La Grange Restaurant Week offers post-Valentine's Day business boost

Chicago Tribune

14-02-2025

La Grange Restaurant Week, which kicks off Feb. 27, is a great way to offer some good exposure to area eateries at a time that can typically be slow for the businesses, participants said.
Encompassing two weekends, the event's name is something of a misnomer.
'It's 10 days long, Thursday to Sunday, so it's a good week and a half for us,' said Joe Dellacroce, owner of GP Italiano, a Restaurant Week regular since opening in 2021.
'Restaurant Week is awesome,' he said. 'It brings a lot of people out to this area during these cold winter months. During Restaurant Week, it means that we will be able to fill up the restaurant and give us a good push for the winter.
During the 14th edition of one of the Western Suburbs signature culinary events, from Feb. 27 through March 9, 22 La Grange dining establishments will offer special menus reflecting the village's culinary heritage.
'I like to say that Restaurant Week is a great excuse to get a meal and a dessert,' said Dan Mulka, executive director of the La Grange Business Association, which presents the annual promotion with the village of La Grange. 'You're saving money with some of the meals, and you get to try things you may not usually try.'
GP Italiano, 1 S. LaGrange Rd., will offer special prices on various menu items to make a four-course meal. Specialties at Milk Money Brewing, 75 S. La Grange Road, will include blackened mahi mahi, Chicago-style pizza and hickory-smoked pork rib sliders. Woow Japanese Restaurant and Sushi, 35 S. La Grange Rd., will feature a three-course sushi dinner roll menu.
Other participating restaurants include Marco's Kitchen, mána, Aodake Ramen, Barrel House Social, Blackberry Market, fourteensixteen, The Elm, Hangry Joe's, Kama Indian Bistro, Milkstop Cafe, Nonna's Goodlife Pizza, Prasino, Q BBQ, Santiago's, Shang Noodle, Steak + Vine, Sushi Ukai, Uppers Land and Wonderful Matcha. The complete list of restaurants and some specials are listed at lgba.com.
Mulka said that he and LGBA representative Alissa Wade already sampled the fare at Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken and Wings, 1 N. La Grange Road, which opened late last year.
He even tried the hottest sauce available, that Hangry Joe's makes customers sign a waiver before serving it.
'I took a bite and it was about two minutes before I broke into a complete sweat, and I only had a bite,' he said laughing.
Dellacroce said he appreciates the LGBA's efforts to boost the downtown restaurant district, particularly through social media promotions.
'The La Grange Business Association does a really good job of exposing businesses throughout that time,' he said. 'It really brings a lot of people that maybe would not come to the La Grange and it brings them out here. If they're not coming to GP, they're next door at Kama, and see that there's a wood-fired pizza place and a place that's selling pasta next door. They'll remember that and come out in the next couple weeks and see us.'
Stephanie Posey, president of the LGBA and proprietor of the Posey Law Group, said La Grange Restaurant Week provides benefits above and beyond great food, though it does showcase 'the incredibly diverse flavors that make our town special.'
'There is nothing like sharing a meal with friends and family,' she said. 'Great local food has the power to bring people together.'
Although sponsorship of Restaurant Week is done by LGBA and the Village, other community members also help to promote the event.