A Chicago Venue Will Serve ‘Lord of the Rings’-Inspired Dinners

— Chicago’s “Lord of the Rings” fans will be able to eat dinner like they’re in Middle Earth for three days in March. Thalia Hall will serve three courses of utensil-free hobbit food and beer (smoked turkey leg, potato soup, “lembas bread” baguette, Hopewell Brewing Company’s “Prancing Pony” ale) from March 20-22 in conjunction with the Pilsen venue’s screenings of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning movie adaption of the J.R.R. Tolkien legendary fantasy trilogy. Tickets cost $5 for the movie and $30 for dinner, and are available here. Time Out Chicago has more.

— Longtime Gold Coast French-Vietnamese mainstay Le Colonial will close its current location at 937 N. Rush Street after 22 years at the end of the year and reopen at a larger space at 65 E. Oak Street sometime in 2019. Crain’s reports that the restaurant’s landlord isn’t renewing its lease in order to replace it with retail. Its new location will be on the third floor and include a 60-foot terrace that can be enclosed.

— Pilsen hotspot S.K.Y., which opened in November, finally received its liquor license and will start serving its full menu of alcoholic beverages on Friday. Check out the updated menu with booze below, which includes six house cocktails ($10-13), an extensive selection of wines by the glass and bottles, and six selections of Japanese beer.

— Logan Square burgers-and-fries spot Small Fry, which has been compared to Small Cheval and has been one of Chicago’s hottest late-night-eats destinations since opening in 2016, has been closed at least intermittently in recent months and is listed as closed permanently on Google and Yelp. It was closed and dark during prime Saturday dinnertime this weekend and its phone number leads to an automatic voice message system and a full mailbox, none of which are good signs for its future.

Daniel Gerzina

— And finally, River North’s newest sports clubstaurant Bounce Sporting Club now serves weekend brunch just in time for March Madness basketball. The menu includes banana Jameson-soaked French toast sticks, smoked brisket Benedict, a $100 “shot board,” and many items from its regular menu.