Hey Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in posting, but I don't actually think anyone reads this anyways - oh well!
As a result of my love for food, going out to eat, trying new restaurants... and unfortunately lack of $$$ - Chicago Restaurant Week might replace the holidays as "the most wonderful time of the year" in my book. (Let's also not forget that it happens to fall during Shamrock Shake season...).
I know that the idea of restaurant week is frowned upon by sooo many chef's as it is sacrificing the quality of the food delivered by some of these top notch restaurants as they are "mass producing" it for a low cost - but heck. It's still delicious and very affordable for a twenty-something like myself.
Personally, I booked my week up over a month ago with some of the restaurants I had been dying to try - under the assumption I could force my friends and/or parents to go with me. I'm currently thinking it was a good idea. Reservations are hard to come by now!
So far I have been to two restaurants and have 3 more planned before the week is up. The best thing about this restaurant week is that I can kill two birds with one stone.... multiple times! I can not only enjoy fabulous food for a fraction of the usual price, I can also knock off some of those michelin stars on my way to my new years resolution!
So here's my list:
BLT American Brasserie - went on Friday - had a "popular" reservation time, wasn't too crowded - first bad sign. The food was good, but nothing to write home about... or anywhere for that matter. It was simply fine. Service was not great - they messed up a couple times and it was slow. Decor was neat, atmosphere was meh. Overall, I was underwhelmed, but it was nothing to complain about.
Quay - went on Saturday - loved the vibe here. Surprisingly not very touristy even though it's right by navy pier. The food was fantastic - they did not skimp in creating this restaurant week menu - I had crab cakes, scallops with braised short rib (phenomenal combo) and a chocolate ganache bar type dessert. Everything was cooked and flavored well. I highly recommend this menu!
Nacional 27 - going tomorrow - looking forward to it. I love latin food.
Sepia - voted the most romantic restaurant in Chicago - heyooo! Menu looks great, and it's a Michelin Starred restaurant - so you can't really go wrong.
Boka - another Michelin star.
Those are the restaurants I'm going to... so far. That only gets me through Thursday, so we'll see if anything else pops up!
Other top picks on my list were
-Rustic House
-Vie
-Naha
-Branch 27
-Vermillion
-Le Colonial
-and the ever fabulous Table Fifty-Two
Hope you all get to enjoy restaurant week as much as I do...
Cheers!
AE
