Restaurant Roundup: New lunch spot, Brazilian features, holiday flavors
Dec. 12, 2024
Windy City Bites has new winter hours, which include serving lunch. The restaurant at 114 N. Indiana Ave. is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
The Brazilian restaurant Roots of Brasil has several featured dishes that will be available all winter, including tempura fried plantains with ice cream for desert.
Jack Rose Social Club has updated its menu with new items. Among the offerings are the Langostino Roll, Venison Cheesesteak and Mushroom Swiss Burger. A new fried mushroom appetizer is served with housemade Green Goddess dressing, and a lunch favorite, the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, is available now for dinner too.
Jack Rose also has featured cocktails for the holidays.
The new featured menu at Granite City Food & Brewery includes traditional holiday favorites like a roasted turkey dinner and rich winter dishes like the Cabernet Bleu Sirloin. The restaurant also has Seasonal Sips, with cocktails like the S’more Than Just an Old-Fashioned and Mistletoe Martini. Find all the offerings at gcfb.com/festivefeatures.
Crave American Kitchen & Sushi Bar no longer offers monthly chef’s specials, but it did update the regular menu with new and revamped offerings, many featuring Mediterranean flavors. Try halibut in a Mediterranean broth, the Mediterranean Chicken entrée with a cream cheese sauce or the Mediterranean flatbread with roasted veggies, mozzarella, red sauce, basil and balsamic glaze. There’s also a a Thai steak stir-fry and an Italian sandwich with ham, salami and pepperoni. See the full menu here.
Roam Kitchen + Bar has two featured entrees and a seasonal favorite for dessert this month. Choose an 8-ounce beef tenderloin filet or sea scallops. Finish off the meal with Chocolate Pot de Creme.
El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant in Lennox now offers catering services. Get a fajita bar with grilled steak or chicken and all the fixings or a taco bar with ground beef of chicken.
Songbird Kombucha is hosting a pop-up Saturday for Forrest’s Fresh Nut Butters, which will be selling its peanut and almond butters and peanut butter pie by the slice or whole pie. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a complimentary hot chocolate bar, and Songbird is offering all-day discounts and the return of its pear ginger kombucha.
Sunny’s Pizzeria is celebrating its fifth anniversary with specials and a bingo party. From 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, get $5 off a pizza, $5 pints of tap beer and a BOGO beer deal and 20 percent off all merchandise. Bingo will start at 7 p.m., so come early if you want one of the 35 seats in the restaurant.
Invictus Pizza Kitchen has three featured pizzas for December: Vodka Margherita, returning fan-favorite The Greek and The Brussels with balsamic dressing, shredded mozzarella, candied bacon, balsamic red onions and Brussels sprouts, topped with a balsamic glaze.
Gourmet cookie flavors for December at Breadsmith are eggnog, gingerbread, chocolate peppermint and oatmeal raisin. They’re available Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 10 a.m.
LaDelle and Fourth Coffeehouse in Dell Rapids is offering its take-and-bake cinnamon roll kits for Christmas. Order a half-dozen or dozen by Monday for pickup Dec. 21-23. Half-gallon iced lattes also are available.
Daily Clean Food & Drink has started selling its signature Maple Mustard by the bottle. It features vegan mayo, Dijon mustard and maple syrup. Find it in the grab-and-go case at the restaurant. Daily Ranch also is available.
Check out the Santa Goes Bananas holiday cocktail menu at The Hello Hi. Stop by during happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays and save $2.
Session Ale Works has released its holiday cocktail menu: Nutty Irishman, The Grinch, The Blizzard, Apple Cinnamon Old-Fashioned, Holiday Negroni and Cranberry Kringle. An ideal time to try them might be during happy hour, which has new specials. From 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, get 2-for-1 cocktails, domestic bottles and domestic taps and 20 percent off appetizers.
Check out the holiday drink menus at Zooks Coffee Bar in Tea. Holiday flights also are available, but it’s best to make a reservation for those, especially on the weekends.
The featured flavor for December at Nothing Bundt Cakes is Andes Peppermint Chocolate Chip.
If you love Dove chocolate, Culver’s has a new seasonal treat you’ll enjoy. The Chocolate Raspberry Concrete Mixer is made with Dove. Double up with chocolate frozen custard or have it made with vanilla.
There’s still time to catch two featured items at Hardee’s. Cinnamon ‘N’ Raisin Biscuits are back, along with candied bacon that can be added on several menu items.
Kids will get a free mini peppermint sugar cookie when they visit Santa at SoDak Soda. Find him from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the 85th Street store and from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Sertoma shop. The regular-size cookies are available to buy through next week.
Get free hot cocoa while you visit Santa at Chick-fil-A. He’ll be at the Empire Place restaurant from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. The restaurant also is collecting presents for youths at McCrossan Boys Ranch. Take a tag from the Christmas tree, return it by Dec. 23 and get a digital card good for a free menu item.
Bars that are part of the M.G. Oil family are offering a free drink with the donation of an unwrapped new toy through Dec. 19. That includes Billy Frogs, Liebrary Bar, Overtime Sports Bar & Grill, The 18th Amendment, The Red Eye Bar & Casino, Detour Bar and The Alpine Inn.
Here are other food and drink headlines from the past week.
Juice Stop to move southeast location to space with drive-thru
