Easter Eats and Sweets at Chicago Restaurants and Bakeries
Judging by the egg-shaped chocolates and Peeps all around town, Easter is just around the corner. In regards to Easter dining, there’s much more to it than candy eggs. Map out your meal plans now, as Chicago restaurants and bakeries are serving up a miscellany of festive Easter dishes and menus for the spring holiday.
In case you’re looking to think outside the Easter basket this year, one uncommon option is Easter brunch at Mercat a la Planxa. The South Loop’s second-to-none Spanish tapas palace is serving up a three-course feast along with unlimited trips to the carving station. Get hungry for dishes such as a “bikini sandwich” with Serrano ham, Manchego, and black truffles; Asturian crepes with saffron cream, apricot, and basil; Manchego-bacon biscuits and gravy; and lobster revuelto with poached lobster, soft scrambled eggs, sautéed asparagus, and truffle toast.
In other Easter tapas news, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! is serving up a melange of holiday dishes for brunch on April 5. Plates include deviled eggs with bacon, waffle-battered chicken sticks, omelets, and other brunch tapas. There’s also a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar.
Easter adopts a French accent at Chez Moi, where the holiday brunch menu makes way for French onion soup, spring asparagus cream, quiche Lorraine, croissant French toast, smoked salmon crepes, and croque monsieurs. These and other a la carte specials are on deck for brunch, followed by dinner specials like tomato salad, braised lamb with mashed potatoes, and seafood stew with rouille sauce.
Paris Club Bistro & Bar is another venerable French option, featuring a prix fixe brunch menu this year. Once you’re done finding your Easter basket, hop downtown to partake in dishes like croque madames, seasonal pain perdu, and soft egg scrambles.
If eggs with truffle butter or carrot cake rolls don’t sound like the greatest things ever, the Easter Bunny should revoke your basket. These dishes are the tip of the holiday iceberg at The Boarding House, where executive chef Tanya Baker and pastry chef Julia Fitting tag-team a delicious Sunday prix fixe menu filled with optional dishes per course. The three-courser includes items like roasted carrot soup with curried crouton; hen egg with polenta fries and truffle butter; grilled flat-iron steak with balsamic-braised cipollini and oyster mushrooms; herbed ricotta mezzaluna with creamed peas and lemon breadcrumbs; and an Easter dessert sampler of lavender ganache, peach macarons, and carrot cake roll. There’s also a special kids’ menu for guests 12 and younger.
Spring has most definitely sprung at Magnolia Bakery, a cozy bakery perpetually draped in pastel-hued sunshine. No better place to stock up on Easter sweets like Easter cupcakes bedecked with decorations and sprinkles, pastel meringues, coconut mini cupcakes, and pastel cakes frosted with vivid buttercream.
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. Floriole will also be hosting a special Easter Sunday supper.
Brunch gets all the glory for Easter dining, but save room for dinner too. III Forks Prime Steakhouse is cooking up a salacious prix fixe stocked with wedge salads, roasted tenderloin, pan-seared salmon, chicken paillard, desserts, and more. 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 family-style meal that includes kale and Swiss chard salad and pan-roasted salmon with crispy polenta, arugula, and Meyer lemon.
Mercat a la Planxa
638 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
(312) 765-0524
Website
Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!
2024 N. Halsted Street, Chicago
(773) 935-5000
Website
Chez Moi
2100 N. Halsted Street, Chicago
(773) 871-2100
Website
Paris Club Bistro & Bar
59 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago
(312) 595-0800
Website
The Boarding House
720 N. Wells Street, Chicago
(312) 280-0720
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
