Suggestions for business dinner March 17?

Trying to help out a friend from out of town who needs to plan a business dinner during the Housewares show, specifically on March 17th. Looking for some place upscale, with facillities to accomodate 60+ guests and a short presentation from the hosting organization.

The two hurdles my friend is most concerned about are the competition from other businesses exibiting at the Housewares show, and the fact that this dinner is on St. Pat's day....

Any suggestions?

I think Custom House has a room that can accomodate up to 75.

ghollander wrote:Trying to help out a friend from out of town who needs to plan a business dinner during the Housewares show, specifically on March 17th. Looking for some place upscale, with facillities to accomodate 60+ guests and a short presentation from the hosting organization.

The two hurdles my friend is most concerned about are the competition from other businesses exibiting at the Housewares show, and the fact that this dinner is on St. Pat's day....

Any suggestions?

What about Otom- I would think you may have to do a buyout, but I'm going to guess it's not terribly expensive to do.

I've had similar dinners at Café Spiaggia.

Another thought is Petterino's has a downstairs space that's very private. We're using them for our rehearsal dinner. Long story.

Will everyone be located in one particular location immediately prior to the dinner, and if so, where? Proximity could be an important consideration in deciding on an appropriate restaurant for a business dinner with a big group.

nsxtasy wrote:Will everyone be located in one particular location immediately prior to the dinner, and if so, where?

The show is at McCormick place, so ideally something easily accessible (say a 10-minute cab ride?) from there.

Custom House, recommended above, is an excellent upscale venue, and not too far away. If you want to go REALLY upscale, Everest has private rooms too, one of the top restaurants in the entire city and sure to impress.

Two nice places in the Loop with private dining rooms of sufficient size are Trattoria No. 10 for Italian food, and Atwood Cafe for American food.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, not upscale at all but they have a private room as well as great food, is Lao Sze Chuan, for Chinese food in Chinatown. Another not-exactly-upscale option is one of the Greek restaurants in Greek Town (listed here), most of which have private rooms.

By cab from McCormick Place, Lao Sze Chuan is under 5 minutes, Custom House and Everest are 5-10 minutes, and the places in Greek Town and the Loop are 10 minutes.