Chicago Restaurant Week

Restaurant: Embeya, 10-course #CRW menu with wine pairings
Photo Credit: (Instagram & Twitter) - @ChiJayhawk

Chicago Restaurant Week is well on its way! Who doesn’t love amazing food, great wine and even better company?

With over 300 restaurants to choose from, where do you begin? Which restaurants are the best deals? Take a look at my tips for making the most of your 2014 Chicago Restaurant Week.

First, visit the Choose Chicago website and take a peek at the participating restaurants and get acquainted with the menus, then test your luck on OpenTable to reserve your table. Prix fixe lunch ($22) and dinner ($33 & $44) menus are available from January 24 – February 6, 2014. You might even get lucky; some restaurants extend the dates to accommodate their diners.

Need a head start? Here’s where I’m dining: Embeya, Green Zebra, Joe’s Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab and Kendall College Dining Room.

Joe’s Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab is my go-to restaurant every year with my girlfriends. We get all dressed up and have a sophisticated dinner, while stuffing our faces with Stone Crab Bisque, Filet Mignon or Alaskan King Crab, sides and desserts galore! You can never go wrong there – the lunch is $22 and the dinner is $44/person.

Next, I always try to make reservations at the upscale restaurants, which are usually more expensive to dine at. These restaurants may be more difficult to snag a table because most people are thinking the same way. Call and search for reservations at off-peak hours, so hopefully you can beat the rush.

Crowd pleasers: Blackbird, Embeya, Naha, Henri, Mexique, Table 52, Terzo Piano, Topolobampo, etc.

Or just go to the newer restaurants that have all the foodies tweeting about: Cicchetti, The Dawson, Summer House Santa Monica, Tanta, Travelle Restaurant at The Langham Chicago, etc.

This is the time to explore flavors, chefs and cuisine in Chicago – so, start crossing restaurants off your dining list…I dare you, ready go!