We know, you haven't even figured out where to eat for Valentine's Day (better get on that), and already we're talking Fat Tuesday. Well, pace yourself and plan ahead because some restaurants, like (k)new, already have plans to get you in a celebratory Mardi Gras spirit. On February 16 the Logan Square BYO plans to cook up a Cajun-inspired four-course dinner with highlights including crawfish bisque, crab cakes and rabbit loin gumbo ($35, 773-772-7721). And if you want more options, you're in luck: the bon temps will keep on rolling at these other festive Cajun spots.
921 Pasquinelli Dr. (Oakmont Ln.), Westmont
Phone: 630-455-9846
798 W. Algonquin Rd. (Golf Rd.), Arlington Heights
Phone: 847-228-9551
| Food |
Decor |
Service |
Cost |
| 21 |
18 |
19 |
$34 |
“Good commercial” Cajun-Creole seafood is the “star” at these “loud, bustling” suburban sibs that get boosters through their “New Orleans ‘jones'” with a “value”-priced “happy hour” and “all-you-can-eat-lobster nights”; critics who “don't understand the crowds” label the food “mediocre”, “overthought, over-sauced” and “overpriced for the quality”; N.B.
Arlington Heights does both buffet and à la carte Sunday brunch, and both sites have weekend entertainment.
| Food |
Decor |
Service |
Cost |
| 21 |
17 |
18 |
$21 |
This “boisterous”, “family-friendly” trio dishes up “delicious” Southern and “sometime-Cajun” cooking with a side of “whimsy” (“note the ‘chickeney' decor touches”); a sizable demographic deems it “dependable” for brunch, plus “hearty and filling” lunches and “dinners as well”, all at “tolerable prices”; still, a faction feels it's “fair to middling”, with “long waits” and “hit-or-miss service.”
| Food |
Decor |
Service |
Cost |
| 21 |
17 |
18 |
$25 |
“Get your New Orleans fix” at this moderately priced spice specialist where the Cajun-Creole cooking comes alongside “every single bottle of hot sauce on the market” (“if you like it when smoke comes out of your ears, this is the place”); it's “Mardi Gras all year long” in the “loud” digs – though purists posit the ambiance at the spin-offs is “never going to be the same” as at the “cash-only” Loop original; “inconsistent” service and “hordes of tourists” also draw knocks.
501 Davis St. (Hinman Ave.)
Phone: 847-869-3474
| Food |
Decor |
Service |
Cost |
| 20 |
16 |
18 |
$36 |
“Catch dinner here and you'll be hooked” claim converts to the “very good”, “all-around-honest” seafood (the “oyster bar is a plus”) at this “Evanston fixture” and its Northwest Suburban Schaumburg schoolmate; some grouse that the original is “not the same old funky fishmarket” after its “upscale” makeover, but most “welcome” the change, even if it “made prices higher” and service can still be “erratic.”
2352 E. 172nd St. (Torrence Ave.), Lansing
Phone: 708-474-1378
825 Church St. (bet. Benson & Sherman Aves.), Evanston
Phone: 847-733-9030
| Food |
Decor |
Service |
Cost |
| 20 |
18 |
18 |
$20 |
“Put some South in your mouth” at this “charming”, “fun-as-cow-tipping” duo “serving” “solid”, “stick-to-your-ribs” Southern-Cajun cooking (“staples like fried green tomatoes, po' boys, étouffée and gumbo”) to “a diverse clientele” of Dixie chicks and Dicks; the “rustic decor” is “contrived but cute”, and those vittles sure are a “value.”