Restaurant Review: Chicago Restaurant Week starts second week with Lunar New Year offerings
Happy Lunar New Year, all, and welcome to the Year of the Snake! The 2025 celebration begins today and ends when the ‘Snow Moon’ signals the Lantern Festival on February 12.
There’s no better way to celebrate the holiday than by taking in Chicago’s best Asian restaurants at the 18th Annual Chicago Restaurant Week, where you can enjoy special prix fixe menus for brunch and lunch ($30), and/or dinner ($45 or $60).
Take, for example, Lakeview’s BITES Asian Kitchen + Bar, 3313 N. Clark Street, which combines Asian flavors with a contemporary twist. Through February 9, they are offering a three-course lunch for $30, from 11am – 3pm, and a $45 four-course dinner from 5pm-close. Choose from such specialties as Duck Fat Yakisoba, made with fresh noodles, bell peppers, cabbage and chopped scallions, bonito flakes, and toasted sesame seeds, or Hawaiian Fried Rice, with applewood smoked bacon, jumbo shrimp, sliced chicken breast, sweet pineapple chunks, cherry tomato, chopped scallions, and scrambled egg, topped with fried garlic. Their Bites Burger is a double quarter pound short rib and brisket blend, with double American cheese, shredded lettuce and their super secret burger sauce, served with French fries. Finish up with a dessert like Banana Wontons, which are hazelnut cocoa and banana wrapped in crispy pastry sheets.
Reservations are encouraged, and can be made by clicking here.
In the West Loop, Duck Duck Goat, 857 W. Fulton Market, Chef Stephanie Izard is giving diners award-winning, ‘reasonably authentic’ (their words) Chinese food. As Choose Chicago notes, Izard’s combinations of hand pulled noodles, house made dumplings, wontons, spring rolls and more, ensures that no diner leaves hungry! Duck Duck Goat is featuring a six-course prix fixe dinner menu and a five-course brunch menu, with signature dishes like Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings,) Mapo Doufu (Sichuan tofu and pork in a spicy broth) and Pork Chow Fun (thick, chewy rice noodles with pork and vegetables in a savory soy based sauce.)
Dishes from the dim sum menu will also be available as add-ons. To reserve, click here.
In Streeterville, Qiao Lin Hotpot, 210 E. Illinois Street, celebrates a communal dining tradition from China, where family and friends sit together and cook a variety of fresh ingredients in a pot of simmering broth. Ingredients range from meats and seafood to vegetables, tofu, and noodles. As Choose Chicago notes, the hotpot sits in the center of the table, offering a hands-on and interactive dining experience that’s as much about sharing as it is about savoring rich, comforting flavors.
For Chicago Restaurant Week, they’re serving lunch for $30, and two different dinners…one for $45, and another for $60. It’s all your choice! You can choose from vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, poultry and beef options, along with vegetable and broth choices. Custom-made, for your family and friends!
For more information and reservations, click here.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
