Chicago Restaurant Week Reservations Now Online

Reservations for Chicago Restaurant Week 2016 are officially live, 17 days before the 9th annual event kicks off on Jan. 22. The "week" actually lasts 14 days—through Feb. 4 —and this year Choose Chicago counts 354 participating restaurants on the docket. Get reservations, powered by OpenTable, here.

Pricing remains the same from last year, with prix fixe lunches costing $22, while dinner costs $33 or $44. The event always brings interest from restaurant owners who want to showcase their spaces and menus to please diners not only during Restaurant Week—which takes place during a traditionally slow time of year for restaurants—but to lure them back for future business and visits.

Choose Chicago grabbed some new blood this year, as there 54 new recruits participating including Appellation, The Blanchard, Cherry Circle Room, GreenRiver, Intro, Monteverde, Oyster Bah, Prime & Provisions and Seven Lions. The Tribune was first to report that reservations were open.

As custom, Chicago Restaurant Week launches with the First Bites Bash, held this year on Thursday, Jan. 21 at Union Station's Great Hall, where patrons can nosh on a selection of items and drink booze from a variety of Chicago restaurants. Tickets cost $125 and can be purchased here. They'll donate a portion of money from those tickets to the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, the charity set up by the Cubs' first basemen to raise money to battle cancer and to support families of pediatric cancer patients.