Restaurant Review: Exploring Unique Thanksgiving Dinners throughout the Chicago area

Thanksgiving is coming soon, on Thursday, November 27.  Believe it or not, many Chicago -area restaurants are already selling out their tables! Here at Dean’s Team Chicago, we researched a few restaurants with reservations that offered something different from the usual turkey dinner/ buffet experience.  We also looked for affordably-priced menus with prime ratings. Here’s a few:

Streeterville’s British-Indian pub Monarch & Lion, 302 East Illinois Street, is offering a full Ala-Carte menu as well as their special Thanksgiving Day classic British Roast with your choice of Prime Rib or Turkey Breast with roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, dressing and Yorkshire pudding for $55 per person. Other ala carte options include 1000 Layer Potatoes with creamy truffle sauce and parmesan cheese.  Venison Scotch Egg is served with gherkins, mustard and frisée, and Chili Cheese Naan is made with Tillamook cheddar, Thai chili,  and mango chutney. Or, a Spicy Roasted Carrot Salad with harissa, lemon yogurt, candied coriander, and cilantro. Paneer & Mango Salad has mixed greens, purple cabbage, tomato, bell pepper, mint and lemon vinaigrette.

Reservations are highly recommended, and can be made by clicking here.

Note: Please write “Thanksgiving Roast” in the special notes when you book.

At Fulton Market’s Fioretta, 318 N. Sangamon, they’re offering a curated four-course tasting menu for $98 per person. Start withyour choice of Meatballs with House pomodoro, parmigiano Reggiano, and basil, or an Heirloom Tomato & Burrata, with fennel pesto and pickled shallots in an aged truffle balsamic. Or, a traditional Butternut Squash Soup with candied a pumpkin seeds, smoked crème fraiche, and chive oil.

Sure, you can have Fioretta’s Schuster Farms Oven-Roasted Turkey, fragrant with home-style Italian sausage stuffing, and brown butter gravy, but you also have the choice of a 7-ounce, Hand-cut Filet Mignon or 14-ounce, slow-roasted Prime Rib, served with au jus and horseradish. Vegetarian options include Macaroni Alla Vodka, with Calabrian chili and parmesan bread crumbs. No pumpkin pie in sight, but who really needs it with choices like Olive Oil Cake, with fior di latte gelato and citrus salad? Or, a creamy Tiramisu with mascarpone, espresso, and chocolate, or a Lemon Meringue Pie, with kalamansi curd, and graham cracker, or your choice of Sorbetti in raspberry,  lemon, or  blood orange. For reservations, click here.

Lettuce Entertain You’s Shaw’s Crab House Chicago, 21 E. Hubbard Street, in River North, offers Shaw’s Thanksgiving Feast, featuring their signature Whole King Crab “carved” tableside. As they say on their website, it’s perfect for groups, this family-style meal delivers a festive experience “like no other.”

Their Whole Norwegian King Crab isavailable for $110 per pound and the Three Course Thanksgiving enhancement is available for an additional $68 per person plus tax).  Choose from a first course of Caesar Salad, Lobster Bisque, Clam Chowder, or Seafood Gumbo, followed by a family-style second course of Chilled Norwegian King Crab, “carved” tableside, or Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast and Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts, Cranberry Relish, and Brioche Stuffing, followed by your choice of pumpkin, pecan, apple or key lime pie. 

Shaw’s will also be offering a Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner plate, served a la cart for $42 plus tax (gratuity not included). The dinner includes Herb Roasted Turkey Breast, Traditional Brioche Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Homemade Gravy and Cranberry Relish.  For reservations, click here. 

For a different experience for you and your family, Premier Cruises is offering  a Chicago Thanksgiving Day Premier Afternoon Lunch Cruise on Lake Michigan from $89, where the kids cruise free! A two-hour cruise leaving from Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Avenue, is serving a Winter Holiday Premier Plated Lunch, starting with your choice of (Choice of One Honeycrisp Apple Salad,  with mixed greens, feta cheese, candied pecans, in a Mandarin orange vinaigrette, or a Corn and Potato Chowder, with aged cheddar cheese, Yukon Gold potatoes and Chive oil, followed by your choice of a Turkey Dinner with garlic mashed potato, traditional stuffing, Haricot Verts, turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. Or, Smoked Chili-Rubbed Atlantic Salmon, with vegetable succotash, Yukon Gold potatoes, charred tomato vinaigrette, with house Giardiniera. Vegetarian options include a Seasonal Potato Gnocchi with vegetable succotash, in a charred bell pepper sauce. Dessert options include a Seasonal Dessert Station, assorted cakes, brownies, pastries, and seasonal fruit. For reservations, click here. 

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago