Dining out: Raise a glass to Oktoberfest specials

Prost!• Big Skillet in Elgin recently added a variety of German favorites to its menu for Oktoberfest. Dine on cinnamon apple pork chops, wiener or chicken schnitzel, Thuringer and kraut, German pork roast, liverwurst on rye, beer brats and more. Big Skillet is at 90 Tyler Creek Plaza, Elgin, (847) 741-7331, bigskilletpancakehouse.com/.• Bub City is getting in on the Oktoberfest fun now through Sunday, Oct. 2, with specials such as a jumbo soft pretzel with beer cheese and spicy mustard ($8.95) and a beer brat boiled in Oktoberfest beer that’s then topped with sauerkraut and spicy mustard on a brioche bun ($13.95). Wash it down with Oktoberfest beers from Goose Island and Revolution. Dine-in only. Bub City is at Parkway Bank Park, 5441 Park Place, Rosemont, (847) 261-0399, and 435 N. Clark St., Chicago, (312) 610-4200, bub-city.com/.• City Works and Old Town Pour House are raising a glass to Oktoberfest with specials available now through Sunday, Oct. 3. Dine on crispy pork belly spaetzle basted in brown butter ($21), pork schnitzel with warm potato salad ($25) and smokehouse currywurst with bacon-braised sauerkraut ($15). Wash it down with beer specials at City Works including Goose Island Oktoberfest, Sam Adams Oktoberfest, Dogfish Head Punkin’ and ACE Pumpkin. Plus, the Schaumburg and Wheeling locations will be serving Metropolitan Afterburner while the Vernon Hills restaurant will be tapping Revolution Oktoberfest. City Works is at 1850 E. Golf Road, Schaumburg, (847) 584-2500; 365 W. Dundee Road, Wheeling, (847) 941-0990; and 929 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills, (847) 984-3571, cityworksrestaurant.com/. Old Town Pour House is at 1703 Freedom Drive, Naperville, (630) 448-6020, and 8 Oak Brook Center, Oak Brook, (630) 601-1440, oldtownpourhouse.com/.• The Melting Pot is getting in on the fall fun with its first Oktober FondueFest available Monday through Wednesday, now through Oct. 26. Starting at $45 per person, the three-course menu includes a choice of salad; Bavarian Beer Cheese Fondue with dippers such as bratwurst, braised short rib, roasted garlic Dijon potatoes, steamed carrots and cornichons along with pretzel bread, sauerkraut and Bavarian mustard; and dessert of Black Forest Chocolate Fondue served with Black Forest brownies, sweet spiced apples, strawberries, pearl sugar waffles, bananas and cream puffs. The four-course option includes a choice of three entrees (bratwurst, herb-crusted chicken breast, duck breast, Memphis-style dry rub pork, garlic pepper steak, filet mignon, Atlantic salmon, sesame-crusted ahi tuna, wild mushroom ravioli and more) to dip in a Sam Adams Octoberfest-based fondue. Also on offer are Sam Adams Octoberfest, Voodoo Ranger Atomic Pumpkin beer and a sweet German riesling — Schmitt Söhne Spätlese Piesporter Michelsberg. The Melting Pot is at 1205 Butterfield Road, Suite A, Downers Grove, (630) 737-0810; 4931 S. Route 59, Suite 101, Naperville, (630) 717-8301; and 255 W. Golf Road, Schaumburg, (847) 843-8970, meltingpot.com/.