Six Chicago Restaurants Serving Christmas Dinner
With family commitments, end-of-year business activities, and general hoopla surrounding the holidays, it’s hard to find time to prepare a proper holiday feast.
So, for Christmas this year, let the pros make dinner for you.
Here are six restaurants where you can eat (or take out) truly memorable Christmas dinners in Chicago.
About Last Knife. On Michigan Avenue, inside the sparkling new Hotel Julian, About Last Knife presents a holiday special highlighting one of their signature dishes: the Beef Wellington. For $95, you can get one-half and for $175 one full Beef Wellington (3.75 pounds), the perfectly done tenderloin swaddled in duxelles (mushroom, shallots, onions and herbs) and sheathed in pastry. The chef will also throw in some bordelaise sauce and a few sides to make a complete meal. Give the kitchen 48 hours for to-go orders.
City Mouse. Open on both Christmas Eve and the Big Day itself, City Mouse in the Ace Hotel presents an a la carte menu with some innovative takes on the holiday tradition. Executive Chef Pat Sheerin whips up Baked Brie Cheese (walnut, caramelized onion, honey, herbs and bread); Roasted Duck Breast (caramelized squash, farro and wilted greens); and Caramel Cake with kumquat jam and vanilla bean ice cream. Afterwards you can head on up to the hotel’s rooftop bar, Waydown (ironic, right?!), for views of the holiday city at night.
Steak 48. You like meat, right? Well on Christmas Eve, Steak 48, River North’s hottest new steakhouse, offers a full menu of some of the most delectable steak and seafood you will find anywhere in the city. The Mishima Wagyu Tomahawk is the stuff that USDA prime dreams are made of, and there’s also Executive Chef Brian Key’s Alaskan King Crab with a side of Rock Shrimp Mac & Cheese. For a holiday (or any day) dessert, there are Beignet Trees and warm vanilla caramel cake. At Steak 48, you will have a Christmas dinner to remember.
Benny’s Chop House. Just north of the Loop, River North’s Benny’s Chop House feels like a step back in time: you may not see the Ghost of Christmas Past, but you will see – and eat – some of the finest seafood and red meat in the city. The menu is highlighted by ocean-fresh Dover Sole with lemon and caper, fileted tableside, and Japanese Black Grade A5 Miyazaki Skirt Steak, the kind of steak you can expect only at the very best steakhouse, which is exactly what Benny’s Chop House is known to be.
Maple & Ash. With one of the most elegant dining rooms in the city, right on Christmas tree-lined Michigan Avenue, Maple & Ash consistently amazes with grilled seafood and meat paired with one of the city’s best wine lists. Pro tip: after you’ve had some of the grilled seafood tower, ask the server for a “pasta back,” and he or she will return with some pasta (usually conchigliette or rotini) that gets mixed in with the garlicky brown butter that accompanied the seafood, and you get another course, simple and simply delicious. It’ll feel a lot like Christmas, any time of year.
The Florentine. The Florentine, the crown jewel of JW Marriott in Chicago’s Loop, is just the right kind of place to make beautiful holiday memories with family and friends. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Chef Zachary Walrath and his crew will be serving holiday-inspired menu items like Spanish Octopus Carpaccio (Calabrian chilies, capers, pine nuts, basil, saffron aioli, lemon), Prime Rib (Painted Hills ribeye, Yukon Gold potato purée, roasted Brussels sprouts, truffled jus, horseradish cream), Cioppino (seafood stew, mussels, clams, rock shrimp, fennel, fregola, San Marzano tomatoes, saffron broth, gremolata toast) and Panettone Bread Pudding (classic Italian sweet bread, vanilla gelato). Sure, you might be able to make some of that at home, but why? Trust the pros to do it right.