the Park Hyatt Chicago and prides itself on its locally-sourced ingredients. In honor of Restaurant Week, enjoy a three-course brunch, lunch or dinner menu. Highlights for brunch include blue crab artichoke fritters and tender filet, while lunch highlights include duck prosciutto flatbread and a grilled garlic sausage sandwich. For dinner, find crispy Maitake mushrooms, Wagyu NY strip steak and duck on the menu. Brunch and lunch will be priced at $25 per person, while dinner will be priced at $59 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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825 W Fulton Market, 837 Fulton Street / Website
Visit Publican Quality Meats for a unique Restaurant Week special. The famed Cassoulet dinner will return in its traditional glory featuring winter salad, chef David’s cassoulet composed of Tarbais beans, pork ribs, duck confit and sausage, and finished off with French apple cake. Reservations for the special dinner can be made here.
The Publican will also offer a four-course dinner menu with highlights like sweet potatoes, bouchot mussels, butcher’s steak, and toasted mallow for dessert. Reservations can be made here.
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838 W Kinzie Street / Website
Indulge in over-the-top American fare at this must-try restaurant. Recess will offer special brunch and dinner menus for Restaurant Week this year. Try out smoked mozzarella taquitos, crispy buffalo chicken rolls, cashew crunch salad, a BLT&E sandwich, avocado toast, pork belly fried rice, or biscuits and gravy with warm cheddar biscuits, pork sausage gravy and scallions. For dessert, choose between Nutella French toast or Recess’ cinnamon toast crunch bread pudding with orange caramel and smoked maple bourbon pecan ice cream. The brunch menu is priced at $25 per person while the dinner menu is priced at $42 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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736 W Randolph Street / Website
Head to the West Loop for a three-course progressive Indian menu, set to include cuisine from all 31 diverse states of India. Menu highlights will include chili cheese kulcha, tandoor smoked pork belly with fig and ginger sauce, butter chicken with red pepper makhani, bagara baingan, and Scottish salmon meen pulusu with coconut ginger sauce and saffron mashed potatoes. For dessert, choose between mango sorbet or a saffron cheesecake with motichoor ladoo, saffron ganache and pistachio crumbles. The menu is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
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800 S Clark Street / Website
Head to the South Loop for a delicious surf and turf trio at Sociale. The hearty plate will feature Wagyu skewers with housemade chimichurri, crab cakes with lemon garlic aioli and remoulade, and a lamb chop with oven-dried tomato pesto relish. Or, scale it back and just indulge in two of the proteins for a lighter meal. The surf and turf trio is priced at $59 and reservations can be made here.
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431 N Wells Street / Website
Enjoy beloved Baja-Mexican fare at one of the city’s newest Mexican restaurants, Solita Tacos and Margaritas. After achieving success at its Southern California locations, the taco shop has finally come to Chicago. In honor of Restaurant Week, stop by for brunch or dinner. For brunch, nosh on highlights like huevos rancheros, chilaquiles and mouth-watering churros. For dinner, treat yourself to a four-course dinner menu featuring the brand’s signature and award-winning double tortilla-wrapped, Vampiro taco. The brunch menu is priced at $25 per person, while dinner is priced at $42 per person. Reservations can be made here.
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110 W Illinois / Website
Vegans and vegetarians rejoice! Sunda New Asian will feature a three-course dinner menu with vegan options in every course. Menu highlights include crispy Brussels sprouts, sweet potato poke maki, chap chase, and non-vegan items like oxtail pot stickers, jalapeño yellowtail and chicken inasal, among others. The menu is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
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632 N Dearborn Street / Website
Head to celeb-loved hotspot TAO Chicago for a superb Asian-inspired three-course dinner menu. Guests will have a slew of choices when selecting their meal, with appetizer choices including chicken satay and TAO classic tuna Pringles and entree options including kung pao chicken, filet mignon pepper steak and a loaded sushi platter. For dessert, nosh on molten chocolate cake or a bread pudding donut. The three-course Restaurant Week menu is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
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1134 W Washington Blvd. / Website
Visit this moody and romantic restaurant for a sophisticated four-course Restaurant Week menu. Find options like the tartine, made with oil-poached octopus, nduja spread, olives and coriander on sourdough, the Nashville hot quail, served with buttermilk cheese spread, dill oil, Nashville hot spices and fennel salad, and the choice of short rib and mushroom tagliolini, penne arrabbiata, or striped bass. The menu is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
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111 W Kinzie Street / Website
Be sure to check out this popular Prohibition-Era-inspired restaurant for a tasty four-course menu. Highlights are set to include crispy ravioli with spicy pork ragu, cornbread with apple butter and saba, burrata with whiskey-roasted grapes, truffle honey and crispy bread, East Coast oysters, grilled lamb rack, roasted salmon, and the restaurant’s signature wild mushroom lasagna with braised leeks, taleggio cheese, ricotta bechamel and truffle oil. For dessert, indulge in chocolate pot de creme or an apple pie cheesecake served with vanilla bourbon gelato. Dinner is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
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224 N Michigan Avenue / Website
Live out your “Emily In Paris'' fantasies at this chic French brasserie on the Mag Mile. For Chicago Restaurant Week, enjoy menu highlights like Arctic Char with lemon and light breading, mussels ‘drunken’ on white wine, and creme brûlée. Top off the luxe spread with a bottle of bubbles from the restaurant’s extensive collection. The meal is priced at $59 per person and reservations can be made here.
Looking for more luxe stops in the city? Check out our picks for Where To Enjoy Dry January In Chicago.
Photography by: Darryl Low / Unsplash
