TP_020719

tinleyjunction.com dining out
the tinley junction | February 7, 2019 | 27
The Dish
Love is in the air at Houlihan’s with
an affordable four-course meal
Specialty Valentine’s
Day-themed
cocktails also
featured
James Sanchez
Contributing Editor
It is getting close to that
pressure-filled time of year
when people start figuring
out Valentine’s Day plans.
It is a daunting task for
some, a time at which overthinking
is at a premium. But
rightfully so.
It is a night to convey to a
loved one how much he or
she means to the other.
But Houlihan’s in Orland
Park is helping Valentine’s
Day planners ease their stress
with a prix fixe menu featuring
variety and the franchise’s
fine-dining favorites.
From Feb. 14-17, the restaurant
is to offer a fourcourse
meal for $50. And all
of the dishes — as with everything
at Houlihan’s — are
made from scratch, according
to Lisa Johannsen, marketing
manager for the restaurant’s
five Illinois locations: Wheaton,
Naperville, Algonquin,
Geneva and Orland Park.
“This has been kind of a
staple during Valentine’s Day
at Houlihan’s, because this
makes us unique,” Johannsen
said. “This is somewhere
couples can go if they’re
looking to have a meal on a
budget but still enjoy a great
dinner.”
The meal starts with the
couple’s choice of one appetizer
between the char-crusted
ahi tuna, spinach dip and
one of the restaurant’s hottest
sellers: Houlihan’s Famous
“Shrooms.” The last one on
that list features giant mushroom
caps stuffed with a herb
and garlic cream cheese, then
battered and deep fried. Parmesan
cheese and parsley are
sprinkled on top of the fried
treat for color, and they are
accompanied by a horseradish
cream sauce.
“Absolutely guaranteed,
on any fixed menu we have,
you’ll find our ‘Shrooms,’”
Johannsen said. “That’s one
of our recipes in our menu
that hasn’t changed since we
opened in 1972.”
The next offering is one’s
choice of soup or salad.
For soup, customers can
either go the cream-based
route with the baked potato
soup, or tomato broth-based
chicken tortilla soup, which
Johannsen noted has a little
kick to it. Houlihan’s house
salad is more of a chopped
salad, for which the lettuce
is chopped finely. It has bacon,
corn and croutons, or
customers can ask for a traditional
Caesar salad.
The first two courses lead
to the entree portion. Guests
get to choose from six options.
Five of them are served
with the customer’s choice
of potato (baked, fries or
mashed), and either green
beans or asparagus. The other
one is the seared Georges
Bank scallops, served with an
asparagus risotto. The handful
of scallops are placed on
top of the bed of risotto, and
garnished with baby arugula,
a drizzle of basil-infused olive
oil and a balsamic glaze.
It’s one of Johannsen’s favorite
dishes.
“It’s very savory, but then
you get a hint of sweetness
with the balsamic glaze,” she
said. “It’s a nice, refreshing
dish.”
The other dinner options
are panko-crusted fried
The stuffed chicken breast, which is stuffed with a herb
and garlic cream cheese, breaded, sauteed and finished in
the oven, is one of the options for Houlihan’s Valentine’s
Day Four-Course Menu for Two. Photos by Tom Czaja/22nd
Century Media
shrimp; 4-ounce center-cut
filet mignon; grilled Atlantic
salmon brushed with a
dill-butter compound and
accompanied with a dill-caper
sauce; breaded chicken
breast that’s stuffed with
a herb and garlic cream
cheese, sauteed in a pan and
finished in the oven; and the
Meatloaf No. 9 is drizzled
with a red wine mushroom
gravy and topped with fried
onion strings.
Lastly, the couple gets to
share one of two dessert options:
a brownie batter cake
or the salted caramel gooey
butter cake that is topped
with vanilla bean ice cream.
Throughout the meal,
guests can enjoy Houlihan’s
two featured cocktails for
the three-day special at only
$5 each. The Adam and
Eve Appletini consists of
an apple-flavored schnapps,
homemade lemonade and
a cinnamon-sugar rim. The
Cupid’s Concoction has La
Marca Prosecco and French
vodka infused with organic
blood orange juice, mango
and passion fruit.
Along with Mother’s Day
and New Year’s Eve, Johannsen
said Valentine’s Day
is among the busiest times of
the year for Houlihan’s, and
its special menus have a lot to
do with it.
Valentine’s Day Four-
Course Menu for Two
When: All day Feb. 14-17
Cost: $50 for two
First course - Choose one
• Houlihan’s Famous
“Shrooms”
• Char-crusted ahi tuna
• Small spinach dip
Second Course - Choose
Two
• Chicken tortilla soup
• Baked potato soup
• House salad
• Caesar salad
Third Course - Choose Two
• Stuffed chicken breast
Houlihan’s
16153 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park
Hours
• 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday
• 11 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday
For more information…
Phone: (708) 364-7650
Web: www.houlihans.com/my-houlihans/orland-park
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• Meatloaf No. 9
• Grilled Atlantic salmon
• Seared Georges Bank
scallops (add four more
scallops for $5)
• Petite center-cut filet
mignon (4 ounces)
• Huge panko-fried
shrimp
All entrees have two
sides, except seared
Georges Bank scallops,
which are served with
risotto.
Fourth course - Choose One
• Brownie batter cake
• Salted caramel gooey
butter cake
250 Water Stone Circle, Joliet 815-740-4104 www.joliethospice.org
REAL PEOPLE REAL CARE YOUR FAMILY