—Walton Street Kitchen + Bar, 912 N. State St., is now serving a fried-chicken Sunday evening special. The dinner consists of a three pieces of buttermilk fried chicken, served with homemade jalapeno cornbread, cole slaw and honey butter ( $28 ); it's available every Sunday starting at 4 p.m. until they sell out of the meal.
—Blue Door Farm Stand, 2010 N. Halsted St., now has a happy-hour menu, available at 4-5 p.m every day. Bites include fried cheese curds with herb buttermilk dip; and fried chicken sliders served on soft Hawaiian bread, with pinto cheese and pickles; and other items. There are also wine ( by the glass ) and beer specials.
—Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave., is celebrating Mardi Gras with an all-you-can-eat shrimp boil on Fat Tuesday, March 5. Happy hour ( 3-6 p.m. ) includes $1 oysters and 1/2 off Hurricanes. Single seating begins at 6 p.m.; guests can enjoy jambalaya and po' boy specials, $4 Abitas, $6 Sazeracs, music by Four Star Brass Band, complimentary king cake and more. Seats are first-come, first-serve and likely to fill up fast. Tickets ( $35 each ) can be purchased at TheFrontierChicago.com .
—Southern-style restaurant Drawl, 2423 N. Lincoln Ave., will be celebrating its roots during Mardi Gras on Tuesday, March 5, 6-9 p.m. Tickets include all-you-can-eat Lowcountry boil with crawfish, corn and potatoes and a Hurricane cocktail. In addition to the boil, guests can also order from a limited regular menu. While dining and sipping, guests will be treated to live bluegrass music all evening. Tickets are $35 online ( www.eventbrite.com/e/fat-tuesday-low-country-boil-tickets-56530501251 ) or $40 at the door.
—Delightful Pastries, the European-style bakery located in Jefferson Park, has announced its menu for Mardi Gras on Tuesday, March 5. The family-owned and operated bakery will begin to churn out thousands of housemade paczki per day to prepare for the massive demand on Fat Tuesday. Assortment flavors include apricot jelly, raspberry jelly, rose pedal jelly, plum butter, and custard topped with chocolate fudge; gourmet flavors include fresh strawberry & whipped cream, fresh strawberry, passionfruit jelly, peanut butter frosting & raspberry jelly and guava. Prices are $2.25 to $3.75 per paczki; visit DelightfulPastries.com .
—Parlay at Hubbard Inn, 112 W. Hubbard St., will celebrate Mardi Gras with themed food specials created by Executive Chef Jason Hedin that will include chorizo and cheddar beignets ( $10 ), smoked chicken andouille pizza ( $13 ), fried shrimp po'boy ( $15 ), and a King Cake cupcake ( $5 ). Cocktail specials, for $14 each, will include a French 75, pineapple daiquiri and Hurricane. See ParlayChi.com .
—Jerry's, at 5419 N. Clark St. and 4739 N. Lincoln Ave., will be offering Mardi Gras specials now through Fat Tuesday, March 5. There 14 po boys and 1 muffuletta, plus a fried oyster salad. Also, the pastry chef ( Eileen Kerbel ) has made our a king cake ( free beer if you get the baby ) as well as a praline cheesecake.
— Chiya Chai and Pretty Cool Ice Cream have partnered to launch two chai-flavored pops that will be available at Pretty Cool Ice Cream, 2353 N. California Ave., through Wed., March 6. The pops are made with Chiya Chai's housemade chai concentrate and include the vanilla nutmeg chai custard bar, dipped in a shell made with white chocolate and an African red tea called Roobios ( $5 ) and the Almond Milk Masala Chai, a dairy-free pop ( $4 ).
—River Roast, 315 N. LaSalle St., will host Beverage Director Ken Pritz for the Happy Hour Cocktail Class at Reid Bar on Thursday, March 7, at 5:30 p.m. Attendees will learn cocktail history and fundamentals while sipping Irish whiskey cocktails featuring Tullamore DEW. Light snacks will additionally be provided. Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/happy-hour-cocktail-class-series-at-reid-bar-tickets-55419302626.
—First Slice Pie Cafe—which known for its efforts to feed the hungry—is the winning recipient of a $10,000 business makeover from the creative partners behind full-service print and marketing sho, AlphaGraphics as well as branding, marketing and public-relations agency AWE Collective. The interior makeover at First Slice's Andersonville location is ongoing through next month, and fans can get their first look at the updated digs during a massive rebrand reveal in planned for Saturday, March 9.
—In recognition of International Women's Day, aliveOne, 2683 N. Halsted St., will offer a special $8 "Gloria Steinem" cocktail featuring Death's Door Gin, demerara syrup, fresh lime juice and grapefruit LaCroix. The special will run March 4-10, and $1 from each cocktail sold will benefit the Chicago Women's Health Center.
—In recognition of International Women's Day, $1 from every house cocktail from Easy Bar, 1944 W. Division St., sold Friday, March 8, will be donated to Equality Now. Working with national human-rights organizations and individual activists, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human-rights abuses. For more on the organization, visit www.equalitynow.org/ .
—Jake Melnick's Corner Tap, 41 E. Superior St., will have St. Patrick's specials on Saturday, March 16. They include $5 for Green Old Style, $6 for Great Lakes Conway's Irish Ale, $7 for Jameson and $8 for Irish Mules with Jameson + 'Q' Ginger Beer.
—The 11th Annual Baconfest Chicago returns April 5-6 at the UIC Dorin Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd., with new restaurants and returning favorites over three sessions. New restaurants include 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, Copper Fox Gastropub, About Last Knife, Taureaux Tavern, NoMI, Vinci and Flight Club, among many others. Admission is $60-$160 each; visit baconfestchicago.com .
—The second I Heart Halal event will take place at Navy Pier, Festival Halls A & B, 600 E. Grand Ave., on April 12-14. The event will feature an expanded food court that will showcase restaurants throughout the city—plus restaurants at Navy Pier ( including Frankie's Pizza by the Slice, Big Bowl and Big City Chicken ) will be serving up halal-prepared foods throughout the weekend. Visit IHeartHalal.com .
—Windy City Smokeout will be held July 12-14 at a new location right outside of Chicago's United Center. Hosted by Bub City and Joe's Bar, the event is the first official outdoor music festival to take place at the West Loop arena's 250,000 square-foot parking lot along Madison Street. Some of the country acts slated to perform are Old Dominion, Jessie James Decker, Parker McCollum, LANCO and Muscadine Bloodline.
—Two Lights Seafood & Oyster, 227 W. North Ave., now has a brunch menu. Culinary items include smoked-salmon avocado toast, croque Madame, jumbo buttermilk biscuits and tuna-poke tacos, while drinks include oyster shooters, Two Lights negroni and Champagne cocktail. See TwoLightsChicago.com .
—After debuting an empowered Imperial IPA in 2018, Revolution Brewing is bringing back Spirit of Revolt—created by the female employees of Revolution. The beer is named in reference to a Margaret Sanger essay ["Because I believe that deep down in woman's nature lies slumbering the spirit of revolt," from "The Woman Rebel"] and features specialty malts from female-led Weyermann Malting. A unique dry-hop blend of Cascade, Cashmere and Styrian Fox hops add notes of citrus, pineapple and melon to the oats.
Send items to Andrew@WindyCityMediaGroup.com, or follow on Twitter @Azygous60610 or on Instagram at azygous333.
