A remarkable 500 restaurants are participating in Chicago’s annual Restaurant Week, a marketing effort designed to drum up business during the quietest part of the year. So the odds are that wherever you choose to eat out between now and Feb. 8, you’ll be handed a menu offering you brunch or lunch for $30 and dinner for either $45 or $60, depending on the fanciness of your choice of establishment. (Some offer a choice of both price points.)

You don’t even have to come downtown; more than 60 of these restaurants are in the burbs. Chicago Restaurant Week has a catholic interpretation of Chicago, as well it should.

Like the Michelin Guide, the James Beard Awards and the creators of “The Bear,” we’re big fans of our restaurant industry, which has struggled mightily of late thanks to the attacks on the tipped minimum wage, increased food costs and Chicago’s overall sluggish rate of growth. But the sector is filled with genuine culinary artists, such as Kevin Boehm of Boka fame whose compelling new memoir, “The Bottomless Cup,” offers a glimpse into just how hard it can be to keep a Chicago fine-dining establishment open for the long term.

When Chicago Restaurant Week started in 2008 (long after New York City), diners basically had to show up and see what was on offer. Some of the deals were great and offered a real price savings in return for dining during a quiet period, living with a shorter menu and being willing to order three courses. Others saw it as a way to reel in customers and charge them either the same amount or, in a few egregious cases, more.

But now, diners can find all kinds of recommendations, including spreadsheets that have shifted through some restaurant week menus on offer and ferreted out the actual savings (or, alas, losses). Most of the time, you won’t save a fortune (maybe the price of a glass of wine) but we noted big savings at Daisies, Drew’s on Halsted and Beatnik on the River, among others. At least assuming the portions are the same. Tribune dining staffers also have some curated suggestions for you to try.

We have our favorite menus but we suggest looking at the individual restaurant websites and then going somewhere you have never been, ideally supporting Chicagoland chefs and owners. Without them, life around these parts would be a lot less tasty.

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/25/editorial-chicago-restaurant-week-chefs-menus-deals/