Sometimes you just don’t feel like paying $15 for a cocktail. Other times, you’re trying to be budget-conscious and not go overboard with dining out or takeout.
While dining out is a delight, the cost of drinks can occasionally feel prohibitive. BYOB restaurants offer the best of both worlds — comfort food from a tasty restaurant paired with an alcoholic beverage, like your favorite cool beer or your own bottle of wine brought from home.
So what if they don’t have liquor licenses? These seven best BYOB restaurants near Oak Park provide wonderful dining experiences and are definitely worth a taste. Set a date night, and don’t forget to bring your own beverages!
Buzz Café is more than a coffee house; it’s an Oak Park institution. Serving up bites and beverages for more than 20 years, Buzz Café also features local art and music.
Settle in for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Nosh on a breakfast burrito, organic bistro chicken wrap or a brie and apple burger, or try one of the many other menu options. Don’t forget to start or end your meal with a cup of fair-trade coffee or a Buzzer — a creamy, blended iced coffee drink.
Have a sweet tooth? Take home a pie. Buzz sells several types, including coconut cream, key lime, chocolate peppermint cream, pecan, pumpkin and multiple gluten-free options.
Regardless of your palate or dietary restrictions, the well-reviewed Bodhi Thai Bistro has something for you. The menu at this Asian eatery is highly customizable, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
Dig into classics, like pad thai and tom yum soup, or explore salads, curries, noodle and rice dishes. There’s also seafood, including salmon teriyaki and garlic prawns. The food’s affordable, delicious and fresh. And don’t forget your favorite wine. A heads up: The BYOB corkage fee is $10.
To reach Morocco from Illinois, you’d have to board a plane and cross the Atlantic. Luckily, this North African country’s Mediterranean cuisine is available much closer at Grape Leaves.
Try entrees like Moroccan chicken with olives and preserved lemons; couscous with chicken, veggies or lamb; Moroccan cigars, which are made of baked phyllo pastry stuffed with beef and eggs; or vegetarian kabobs with sesame sauce.
You’ll also find Middle Eastern staples like shawarma, falafel, grape leaves and hummus. Whatever you do, don’t miss the tagine. The restaurant has several versions of the North African slow-simmered stew, named after the vessel in which it’s cooked — an earthenware pot with a tall, cone-shaped lid.
Feast on Mexican fare at Las Casitas.
Savor guisado de puerco (pork stew), bistec (steak) in salsa, or red snapper in garlic sauce.
What could be better than pairing a robust bottle of your favorite red with a Parrillada Mixta Especial (mixed special for two) at this fun Mexican restaurant? Choose the steak, pork, chicken and Mexican sausage platter or the grilled seafood special.
Their extensive, authentic menu has choices to satisfy everybody’s tastebuds.
Looking for an excellent plant-based meal in a homey, inviting space? Munch has you covered. Vegetarians and vegans will revel in this made-for-them menu, with lunch and dinner dishes like wild mushrooms and polenta, a vegan gyro, “meaty” stuffed peppers, and a kale caesar salad with cashew parmigiano.
There’s also brunch at Munch—and a bevy of vegan shakes for dessert, with flavors like mint chip, orange dream and banana cream pie.
Raffi's Locale is an Italian restaurant that serves made-from-scratch pasta in a charming, rustic atmosphere. Get started with the calamari in lemon-garlic white wine sauce or carciofi ripieni (artichoke stuffed with seasoned breadcrumbs and butter). Dip your spoon into a cup of classic minestrone or cut into a fresh caprese salad.
Of course there’s delicious pasta like linguine with seafood, risotto with chicken, lasagna Bolognese and ravioli marinara. Meat lovers will relish the New York steak in Vesuvio sauce or saltimbocca alla Romana, which consists of thinly sliced veal topped with prosciutto and cooked in wine sauce. End your meal on a sweet note with sorbet, cannoli or tiramisu.
The food packs serious flavor at this family-owned Filipino restaurant. Try the pork or beef kare-kare, a tasty meat-and peanut-based stew; the chicken or pork adobo, an iconic Filipino dish that features meat stewed in vinegar and soy sauce; or the ginataang mackerel, which is fish cooked in coconut milk with pepper, bok choy and onions.
For dessert, don’t miss the turon, deep-fried rolls filled with banana and jackfruit and topped with caramelized sugar. Sarrap offers a surprise activity alongside its generous portions—karaoke. Guests can book reservations for karaoke and expect a good meal and a good time.
Good eats abound around Oak Park. Grab your own beer, your own wine, and head practically next door to try these enticing dining options in your own neighborhood.