Monday, September 2, 2013

Howells & Hood, Chicago: Crafted food, craft beers and ...

Howells and Hood
435 Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Open seven days; brunch on Sundays with music

Named for the esteemed architects of the Chicago Tribune Building built in 1925, Howells and Hood is best known for its stylish setting, good food and large craft beer selection. It’s a large eatery and bar occupying the ground floor of the building with one of the best outdoor patios along the Magnificent Mile. Business types frequent the place during weekdays; tourists tend to predominate on weekends.

No doubt patrons return here for the good food. Howells and Hood presents a somewhat conservative, grill house menu with steak, seafood, pork tenderloin and smoked chicken at night. Lunch includes burgers, some seafood, steak sandwiches and daily soups.  

Fellow diners claimed the onion soup, delivered in a lidded mini-crock dish with a small French bread roll, to be some of the best they’ve
tasted. Fried oysters, fresh, with a slight kick in the breading, earned kudos from companion diner. This was high praise coming from a native Louisianan.  A generously portioned lobster roll, accompanied by enough house-made fries for two, and a steak sandwich prepared as ordered, left the three of us wishing we could return. The highlight of the meal was the restaurant’s signature dessert—Blackberry, Orange Buttermilk Cake, served in a small pan with vanilla bean ice cream. A Grand Marnier orange compote sat at the bottom of this piece of art, making for a delightfully decadent, delicious and memorable end to the meal.

Howells and Hood claims to have one of the largest craft beer selections in Chicago. It takes up three pages of their menu. Beers, a wide variety of mixed drinks, 29 TVs and a great menu of “shareables” appeal to the after-work crowd. I also recommend a meal at Howells and Hood when returning from a boat tour on the nearby Chicago River.







Tags: Chicago restaurants, restaurants near Chicago River boat tours, restaurants near the Architecture Boat Tour, lunch in Chicago, dining at Chicago Tribune Building, patio dining along the Magnificent Mile