The Chicago Traveler

With crazy gas prices and now high sales taxes, Chicagoans and visitors are looking to save money where they can. But don’t let your budget prevent you from going out to enjoy a good meal. Here are eight of the best restaurants (courtesy of Citysearch and Yelp) where you can get a big meal for a small price.

8. Red Apple. This Polish buffet just keeps on going and going and going…
7. Reza’s Restaurant. As if the extensive Mediterranean menu wasn’t enough, the Sunday brunch buffet offers an incredible number of options.
6. Mr. Greek Gyros. Everything from hot dogs to pork …read more

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Within walking distance of my apartment, the Andersonville neighborhood is chock-full of “contemporary” restaurants, catering to its chic residents—primarily GLBT couples and newly-30-somethings pushing strollers. Big Jones, a new restaurant in the area (just north of Anteprima), fits right in, providing a modern twist on old-fashioned coastal Southern cooking.
Patrons are greeted with lime-green walls, wrought-iron chandeliers, and dark green drapes. Locals sit at the fully-stocked bar as they wait for tables. The restaurant is usually loud lively and tightly-packed dense, only because so many people are drawn to the delicious menu.
Brunch provides specialties like smoked applewood ham with creamy cheese …read more

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When you’re craving soul food, many would tell you that you have to head down to the South Side to find the best of the best. But for many folks, “the best” is on Chicago’s West Side at MacArthur’s.
Best start loosening your belts now because MacArthur’s doesn’t mess around. The owner’s niece does most of the cooking here, offering classic Southern-style dishes in a cafeteria-style setting. The ambience of the green-walled dining room may be lacking, but the food (and the portions!) more than make up for that.
Lines can get pretty long during the dinner hour and on Sunday afternoons …read more

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We sure love Oprah, don’t we. Fashion, books, health, gadgets, and now presidential candidates… whatever she touches turns to gold. So it’s no surprise that her personal chef’s restaurant, Table Fifty-Two, is usually booked solid for months.
Just walking into the one-room space is an experience by itself. Clad entirely in cream-colored oak paneling, the restaurant bears 13 white-clothed tables on hickory wood flooring. Chandeliers hang from a copper-tin-embossed ceiling. Massive copper lamps hang over the marble slab bar, and the smoky smell from the rustic oven is utterly intoxicating.
Despite all this stately display, the menu is quite approachable, full of …read more

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