Bargain Dining

Hi,
Does anyone have any tips, specials or deals in Chicago, that they want to share?
thanks.

Wow, there are so many, it's difficult to come up with just a few (and there are probably already topics on this subject). Just off the top of my head, there are day-of-the-week and pre-theater specials from literally hundreds of restaurants (many of which are listed on Metromix), mailer coupons, coupons in restaurant.com, coupons on the restaurants' own websites, bonus certificates given out with the purchase of gift cards during the holiday season, prix fixe menu deals, etc. Some individual restaurants and groups of restaurants have frequent diner programs that are great deals too. And at a lot of places, you can get a great meal for a small fraction of the dinner price by going at lunchtime. So those are different kinds of deals, and I bet I could name at least a dozen different worthwhile places for each one. I don't mean to dismiss your question, but there are so many deals out there that it's practically impossible to list all of them. If you can be more specific, with respect to type of restaurant (Mexican, haute cuisine, etc) and/or location (city neighborhood, suburban town) and/or any other criteria, it would make it easier to answer your question.

I was recently introduced to Drink Town which is a Google Maps mashup which has the food and drink specials for a *ton* of Chicago bars overlaid on a Google Map of Chicago (with the El lines mapped too). You can filter and search, so if you're looking for just food specials on a Tuesday that include the word "wings" you can narrow the results down to just what you want.

-Dan

i hate it when somebody asks something & doesn't get an answer

any of the joints i eat in regularly
BOHEMIAN CRYSTAL westmont liver dumpling soup, 2 breaded pork tenderloin patties, sliced dumplings, gravy on side sweet sour cabbage kolacky lunch 8 45 plus drink tax & tip
BEACON TAP friday nite fish fry beer batter cod 100 to a pound breaded shrimp all you can eat like 8 95 plus
one of best wait staffs in metropolitan area
TAQUERIA LOS COMALES 9055 milwaukee niles great steak tacos, i get mine well done cheap
PIZZA RIA grand & wood 3 25 cheese slice plenty of parking for the area
JOES CRAB SHACK schaumburg lunch bride gets 33 shrimp special (usually available) 10 95 i get bacon cheeseburger like 6 95 with a third to half her shrimp i got like a poor man's turf & turf 5 lunchs on punch card gives you a free lunch like 7 bucks worth
ENTERTAINMENT 2008 book gives you a bunch of buy 1 get 1 free joints

dashboard diner
come as you are you can eat in your car

If you're ever in Forest Park on a Thursday, try O'Sullivans (corner of Madison and Marengo....2 streets west of Harlem). They have a pork chop special. 2 bone in pork chops (that are hot and spicy) with grilled veggies (mixed with potatoes) and a salad, for $7.95. Or a pulled pork sandwich with fries (or fruit or onion rings) for $5.00.

Better than average bar food.

als2554 wrote:Hi,
Does anyone have any tips, specials or deals in Chicago, that they want to share?
thanks.

Could you offer us some specifics - for instance, do you mean bargains at places that are ordinarily expensive, or cheap eats in general - or do you have a specific dining-out price range in mind?

Thanks!

This thread may be of interest:

Lunch under $5

Working link to Lunch Under $5 thread.

You should check out the Local Wine Events website. They have a listing of many wine and food related events around town, by date.

I agree with Michele - the answer is not simple unless you define what a bargain is. Yeah, yeah, I know the dictionary definition, but I can easily say that Sun Wah and El Pollo Giro are bargains in that you can feed 4 people for $20 or so at either place with great food, but if one is not looking for duck in Uptown, or Grilled Chicken in Aurora, that information is not worth much.

By most measures, about 80% of the places on this forum are bargains, as in you get great food at a low price. Much better and much cheaper than you get at most other places.

So - are you looking for cheap places in Lincoln Park, ways to get gourmet meals at a discount, great Mexican at a low price, or???

Sweets and Savories has a nice deal on Mondays, btw. No corkage on your own wine, and a discount on their prix fixe (10% off??). It is on my list for sometime soon. Not a cheap meal in absolute terms, but for two people I imagine that equates to a $30 savings on food that is already a good deal for the quality of ingredients and preparation.