Keep the part of the plan that matters
- Several shared dishes without a fixed menu: Avec West Loop.
- An individual burrito order and a lower sample food subtotal: Cruz Blanca.
- A table-wide multicourse commitment: The Publican’s chef’s menu.
| Restaurant | Different dinner format | Example for two, USD | Posted charge | Food planning amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avec West Loop | Shared à la carte dishes | Hummus + focaccia + cabbage: $70 | 3.5%: $2.45 | $72.45 |
| Cruz Blanca | Two individual chicken Cali burritos + chips/salsa | $42 | 3.25%: $1.37 | $43.37 |
| The Publican | Chef’s menu, $85 per person | $170 | 3.5%: $5.95 | $175.95 |
Examples have different amounts of food and are not interchangeable packages. Figures exclude drinks, tax and gratuity; Avec and Cruz examples also exclude dessert. Publican’s menu is explicitly a sample. Cruz permits removal of its surcharge on request, and adds 20% gratuity for parties of five or more.
Avec West Loop: preserve the shared-dish dinner
If the part of the original plan you liked was choosing several dishes together, Avec offers that structure without a tasting-menu commitment. A posted order of $14 hummus, $24 deluxe focaccia and $32 coal-roasted cabbage makes a $70 food subtotal. The menu pairs the focaccia with taleggio, truffle oil and herbs, and the cabbage with carrot tarator, cashews and vadouvan.
Choose it for the sharing format, rather than claiming it recreates another restaurant’s cooking. Its authorized booking page lists communal and counter seating; take that distinction seriously if the original dinner was meant to be a private conversation across a table. With a 3.5% supplement, our three-dish example is $72.45 before drinks, tax and tip. Order more or less according to the actual table’s appetite.
615 W. Randolph St. Restaurant profile · Official menu · Authorized booking.
Cruz Blanca: reset the order as well as the budget
Cruz Blanca is useful when losing the original booking is an opportunity to make dinner less elaborate. Its posted chicken Cali burrito is $18 and lists fries, avocado, crema and queso Chihuahua; two burritos plus $6 chips and salsa bring our example to $42 before the 3.25% surcharge.
That is a concrete change in meal format: each diner begins with an individual burrito, while one starter can be shared. It is not a substitute for an evening whose central requirement is Italian pasta or a tasting menu. The same menu offers wood-fired taco orders and a 14-inch tlayuda if the table wants another direction. Use the official restaurant page for booking because the current site exposes different providers in its header and footer; confirm the terms in the route you use.
904 W. Randolph St. Restaurant profile · Official food-and-drink menu · Official booking links.
The Publican: keep the course commitment
The Publican’s sample chef’s menu is $85 per person and requires full-table participation. For two, its $170 food price becomes $175.95 with the posted 3.5% hospitality supplement. Choose this format when the original plan was to give over the dinner order to a multicourse, family-style menu.
The commitment is the reason it belongs here—and the reason it may not fit. A companion who wants only one main or needs to choose every dish independently changes the decision. The sample menu also has à la carte options, including a seafood stew and a half-chicken dish described as feeding two or more. Those are other orders with other costs. Confirm the actual evening’s chef’s menu and dietary arrangements before booking it as the replacement celebration.
837 W. Fulton Market. Restaurant profile · Official sample menus · Authorized booking.
Check the replacement against the original invitation
A restaurant can be a sensible alternative because its order format suits you. That does not make its prices, cuisine or seating equivalent to the first choice. If your guest chiefly wanted pasta, say so before switching to burritos. If everyone wanted a long multicourse dinner, compare The Publican’s explicit table-wide commitment rather than pretending a three-dish order buys the same experience.
Once you have chosen a format, check the actual date and seating. If no acceptable booking appears, change the time or restaurant plan; nothing here establishes current availability. Our early dinner guide helps compare published start times, and our weekday lunch guide supplies a different service option if the occasion can move to daytime.
Avec preserves a shared à la carte plan. Cruz Blanca gives each diner a clear order and changes the sample spend. The Publican preserves the multicourse commitment. Keep the useful part of the original evening, then make the new choice on its own terms.
Selections researched from official menus and booking sources, checked October 13, 2026. No visits, taste tests or reservation availability are claimed.