Best Mother's Day Restaurants in Chicago (2026)
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North Pond leads for the Lincoln Park pond-and-skyline brunch; the Walnut Room at Macy's for the grand 1907-tradition Mother's Day prix fixe; then Beatrix for an easy all-ages brunch, Aba for a rooftop Mediterranean table, Monteverde for the James Beard pasta room, and The Purple Pig for Michigan Avenue small plates.
North Pond's Sunday brunch begins at 10:30am, three courses, and the pond-window tables go first, so reserve them by name when you book on OpenTable. Our Chicago directory runs to 180-plus rooms; six of them fit a Mother's Day table on Sunday 10 May 2026, from a 1912 Lincoln Park pavilion to a 1907 department-store tea room. Each one takes a multi-generation party and does a real Sunday lunch or brunch.
Six Chicago Tables for Mother's Day
Cesar Murillo, who trained at Frontera Grill and the late three-star Grace, runs this 1912 Arts and Crafts pavilion set on its pond inside Lincoln Park, with the downtown skyline stacked across the water. The kitchen holds a Michelin Plate in the 2024 Guide; OpenTable named it a Top 100 Romantic restaurant for 2026. For Mother's Day, book the three-course Sunday brunch the moment it opens and ask for a pond-facing window. Test his tuna tartare with chicharron and the maple-sunflower agnolotti.
On the seventh floor of Macy's on State Street, the Walnut Room has run since 1907 and is one of the country's last great department-store dining rooms. For 2026 it puts on a select prix-fixe Mother's Day brunch alongside its usual lunch, with cinnamon rolls, spring vegetable quiche, chicken pot pie and Frango mint pie. Book the holiday seating early through macysrestaurants.com, request the main room rather than the annex, and bring grandmothers and kids alike. The Frango pie is the test.
Lettuce Entertain You's Beatrix is the easy multi-generation call: an all-day American room that does breakfast, lunch and a serious dinner without ceremony, so a table of seven with kids and grandparents works. For Mother's Day 2026 the River North and Streeterville rooms run a brunch on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May, adding fresh-squeezed juice, a mimosa or banana-bread cold brew to the weekend menu. Reserve on OpenTable or Tock, ask for a banquette, and order the banana-bread cold brew.
CJ Jacobson's Aba sits on a heated, greenhouse-style rooftop terrace in Fulton Market with skyline views and a wine list built on the Eastern Mediterranean. Weekend brunch runs 10am to 3pm; for Mother's Day on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May 2026 the kitchen adds short rib shakshuka, chocolate babka French toast and a spritz tower for the table. Book through Tock, request the rooftop rather than the dining room, and let the mezze and the shakshuka anchor a shared spread for the table.
Sarah Grueneberg won a James Beard Award in 2017 and built this West Loop pasta room into a Chicago classic; exec chef Bailey Sullivan, promoted in 2025, earned a 2026 James Beard nomination. The open Pastificio rolls fresh pasta in view of the room, which suits a celebratory family lunch. Tables go weeks out, so reserve through Resy or Tock the day they open, ask for a booth that seats the whole party, and come at the start of service. The tortelloni and the cacio whey pepe are the tests.
Jimmy Bannos Jr., a James Beard Award winner, runs this Michigan Avenue Mediterranean room that took the James Beard Best New Restaurant honour and now holds a Michelin Bib. It opens Sunday 11am to 9pm, so a relaxed Mother's Day lunch works without a fixed brunch. The format is small plates built on cheese, swine and wine, which lets a mixed table graze rather than commit to set courses. Reserve ahead, ask for the dining room over the counter, and order the milk-braised pork shoulder.
How to Book
Mother's Day, Sunday 10 May 2026, books earlier than any weekend bar Valentine's. North Pond's Sunday brunch and the Walnut Room's holiday prix fixe open three to four weeks out and sell first; set a reminder and book the morning slots release. Aba and Beatrix run their Mother's Day brunch across Saturday 9 and Sunday 10, so a Saturday table is the pressure valve. North Pond and Beatrix use OpenTable, Aba and Beatrix also take Tock, Monteverde runs on Resy.
For a multi-generation party, the first brunch seating wins: North Pond opens at 10:30am, Aba at 10am, and an early table means a calmer room, prompt kitchen and easy parking. If Sunday 10 May is full, take the Saturday 9 May brunch at Aba or Beatrix, which run the same Mother's Day menu, or shift North Pond to its 5:30pm Sunday dinner seating for the same pond-window view at dusk.
Frequently Asked Questions
For the prettiest setting, North Pond, the 1912 pavilion on a Lincoln Park pond, does a three-course Sunday brunch from 10:30am with skyline views. For tradition, the Walnut Room on Macy's seventh floor has run since 1907 and puts on a Mother's Day prix fixe. For an easy all-ages table, Beatrix does a relaxed weekend brunch. Book any of them three to four weeks ahead for Sunday 10 May 2026.
Several are confirmed for 2026. North Pond runs its three-course Sunday brunch from 10:30am. The Walnut Room offers a select prix-fixe Mother's Day brunch on State Street. Aba in Fulton Market adds short rib shakshuka and a spritz tower to its 10am-3pm rooftop brunch on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May. Beatrix runs a Mother's Day brunch across both days too, adding mimosas and banana-bread cold brew to the weekend menu.
It spans a wide band. Beatrix sits around $30 to $55 a head, the Walnut Room and The Purple Pig run roughly $45 to $75, and Aba lands near $55 to $90 a person for sharing plates. North Pond is the splurge: its prix fixe starts at $134 a head before wine. Add tax, service and any sparkling, and budget a little above the menu figure per person.
Mother's Day in the United States falls on the second Sunday of May, which in 2026 is Sunday 10 May. It is one of the busiest restaurant days of the year, so the best brunch tables and the prix-fixe seatings at rooms like North Pond and the Walnut Room open three to four weeks out and fill quickly. Book the moment reservations release and request your preferred window.
Beatrix is the most flexible for a mixed table of grandparents, parents and kids: an all-day American room with a relaxed weekend brunch and a confirmed Mother's Day menu on 9 and 10 May 2026. The Walnut Room is the sentimental pick, a 1907 dining room that several generations of Chicagoans already know. Both seat large parties comfortably and take reservations on familiar platforms.