For National Burger Month ( May ), Jake Melnick's Corner Tap will offer its eight-pound Monster Burger for $49.95. This burgerwhich serves up to eight peopleis topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and cheese of your choice, and comes with a basket of fries.
The Mother's Day afternoon tea at the Driehaus Museum, 40 E. Erie St., returns for its fourth consecutive year on Sunday, May 11. It's at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; following each one-hour tea service, complimentary guided tours of the Driehaus Museum will be available. Tickets are $60 for museum members and $70 for the public; call 312-482-8933 or visit www.DriehausMuseum.org .
Moms enjoy complimentary food and beverages at Schaumburg's Big Chef Burgers, 1602 E. Algonquin Rd., on Mother's Day, May 11. Big Chef Burgers is a casual and relaxed full-service restaurant serving gourmet burgers and artisan Neapolitan pizza as well as homemade gelato shakes and malts, plus salads and desserts. Visit www.bigchefburgers.com .
aria, 200 N. Columbus Dr., is offering a Mother's Day brunch menu by Executive Chef James Phillips on Sunday, May 11, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The brunch is $42 per person. For reservations, call 312-444-9494 or visit www.ariachicago.com .
On Mother's Day, May 11, Shaw's Crab House, 21 E. Hubbard St., is offering a brunch buffetplus all mothers will receive a $25 Shaw's Crab House gift certificate for future use at either Shaw's location. There will be a Grand Hot Buffet line as well as a Surf and Turf Station, Cold Seafood Bar, Shaw's Sweets Table and Omelet and Waffle Station. Call 312-527-2722.
Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave., will offer a Mother's Day brunch buffet with items such as house-smoked salmon, house-smoked ham, frittatas, beignets and more. The buffet is $25 each; tickets can be purchased at www.TheFrontierChicago.com .
Sophie's, located on the seventh floor of Saks Fifth Avenue in Chicago ( 700 N. Michigan Ave. ), is launching Sunday brunch service on Mother's Day, May 11, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The menu will focus on seasonal ingredients, classic flavors and lighter options for brunch in additional to creative takes on classic brunch cocktails like mimosas, bellinis and the Bloody Mary. Eats will include crab cake Benedict, steak and eggs, and lobster salad roll. See www.sophies.com .
Chicago institution Hot Doug's, 3324 N. California Ave., is closing permanently in October, according to CBS News. Owner Doug Sohn said, "It's time to do something else. There really is no overwhelming reason other than it's time to go do something else. The plan is not to own a restaurant anymore."
Art Smith, Rocco DiSpirito, Anne Burrell, Graham Elliot, Rick Bayless, Robert Irvine, Claire Robinson, David Burke and Ming Tsai are among the chefs/personalities slated to appear at the World Culinary Showcase of the National Restaurant Show May 17-20 at McCormick Place. The event ( not open to the public ) is primarily for retailers, culinary professionals, dealers and distributors, and commercial as well as non-commercial operators.
Bow & Stern Oyster Bar, 1371 W. Chicago Ave., will hold its inaugural Oyster Dinner on Wed., May 21, Menu items include a first course of Temple Farms spinach salad with orange sesame vinagrette, picked red onions, pickled fennel and goat cheese; a second course of pickled oysters, wasabi ginger cucumbers and caviar; a third course of wagyu beef, asparagus, smashed potatoes and bearnaise popcorn fried oysters; and the fourth course, key lime pie. The price of the May 21 oyster dinner is $65 per person and reservations are required; call 312-988-0644.
The Chicago Academy for the Arts announced the lineup of chefs for its A Taste for the Arts Gala, slated for May 13. Curtis Duffy ( Grace ), Shea Daher and Sarah Mispagel ( both of Nightwood ), and Andrew Zimmerman ( Sepia ) are among those slated to participate. The academy's students will perform at the Harris Theater at 6 p.m., and will proceed to the Millennium Park Terrace at 7:30 p.m. to enjoy 10 different food stations. Tickets start at $350 each, with performance-only tickets for $30; visit ATasteForTheArts.org or HarrisTheaterChicago.org .
On Monday, May 19, five chefs from Chicago, Kansas City and New Orleans will join Big Jones chef-owner Paul Fehribach to present the second annual Trash Fish Dinner. The family-style dinner will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature seven courses. The cost of the dinner is $125 per person, including tax and gratuity. Tickets are required; call 617-236-5200 or visit chefscollaborative.org/events.
On Saturday, May 24, the second annual West Loop Craft Beer Fest will take place on Clinton Street in front of the French Market between Lake Street and Washington Avenue, 12-5 p.m. The festival celebrates the conclusion of the Fifth Annual Chicago Craft Beer Week, which the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild organizes. Tickets are $50-$75, and include 20 tastings; visit westloopcraftbeerfest.brownpapertickets.com .
Tuscany Restaurant in Wheeling, 550 S. Milwaukee Ave., now has a gluten-free menu. Menu items range from $7 to $23 each, and highlights include Pollo alla Parma, Scaloppine alla Marsala, gluten free pizza and more. Visit www.tuscanychicago.com/tuscany-wheeling.
LagerJam IV will return to Mahoney's Pub & Grille on Sunday, June 1, 12-3 p.m., and this fourth installment will benefit Variety: The Children's Charity. ( LagerJam IV is an afternoon of craft beer and sausage sampling. ) LagerJam IV will provide patrons, ages 21 and over, a variety of three-ounce samples of 25 craft beers per person, paired with bite-sized samples of complementing sausages for $25 per person. Visit www.EventBrite.com, keyword: LAGER JAM.
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