As gray skies and cold temperatures linger over the northern Chicago suburbs, restaurants are giving diners a reason to get out of the house and into a booth to celebrate North Shore Restaurant Month.
Back again for the 21st year, participating restaurants are offering specials from March 1-31.
About 100 restaurants are participating in this year’s event, with dining promotions ranging from 15% off the total bill to a free appetizer or dessert with the purchase of an entree.
Several fine-dining establishments, like Aboyer in Winnetka, Di Pescara in Northbrook, Jilly’s Cafe in Evanston, and Stefani Prime in Lincolnwood are also offering prix fixe menus that provide a three-course lunch for about $30, and dinner for $45 to around $60.
Gina Speckman, executive director for Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, the event’s sponsor, said residents mark their calendars months in advance for the annual promotion.
“Because we’ve been doing it for now over 20 years, people expect it, they know about it and call us and email us to ask us about it,” Speckman said. “There’s not many alternative activities in the winter months and it’s a good time to help support the restaurants.”
Speckman said the Bureau used to put on restaurant month in February, but organizers moved it to March last year to avoid overlapping with Chicago’s Restaurant Week, which runs from the end of January to the first week of February.
About 21 restaurants in the North Shore also participate in Chicago’s Restaurant Week, so moving the timeframe helped local restaurants get the promotional benefits from both programs, Speckman said.
“Some people just use it to go to the restaurants that they love, that they go to anyways, but a lot of people use it to explore,” she said.
“People tend to go to restaurants that are nearby and in their city or village, but I think this program really gets people to think, ‘Oh, if I live in Evanston, I can go eat in Northbrook, or if I live in Glenview, I can go eat in Winnetka.’ They may not even think about it until they see that. And we have such a different array of restaurants.”
With cuisine ranging from sushi to tapas to vegetarian to the Skokie steakhouse staple Morton’s, restaurant goers have many options.
Speckman said she prefers not to spotlight certain restaurants for fear of “leaving people out,” emphasizing the month is designed to uplift the entire North Shore community and give food lovers a taste of all that it has to offer.
To see the full list of participating restaurants and discounts, visit visitchicagonorthshore.com
