Start with the order you want
- A sandwich and included side: Avec West Loop.
- A sandwich, with fries only if you want them: The Publican.
- Noodles and a lunch window until 2:30 p.m.: Gaijin, Tuesday through Friday.
| Restaurant | Weekday lunch service | Example, USD | Posted charge | Food planning amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avec West Loop | Mon–Fri, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | $20 chicken pita, included side | 3.5%: $0.70 | $20.70 |
| The Publican | Mon–Fri, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | $17 tuna melt + $5 fries | 3.5%: $0.77 | $22.77 |
| Gaijin | Tue–Fri, 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. | $19 veggie yakisoba | 3%: $0.57 | $19.57 |
These are different single-person orders, not matching portions or fixed meal deals. Figures exclude drinks, dessert, tax and gratuity. The supplements shown are not described here as tips. Publican identifies its online menu as a sample that can vary in the restaurant.
Avec West Loop: the side is already part of the sandwich order
Avec’s lunch sandwiches and tartines come with a choice of lentil salad or falafel-seasoned potato chips. That makes the $20 yogurt-marinated chicken pita a useful order for someone who wants the side settled at the same time as the main. The menu lists fermented chile sauce, garlic toum and bread-and-butter pickles with the chicken.
If lunch is meant to be more of an occasion, the $26 prix fixe offers a starter choice, a sandwich, tartine or salad, and rolled baklava. With the posted 3.5% supplement, that food plan becomes $26.91 before tax and tip. You are buying a different format, not just upgrading the sandwich. The correct branch is on Randolph; its booking page lists communal and counter seating, useful to know before treating it as a private-table business lunch.
615 W. Randolph St. Restaurant profile · Official lunch menu · Authorized booking.
The Publican: decide whether the sandwich needs a side
The Publican’s weekday sample menu lists a $17 tuna melt with pickled banana peppers, white cheddar and Publican Quality Bread sourdough. Fries are a separately listed $5 addition to that order. Choose it when the sandwich is the point of lunch and you would rather decide about extras than have the menu decide for you.
That distinction is easy to miss beside the restaurant’s larger dinner dishes. Here, a sandwich without fries gives a $17.60 food planning amount after the 3.5% supplement; adding fries brings it to $22.77. The same lunch menu also has a farro-and-quinoa bowl and a breakfast plate if your companion wants another direction. Lunch runs Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., so an afternoon meeting that ends after that window calls for another plan.
837 W. Fulton Market. Restaurant profile · Weekday menu · Authorized booking.
Gaijin: noodles, without turning lunch into a shared spread
Gaijin’s $19 veggie yakisoba puts spinach, mushrooms, sweet corn, cabbage, scallions and carrots in one listed noodle order. It belongs here for the diner who wants a different main-dish format from the two sandwich options. The word “veggie” describes the menu item; ask about preparation if you need an explicitly vegan meal.
Its weekday lunch runs Tuesday through Friday until 2:30 p.m., half an hour beyond the other two published lunch windows. That is a service distinction, not a promise that a last-minute table or a speedy meal will be available. Monday is closed, and weekends use the dinner menu all day. For seating, the official FAQ says both counter and table reservations can be made. Pick the actual seating and date rather than assuming all lunch bookings are alike.
950 W. Lake St. Restaurant profile · Official menu · Seating and booking information.
Put the clock and the bill in the same plan
A posted service window tells you when a menu is offered. It does not tell you how long lunch will take. If you have a firm return time, give the restaurant that information when booking or ordering; this research does not establish service speed at any of the three.
For an ordinary lunch, Avec gives the clearest included-side order, The Publican lets you choose the sandwich’s extras, and Gaijin changes the format to noodles. For a longer lunch, Avec’s prix fixe makes the course commitment explicit. If your plans move to the evening, use our early West Loop dinner guide for the first published dinner service rather than carrying lunch hours forward.
Official menus and service details checked October 13, 2026. Recommendations are research-based; no visits or taste tests are claimed.