Mercat a la Planxa in Brief:
Located in Chicago's Blackstone Hotel, Mercat a la Planxa offers an excellent array of tapas, steaks, seafood, cured meats, and cheeses.Address:
638 South Michigan Ave., ChicagoPhone:
312-765-0524Hours:
Breakfast: 6:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.Lunch: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Dinner: 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Sunday - Thursday; 5:00 p.m. - midnight Friday - Saturday
Restaurant Cuisine:
Spanish TapasPrice:
$$$About the Mercat a la Planxa:
Mercat a la Planxa has joined the increasingly growing list of excellent Chicago hotel restaurants. The restaurant eschews the traditional American fare you would expect from hotel dining, and instead goes the Spanish route -- Catalonia, to be more precise.Chef Jose Garces serves up a large variety of tapas, steaks, and fresh seafood, as well as an excellent selection of "carcuteria" -- cured meats like Iberico and Serrano hams, lomo embuchado (cured pork loin), and butifarra, a popular Catalan white sausage. If you feel like going all out, you can order the "La Mesa de Jose" -- you just put yourself in Chef Garces' hands, and he'll send out a special tapas menu of his choosing, along with wine pairings if desired.
