Best Easter Eats in Chicago

In case the sea of Cadbury Eggs and the uptick in pastels haven’t given it away, Easter is almost here. When it comes to Easter eating, it’s not all egg-shaped chocolates. Rather, Chicago restaurants and bakeries are rolling out an array of decadent Easter dishes and menus for the spring-y holiday.

Easter brunch comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors. Case in point, the atypical Filipino-inspired brunch taking place at Pecking Order. The leisurely brunch buffet includes an assortment of Filipino fare, from pandesal French toast and housemade longaniza to arroz caldo and fried sweet plantains. For dessert, there’s mom-made sticky rice with coconut caramel, leche flan, and purple yam cake. The restaurant will also offer a kids’ menu for those under 13.

Think outside the Easter basket with glam brunch at The Lobby. The restaurant puts a luxe riff on holiday tradition with a seafood station, sushi, cheeses, a carving station, and more. There will also be a special kids’ station for the little ones. Seatings are available at designated times throughout the day, so make sure and inquire about available times when making a reservation.

Another uncommon foray into Easter brunching comes via Mercat a la Planxa. The South Loop’s preeminent Spanish tapas palace is serving up a three-course feast along with unlimited trips to the carving station. Get hungry for dishes such as braised rabbit flatbread (apropos, don’t you think?), salt-roasted beet salad, and a roasted suckling pig carving station. At meal’s end, kids receive rabbit-shaped cookies while their parents dig into their traditional Spanish mona de pascua.

Hop on over to Lincoln Park for one of the most elegant, seasonally inspired Easter prix fixe menus in town at North Pond. A melange of options are available for each of the three courses, starting with gingered crab-carrot bisque, pork tenderloin medallions, chilled Champagne shrimp, and soft poached egg with creamed morel mushroom ragout for appetizers. Entree options include slow-roasted Alaskan halibut, black pepper flat-iron steak, grilled albacore tuna with minted semolina, and herbed lamb chop with shell beans and baby artichokes. For dessert, opt for glazed pistachio opera cake, dark chocolate mousse, spiced carrot cake, or white chocolate cremeux. Kids have menu selections all their own.

Italian Easter traditions take the stage at Coco Pazzo. The old-school standby offers a few choices per course, including Faroe Island salmon with asparagus salad; pickled beets and pumpkin salad; and baked sheep’s milk ricotta with Tuscan greens and artichoke manicotti for the first round. Next, select from wood-roasted herbed lamb chops with spring vegetables or pan-roasted wild Maine cod for the entree. It all culminates with Italian sponge cake or warm flourless chocolate cake.

If popcorn butterscotch sauce doesn’t sound like the greatest thing ever, then the Easter Bunny should revoke your candy basket. The sauce adorns masa hot cakes at Takito Kitchen as one of the Easter specials at the Wicker Park restaurant. For savory, there’s shirred egg cazuelas outfitted with smoked ham, Brunkow cheese, asparagus, and pickled Trinidad peppers.

Spring has most definitely sprung at Magnolia Bakery, a cozy bakery perpetually draped in spring-like sunshine. No better place to stock up on Easter sweets like pastel layer cakes, egg-shaped butter cookies, and Easter cupcakes bedecked with Easter decorations and sprinkles.

Hot cross buns are an Easter-time sensation, and they don’t get any better than the versions being baked at Floriole Cafe & Bakery. Not only are the doughy delights available, but the crafty bakery is getting inventive with its pastry of the month: hot cross bun macarons. Larger than the standard delicate macaron, these ones contain a cinnamon- and cardamom-scented shell, lemon-prune jam, and a cream cheese buttercream filling.

Brunch gets all the glory for Easter dining, but save room for dinner. III Forks Prime Steakhouse is cooking up a salacious prix fixe stocked with wedge salads, roasted tenderloin, pan-seared salmon, chicken paillard, Texas pecan cake, and other options. There’s also an ample à la carte menu filled with all sorts of beefy selections, seafood, and classic steakhouse sides.

For an elevated take on Easter dining, find your way to Found. The Evanston favorite impresses with a multi-course meal that includes roasted leg of lamb with pistachio chimichurri, farm vegetable strata, farro with dried fruits and herbs, and housemade French macarons.

Pecking Order
4416 N. Clark Street, Chicago
(773) 907-9900
Website

The Lobby
108 E. Superior Street, Chicago
(312) 337-2888
Website

Mercat a la Planxa
638 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
(312) 765-0524
Website

North Pond
2610 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago
(773) 477-5845
Website

Coco Pazzo
300 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago
(312) 836-0900
Website

Takito Kitchen
2013 W. Division Street, Chicago
(773) 687-9620
Website

Magnolia Bakery
108 N. State Street, Chicago
(312) 346-7777
Website

Floriole Cafe & Bakery
1220 W. Webster Avenue, Chicago
(773) 883-1313
Website

III Forks Prime Steakhouse
180 N. Field Boulevard, Chicago
(312) 938-4303
Website

Found
1631 Chicago Avenue, Evanston
(847) 868-8945
Website