Trying new restaurants with my family has become a pastime with Restaurant.com gift certificates. I recently visited Central Kitchen & Tap at the corner of Lawrence and Central in Chicago. This is a welcoming neighborhood restaurant that is unassuming from the outside, but has huge chalkboard signs in the windows letting you know that they deliver, their hours and more. The fact that they are hand written and designed gives a warm impression and a very family feel.
Entering the restaurant you are greeted by a bar, a wood service counter and many booths and tables. At the very front of the location, on the inside of the window, is also a small countertop with several “spinny chairs” (as my children call them.) While we stood at the service counter and inspected the menu (also written in chalk and hung above the order area), my kids spun on the chairs happily.
The menu is varied and a good size. They have everything from the standard burger, fries, wings and fried fish sandwich to appetizers of hummus and pita, a Caprese sandwich and asparagus. Being someone who waffles between eating meat and vegetarianism by the day, I LOVED having the option or ordering a vegetarian dish that wasn’t a salad (which they also had!)
Because we had a Restaurant.com gift certificate and had to spend $40 to save our $25, I ordered wings for the table and my husband and I each go two sides (you can choose between one, two or none). My children each ordered macaroni & cheese with fries or chips and a side of a pickle (something that wasn’t on the menu, but I offered to pay extra for them and the order taker kindly added them to their order with no charge.)
After ordering and paying at the counter (our total was only $17.60 after the Restaurant.com gift card!), we found a table. There is an old-school stand-up video game machine toward the back of the restaurant in addition to a small basket of toy figures to play with on the counter. I didn’t ask if they had crayons, but they have paper take-out menus, so if you’re a parent who carries crayons (like I am), the kids could easily color those as well.
The staff is very kind. The cooks (who you can see through an open kitchen window) smile and greet you. The front counter staff was very welcoming and the person who delivered our food, happy to get anything else we needed. We had picked up our own ketchup, utensils and napkins before sitting down. And just for the record – my favorite bonus as most of you know – they have free Wifi!
Our food was good. We got the wings before everything else. I tend to be picky about wings (I am a Chicago girl after all!) and these were cooked well with a wing sauce that they must make in-house. I ate more than my fair share of celery just trying to sop it up.
My one concern was that the fish sandwich that I ordered would be greasy. I was pleasantly surprised by how it came out. I actually have no idea how this huge (and I mean HUGE) piece of fish was so perfectly cooked, but it was. My husband raved about his Chicken sandwich and my kids were happy as clams with their carb-fest and… vegetable? Do pickles count?
One major note that my husband and I both felt strongly about was the presence of real, fresh vegetables. He had the asparagus and spinach and I had asparagus and corn. What neighborhood restaurants do you know of that serve asparagus?? I don’t know any other than this one. To both of us, that spoke volumes about the concern and care that the owners have about their food. All of the food we ate and saw on the menu felt like personal decisions, not just another burger joint.
A few additional things to note – there is free Wifi at this restaurant! There is also a free parking lot, there is delivery available, kids eat for half off with purchase on Wednesdays and residents of their zip code (60630) and city workers get an automatic 10% off their order! Check this place out!
*Note – this restaurant is now out of business, but you can try this crispy asparagus recipe if your mouth is watering from the photo above!
Alli is a Chicago based wife and mother of two children. She has turned money-saving into a game and enjoys searching out the best deals to help you save money! Alli shares her insight, tips and up-to-the-minute deals for local and national retailers and brands. Her hope is that you will play the game and learn to save money at the same time!