Restaurants in Western Springs

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Thipi Thai

Thai Cuisine at Thipi Thai (Up to 43% Off)

Classic Thai cuisine served in vibrant dining room

La Grange

$30 $17

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$12 for $20 Worth of Food ($25 if Redeemed Sunday-Thursday) at Al's Char-House

Al's Char-House

La Grange

Diners feast upon juicy steaks and seafood inside a wild west-themed restaurant adorned with old photographs and cowboy memorabilia

$20 $12

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Steak, Seafood, and Drinks at Saban's Place (Up to 50% Off)

Saban's Place

Hodgkins

Chefs fire steak, seafood, BBQ ribs, prime rib & sandwiches and craft salad dressings and desserts in nostalgic, supper club–style setting

$30 $18

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English Food and Drinks at Chequers of La Grange (65% Off). Two Options Available.

Chequers of La Grange

La Grange

English and Irish draft beers foam beside bangers 'n' mash and beer-battered fish ‘n’ chips as fireplaces flicker inside and on patio

$30 $12

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800 West

Amid rich woodwork and four big-screen TVs, 800 West treats taste buds to savory steaks, scrumptious sandwiches, and seafood. Customers can commence consumption with the 800 West shrimp, tender prawns tossed in a spicy cream sauce ($10.29), before applying paws to a hearty handheld such as the grilled-barbecue-chicken-ranch sandwich ($9.29). Dive fork-first into the blackened mahi-mahi with pineapple salsa for a taste of the tropics ($14.99), or opt for the 7-ounce char-grilled filet mignon served with onion strings and maitre d' butter if you only eat fish born as cheesy crackers or 7-ounce filet mignons ($23.99). The six-cheese purse pasta—little pockets stuffed with sundried tomatoes, spinach, and garlic and blanketed with parmesan cream sauce—sates herbaceous bellies and pastaterian pandas ($10.99). To rinse down solids, patrons can saddle up to the full-service bar and sip a glass of wine ($7–$12), a beer ($3–$5), or a martini ($9–$10).

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800 Hillgrove Ave
Western Springs,
IL
US
Vie

Vie Restaurant: A User's Guide

New American Cuisine | Hyperlocal Ingredients | House-Canned Goods | Smart-Casual Dress Code

Sample Menu

  • First course: wood-grilled quail with roasted apples and carrots
  • Soup: creamy pumpkin soup with foie-gras-mousse and oat streusel
  • Entree: collard-green gratin with crispy spätzle and cheddar-beer fondue
  • Dessert: gingerbread-spiced funnel cake with quince sherbet

    Where to Sit: If possible, grab the table right in front of the fireplace, which adds to the coziness of the welcoming, yet elegant digs.



    While You're Waiting

    • Head to the modern bar with towering mirrors and shelves of attractive bottles to order one of the bartender’s signature Vie-tinis.

    • Chef Paul Virant's claim to fame is his knack for pickling and canning, which he wrote about in his cookbook, The Preservation Kitchen. Honor his passion by replacing your usual cufflinks with full-sized Mason jars.

      Inside Tips

      • The experienced wine director, Pablo Moncado, has meticulously curated a selection of fine wines to complement the meals, so be sure to ask your server for help in choosing the right bottle.
      • Leave your tank top and beer helmet in the closet. Vie has a smart-casual dress code, which means patrons may wear informal, yet neat attire.

      • Reservations are recommended.

        While You're in the Neighborhood
        Before: Take a page out of the chef’s book and go on the hunt for fresh, local ingredients at the Western Springs Fruit Store (925 Burlington Avenue).
        After: Catch a show at the Theatre of Western Springs (4384 Hampton Avenue), which hosts local plays and national acts, including the celebrated Beatle’s cover band, American English.

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4471 Lawn Ave
Western Springs,
IL
US
Mcnat Bistro and Gathering Place

Mécénat Bistro & Retail Wine Shop's menu is stocked full of seasonal American specialties. Guests can pair truffle fries, New Zealand grass-fed rib-eye, or blackened shrimp and rigatoni with one of 70 varietals on the bistro’s wine list. Domestic craft beers also span the menu, accentuating flavors in seasonal specialties as well as menu mainstays such as Prince Edward Island mussels and grilled asparagus and sugar snap pea risotto.

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821 Burlington Ave.
Western Springs,
IL
US
Tavern on La Grange

One of the first things you notice about Tavern on La Grange is how colorful it is: hot pink and indigo lights wash walls in a neon watercolor effect, and the bottles behind the bar are backlit with red and fuchsia. Murals of art deco-style buildings and figures give the room another added pop. Pasta and steak dishes are among the menu's crowning achievements, along with the likes of the Tavern chicken, lobster tail and lamb chops. People fill the restaurant's spacious, kaleidoscopic dining rooms throughout the week to take in bistro-style meals, drinks, or one of the establishment's periodic events. Those evenings are just one part of what the restaurant's owners hope makes Tavern on La Grange "a quality dining experience and community meeting place."

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5403 S La Grange Rd.
Countryside,
IL
US
Kenny's Tavern

A lively, friendly atmosphere underscores the Irish flavor of Kenny's, which welcomes famished sports fans with 26 flat-screen TVs, most of which show NFL Sunday Ticket. The affable menu is stacked with savory pizzas ($9.50–$15.50 for cheese; $1.50–$2.25 for toppings), juicy half-pound burgers ($6.95–$7.95), homemade corned-beef sandwiches ($5.95), Kenny's jumbo wings ($5.95), soups, salads, and many more appetite entertainers. The interior space is dappled with dark hues and Celtic decorative touches for an extra dose of Emerald Isle authenticity.

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917 W 55th St
Countryside,
IL
US
Omai La Grange Vietnamese Cuisine

On noodles, over rice, in soup, between buns?or simply plain on a plate. Any way you eat it, food at Omai La Grange Vietnamese Cuisine is as delicious as it is authentic. Shrimp, calamari, and crab dominate the seafood noodle entr?e, while onion and bell pepper get a garlicky makeover in the eggplant medley. Pho, or noodle soup, is endlessly customizable, its broth brimming with a choice of meat and vegetables, while banh mi sandwiches complement crispy pork or lemon-grass beef with pickled daikon and fresh jalapeno. As they wash down spicy bites with wine or beer, customers might notice that these piquant dishes juxtapose to a comparatively tranquil dining room?wicker pendant lamps illuminate accents of light wood and mint, while drapes sing soft, gentle lullabies.

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50 South La Grange Rd
La Grange,
IL
US

Groupon Guide

Craving Chicago: Five Chicago Favorites from a Vegas Food Writer and Techno Blogger

Grace Bascos spent her formative years on the North Side of Chicago, honing the palate she now uses as a food writer for Vegas Seven magazine. She catalogs her personal culinary adventures on her blog FoodPlusTechno—tagging most posts with a link to what’s she’s listening to as she writes. Though most of her meals take place on white tablecloths in Las Vegas restaurants, Grace's roots remain in the city of big shoulders, hot dogs, and cheese fries. Here’s a rundown of the Chicagoland restaurants she runs to when she’s back home, paired with some music-centric wisdom from the techno-phile. Seven Treasures | Chinatown What she orders: Braised noodles, barbecue pork, and wontons What makes it so good: According to Grace, the main reason to go to Seven Treasures is the braised noodles, drizzled with oyster sauce and garnished with green onion.They’re topped with a choice of protein, such as roasted duck or shrimp. Grace orders the same thing every time: braised noodles, barbecue pork, and wontons. Why it’s worth a plane ticket: “It's comfort food for me: good, chewy noodles; plump juicy dumplings; sweet and salty barbecue pork. It hits all the major flavor profiles I need in my life.” The techno music event where she’d toss them into the air: Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas), where “dressing up in next to nothing is de rigueur. Noodles would be nice strings to hold bikini tops up.” Dengeo’s | Skokie What she orders: Gyros What makes it so good: Grace believes Dengeo’s serves the perfect gyro: meat with the optimal balance of gaminess and flavor and the best tzaziki sauce she’s tasted. Also, she says, “It's a family-run business, and the kids running the place have grown up there, as I have.” Why it’s worth a plane ticket: “It is virtually impossible to get a decent gyro anywhere west of the Mississippi. If the meat's right, the sauce is off. If the sauce is decent, they can't get the onions right.” The artist she’d like to see play a show there in the middle of the lunch rush: Michigan native Seth Troxler, to highlight her belief that “you can't get a decent gyro outside of the Midwest.” Burt's Place | Morton Grove What she orders: Pan pizza What makes it so good: First and foremost, the crust. Grace loves the caramelized crust, which owner Burt originally created for Pequod’s, the first pizza shop he ever owned (and still a favorite among Chicagoans). This crust, says Grace, “has crunch and flavor and texture.” She also loves the eatery’s jaunty atmosphere—"a converted house with an eclectic dining room filled with all sorts of knickknacks”—and the toppings, which are “all strewn about, in a rustic way that lets you know someone real made [the] pizza.” Why it’s worth a plane ticket: “Chicago-style pizza anywhere outside of Chicago is a joke.” The musician whose records she would hang on the wall without Burt noticing: "Green Velvet/Cajmere: Chicago homegrown talent for Chicago homegrown pizza.” Sun Wah BBQ | Argyle What she orders: Beijing duck (aka peking duck) What makes it so good: Grace likes that diners can experience all the pomp and circumstance of peking duck—usually reserved for celebrations—at an easy-on-the-wallet price. “The duck is carved tableside; you eat the delectable, crispy skin with a little bit of the rendered duck fat with fresh warm bao, spring onion, and hoisin; then the rest gets turned into soup and fried rice.”  Why it’s worth a plane ticket: “Where else can I stuff [myself] and three of my family members with a regal three- to four-course duck feast [for less than $40]? The rest of the menu is solid as well.” Where she could use a beijing duck to barter for admission: Outside Lands (San Francisco), where the food is so good, you could probably walk in “with nothing but a beijing duck and no one would bat an eye.” Buffalo Joe's | Evanston What she orders: Wings, suicide style (extra sauce and jalapeños) with extra ranch What makes it so good: The wing sauce, with a perfect balance of heat and tang that makes Grace want to “drink [it] by the gallon.” And though ranch dressing is taboo in Buffalo, New York, she says it’s the perfect complement to the wing sauce. Why it’s worth a plane ticket: “I can't seem to find [this flavor] anywhere else. As a result, I avoid most buffalo wings elsewhere, except for [in] Buffalo, New York.” The music that sounds like this sauce tastes: “Old-school house. ... Both make you want to jack your body.” Lastly, as she does in her blog, Grace suggested a song to listen to as I wrote this article. You can listen to it here. Sandwiches!
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The Rules for Cheese Fries

I still remember the first time I set fork to cheese-drenched french fries. I was around 11 or 12, and had ridden my bike to a sub shop in the neighborhood. I never much cared for cold cuts, so for a snack I ordered cheese fries. They arrived in an elongated white styrofoam container: fresh-from-the-fryer shoestring potatoes coated in a rich, orange sauce. I swooned. I was in love. I began to make them myself. My mother had a deep fryer in the kitchen, so I’d cut fresh potatoes and melt a jar of Cheez Whiz in the microwave. No matter how old I get and how my palate changes, cheese fries will always be my jam. But when I go out, I’m pretty strict about what makes a good plate of cheese fries. Here are my five (and a half) rules: 1. Never nacho cheese. Especially not the kind with added jalapeño flavor. And if you’re older than 12, same goes for Cheez Whiz. Now, I don’t mean shredded melted cheese, but cheese sauce, that yellow-orange creamy-textured goo, which, admittedly, is probably highly processed and made with very little real cheese. I prefer the fries to be doused in the sauce, the way they do it at Mr G’s Beef (2715 N. Milwaukee Ave.). But a cup of cheese tossed into the bag alongside the fries, à la Phil’s Last Stand (2258 W. Chicago Ave.), is acceptable as well. This way, if you’re doing carryout, those fries don’t lose their crisp exterior. 2. Fresh-cut fries are always best. In fact, this is the rule with french fries in general, fresh being the key word here. Potatoes should be just-sliced before being tossed in the fryer, skins still on. Evidence: Susie’s Drive-In (4126 W. Montrose Ave.), which in addition to its tome-like menu, serves its skin-on taters sprinkled with seasoned salt. They also get bonus points for scooping them into a taco-salad shell, dubbed the “edible bowl.” Ask anyone on the North Side where to go for cheese fries, and most likely, they’ll say Susie’s. 3. Crinkle-cut fries are second-best. Portillo’s (multiple locations) has the crinkle-cut french fry down. 4. Cheese should be creamy, not chunky. This probably comes down to personal preference, since my first love was the smooth, creamy cheese on the sub-shop fries. Still, I have been swayed by spots that use Merkt’s Cheese Sauce, such as Max’s Italian Beef (5754 N. Western Ave.) and Murphy’s Red Hots (1211 W. Belmont Ave.). It’s a little thicker and sharper, probably because it contains actual cheddar cheese. The only caveat: eat those fries fast, otherwise the sauce congeals into a gloopy, chunky mess. 5. Don’t mess with success. Don’t put stuff on my cheese fries. Cheese fries should be just that: cheese and fries. 5 1/2. I realize rule #5 was meant to be broken. Here are a few places that take cheese fries to the next level by topping them with carefully curated ingredients: Al’s Beef (multiple locations): Chunky blue-cheese dressing and buffalo sauce Del Seoul (2568 N. Clark St.): Kimchi, porkbelly, and cheddar and jack cheese Pleasant House Bakery (964 W. 31st St.): Poutine-like concoction of skirt steak, gravy, and aged cheddar Photo: © Aimee Algas Alker, Groupon
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The #hotdogemoji Campaign: Nine Things You Should Know

Little pictograms can express cravings for hamburgers, pizza, even fried shrimp. Superdawg Drive-In asks, why not hot dogs? “Emojis are a universal language,” says Laura Ustick of Superdawg Drive-In (multiple locations). “People like to use them to tell people what they’re craving, what they’re having for dinner.” When it came to Superdawg’s attention that there was a startling absence of the hot dog in available emojis, they led the charge to persuade emoji creator Shigetaka Kurita (and President Obama) to give us one. Read about our writer’s nostalgic visit to Superdawg, Chicago’s legendary drive-in. Here’s what you need to know about this underground movement: 1. It began with this Twitter conversation on January 3 between Superdawg Drive-In and two of its followers and sparked the hashtag #hotdogemoji. 2. Though no emojis exist for the hot dog, other foods have their tiny pictograms: hamburger, pizza, chicken leg, donut, even a rainbow lollipop can all be expressed via emoji. 3. The hot dog emoji was created by Certified Cicerone Jenny Pfäfflin in about five minutes. She’d just posted a photo to Instagram of an elote dog she’d had at Hoppin Hots, and when she sought to caption it with an emoji, she was shocked to find she couldn’t. “Through serendipity,” she says, she discovered Superdawg Drive-In’s campaign. 4. “A cause like this needs an awareness ribbon,” Jenny says. The green ribbon matches Chicago’s famous neon-green relish. 5. The emoji campaign has spurred the creation of a Facebook page and a Change.org petition. 6. Since the Change.org petition was created, it gets about 10 signatures per day. 7. Nationwide supporters include California’s Pink’s Hot Dogs and Hank’s Haute Dogs in Hawaii. 8. Local supporters include Hot Doug’s, Wiener and Still Champion, newscaster Bob Sirott, and competitive eater Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti. 9. The campaign has shed light on the need for other food emojis: tacos and cupcakes are at the top of the list. To support the hot dog emoji movement, sign the Change.org petition, Tweet with the hashtag #hotdogemoji, and click “like” on the Facebook page.
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