You can be a food lover or you can shower your love with delicious foods. Either way you’re a winter winner. In this season of amore, let the deals hit your eye like a big pizza-pie.
Bite the Burbs asks you to tuck your napkin in and dig in to more than 80 area restaurants. Regional tourism bureau, Explore Oak Park and Beyond, has organized enticements aplenty happening February 26 – March 7. To highlight a few:
Prix-fixe menus, where you get a full meal for a set price are offered at Q-BBQ, 124 N. Marion St. in Oak Park; D’Vino, 1527 S. Harlem Ave. in Forest Park; and The Chew Chew, 33 E. Burlington St. in Riverside.
Many restaurants are offering 15% off your total check such as Taco Amor y Mas, 8420 Brookfield Ave. in Brookfield, Caffe DeLuca, 7427 Madison St. in Forest Park, and Egg Harbor, 1111 South Blvd. in Oak Park.
Everyone loves free! Get a free appetizer when you order at places like Chef Shangri-La, 7930 W. 26th St. in North Riverside; or free dessert at Irish Times Pub and Restaurant, 8869 Burlington Ave. in Brookfield, and Grape Leaves, 129 S. Oak Park Ave. in Oak Park. Visit Explore Oak Park and Beyond’s website for a complete list.
What’s the buzz in the old Buzz Cafe location in the Arts District? No news to share yet on the ground floor, but a level up, on the second floor a venture called Pizza Dom has found a home. Dominic Vallone is an Oak Parker who got into pizza making during the Covid lock-down, as seen on his Instagram DeathByDough handle. He is using the kitchen to prep for his mobile pizza oven catering biz and coming, possibly as soon as March, he will offer carry-out versions of his Neapolitan-style pizzas, focaccia and other Italian artisanal delights from the building at 905 S. Lombard Ave., Oak Park.
Hungry, but don’t know for what? Get a main dish surprise for $5 at Scratch on Lake, 733 Lake St. in Oak Park, or Scratch Public House, 7505 Madison St. in Forest Park. All you need to do is ask, “What’s on the secret lunch menu today?” Offerings change each week, but recently it was a double smash burger.
Eats-out ventured out to Café Cubano on Jan. 20. The meal was delicious (a new favorite of mine is their papas rellenas appetizer, fluffy potato surrounding seasoned ground beef, then fried to a crispy shell). The conversation with new foodie friends was even better.
I scheduled our January outing at the same time as Soup and Bread West, which is at Robert’s Westside, 7321 Madison St. in Forest Park, on the third Tuesday of each month. I’ve been meaning to go sip some soup, where proceeds go to a different area charity each month. So…
The next Eats-out will be on Thursday, Feb. 19 at Little Owl Social Pub, 3747 Grand Blvd. in Brookfield. The meal will be $25 per person. (If you want alcohol that’s on your own dime.) Get your seat to dine with up to eight local food enthusiasts by emailing me at the address below.
Got news, questions or ideas for this column? Email them to us at Eats@oakparkeats.com.