Restaurants in Lombard

Hand-carved tikis and 12-foot-tall stone Easter Island moai preside over Tiki Terrace. Seated under swaying palms at hard-carved booths and tables, dinner guests enjoy a regional menu that starts with traditional pupu appetizers, such as taro chips and housemade pineapple salsa, and proceeds to traditional seafood and pork specialties. In the party-friendly tiki tradition, groups of up to four can share the Hawaiian punch bowl, a powerful elixir that arrives in a volcano tiki bowl with a fiery surprise. On Friday and Saturday nights, the dining room's elevated center stage fills with the South Pacific’s dances, music, and ceremonial red-rover matches.

Inside a cheerful café marked with a striped awning, chefs dote on hot pans that cradle delicate French crepes destined to encapsulate sweet or savory fillings. Cream of the Crêpe's batter whisperers take pride in the smallest details of their crepes, demanding that each flaunts a flaky texture, toothsome filling, and crisply ironed handkerchief. Crepe masters fill the edible envelopes with eggs and cheese during breakfast, grilled meat and crisp vegetables during lunch, and fresh fruits or decadent spreads during sweet-tooth attacks. Artful baristas grind Lavazza coffee beans to brew into drip coffees or strong espressos topped with scoops of frothy milk. Between customers, servers wipe the granite counter and set vases bursting with flowers on every table, where the blooms soak up light reflecting off the café's sunny yellow walls.

The dual-level Café Zalute & Retro Bar marries classic Italian fare and juicy steaks with an extensive wine and martini list. The upstairs’ neutral-hued wall showcases ornately framed paintings, while the lower level pumps out motown, classic R & B, and disco tunes. Diners munch on asiago-infused gnocchi, linguine with clams, filet mignon, and house-made desserts. Free wireless Internet facilitates multitasking without having to juggle buttered rolls during dinner. The outdoor patio proffers views of incoming planes at nearby O’Hare International Airport, and Café Zalute's location across the street from Rivers Casino offers the opportunity for postmeal profit.

Music from live folk bands, DJs, and karaoke crooners fill the cozy interiors of La Peña while servers deliver platters of authentic Ecuadorian cuisine. On many nights, dishes of empanadas with green plantain and ceviches with roasted dry corn emerge into a dining room filled with the spicy tunes of DJs or live performances of Andean folk music—a safer way to fill the air with culture than floating bubbles filled with hot sauce. House-made sangria and imported Ecuadorian brews appease tongues, priming throats to belt out popular tunes during karaoke.

Each day, the cooks at Eden’s the Original fire up grills in preparation for the breakfast rush before the sun has risen over the Chicago skyline. Some fold blueberries and strawberries into buttermilk pancakes, and others sizzle up sausage, bacon, and eggs. Come lunchtime, they turn their attention to pure-beef burgers, meaty sandwiches, and subs, and shower plump Vienna dogs in chili, cheese, and onions. The dinner menu’s goods include deep-fried perch, barbecue ribs, and chicken alongside mountains of fries and slices of garlic bread.

The restaurant’s casual setting hosts feasting, but guests can opt for delivery to enjoy meals at home or at that fancy furniture store they sometimes pretend is home.

Pumpkin-hued walls adorned with North African artifacts and silk curtains draped from the ceiling surround diners at Shokran Moroccan Restaurant, where wooden chairs or ornate couches provide seating as eaters dig into savory dishes steeped in Moroccan spices. Vegetarian, beef, and chicken appetizers quiet hunger pangs by giving stomachs a wealth of delectable flavors and a stern talking to, and entrees such as couscous, kebabs, and tagine in the form of lamb marrakech entertain taste buds. In addition to handcrafted Moroccan morsels, live music and belly dancing often entrance customers at the BYOB hotspot.