There are times when holiday shopping is such a joyous romp you feel like whipping up a souffle once you get home.
Then there are most shopping days.
So as you walk out of the eighth store that’s sold out on Xbox 360s, tired, dejected and dreading the idea of thawing chicken, please allow At Play to make the following suggestion:
Belly up to a bar and order some food.
We looked in and around Chicago–much to the chagrin of our expanding waistlines–and found a handful of restaurants and bars that serve up great bar food nearby great shopping. And we’re talking more than just burgers and fries. We’re talking fennel salads and antipasti, proscuitto-and-arugula pizzas and, believe it or not, lobster tails.
Here’s what we found:
After shopping at some of the kitsch-y, eclectic shops in Lincoln Square, stop at The Daily Bar and Grill (4560 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-561-6198) for a cold brew and an assortment of comfort foods. It ain’t fancy, but sometimes a plateful of fish and chips, homemade meatloaf or macaroni and cheese hits the spot.
On the Gold Coast, McCormick & Schmick’s seafood restaurant (41 E. Chestnut St., 312-397-9500) offers up some great noshes with its special $1.95 bar menu. Some of the options include a bowl of steamed mussels drenched in a garlic, wine and butter sauce, fried pecan catfish nuggets served with an orange cilantro remoulade or a classic 1/2-pound hamburger with fries. The $1.95 menu is available all week from 3:30-6 p.m. Late-night munchers can dig in 10 p.m.-midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 9-11 p.m. on Sunday.
You can warm up after a day of shopping on the Magnificent Mile at Fornetto Mei, the newly revamped restaurant at the Whitehall Hotel (107 E. Delaware Pl., 312-573-6300). Sit at the cozy bar near the street entrance and let the wood-burning stove warm your bones while a chef makes a tasty, 12-inch, thin-crust pizza, topped with accoutrements like grapes, goat cheese, sopressata (a dry, spicy salami) and buffalo mozzerella in front of you. Add in a glass of wine to soothe that buyer’s remorse. (Hey, that’s what gift receipts are for.)
Mag-mile shoppers in the mood for tasty, small-plate snacks should check out the enoteca (or wine bar in Italian.) at Osterio Via Stato (620 N. State St., 312-642-8450). The enoteca offers a number of rich and flavorful small dishes that are perfect for sharing, from cheese plates and pieces of crudo di mare (raw seafood) to house-cured ligurian olives, fennel salads, open-faced sandwiches and creamy dishes like the polenta served with sauteed onions and a three-minute egg.
Stop by the Braxton Seafood Grill (3 Oakbrook Center Mall, Oak Brook, 630-574-2155) after a day at the this mall. The Braxton skillfully prepares such seafood staples as lobster bisque and Maryland-style crab cakes. But after a day of trudging through shops, you may want to treat yourself to the petite lobster tails, sauteed and served with a bowl of butter for dipping for $8.99 (only available in the bar area 4-7 p.m. Monday through Friday).
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gjeffers@tribune.com
