Christmas Eve suggestions

I am looking for some suggestions for Christmas Eve restaurants. We are a family of four so being able to accommodate a large group is not an issue.

So far I have called Charlie Trotter's, BlackBird, and Spiaggia, all of which are closed.

Please give me some suggestions!

Thanks!!

Chinatown is the old standy for those of us who do not celebrate Christmas.

Sounds like you're looking for something more top-drawer, but I'm pretty sure that The Hopleaf is always open on X-mas Eve (in fact, I think it's open 365 days a year) - but I suppose you should call to make sure the kithcen will be open as well.

I would also check with restaurants which are located inside hotels: e.g. Avenues, Custom House.

Top drawer is nice, but anything is a possibility.

I would LOVE Hopleaf, but convincing my parents is not possible. Same with Chinatown, but some Tony's Chicken would serve me well.

The hotel idea is a good one that will have to be investigated (not to say the others are not good; they all suit me well )

stevez wrote:Chinatown is the old standy for those of us who do not celebrate Christmas.

All I can think of here is the famous scene from the midwest-Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story". "Chinese Turkey!"

stevez wrote:Chinatown is the old standy for those of us who do not celebrate Christmas.

This is in accordance with the prime dietary tennants of Judiasm as given by Rabbi Krusticovich to his son Krusty the Clown:

1. Thou shall not eat pork
2.Do not mix milk and meat.
3. On Christmas you must eat Chinese food.

Hi - not sure if your parents are opposed to Asian food in general, or just to going to Chinatown, but husband and I had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner at Le Colonial a few years ago. The food was good, but what stands out in my memory was how warm and welcoming the staff was - from hosts to servers and manager. Unfortunately, I have both worked at and patronized other restaurants where the staff was visably miserable due to having to work a holiday. After dinner we took a nice stroll around the Gold Coast.
We've also done a Christmas Eve at McCormick & Schmicks. Again, the meal was good but we did feel a bit more rushed by the staff, even though there were several full tables at the time we dined.

Le Colonial
937 North Rush Street
(312) 255-0088

McCormick & Schmicks
41 East Chestnut
(312) 397-9500

Several Christmases ago, I had a fine dinner with family at Cyrano's Bistrot on Christmas Eve. They had a limited menu. But, there were enough options to satisfy everyone

3. On Christmas you must eat Chinese food.

Note: Christmas Day, when most restaurants are closed, not Christmas Eve, when many restaurants serve their version of a reveillon.

jbw wrote:

3. On Christmas you must eat Chinese food.

Note: Christmas Day, when most restaurants are closed, not Christmas Eve, when many restaurants serve their version of a reveillon.

The Rabbi seems to have left some room for interpretation here, as it is not specified in the original text whether the commandment to consume Chinese food refers only to the day of Christmas or to the entire Christmas holiday, which might well be viewed as including Christmas eve.

This might be a nice time to highlight last year's LTHForum Jewish X-mas eve at Lao Sze Chuan, a huge success that I hope to reproduce this year.

Best,
Michael

check hotel restaurants--the hot idea for hotels now is to farm out their restaurant spaces at a good price and partner with a top chef. Rick Tramonto is doing this soon in Wheeling i believe, but there are other good hotel restaurants. depends who, what you like, check around and let us know here. downtoown. charlie brown at the W on adams does a great tuscan steak!

eatchicago wrote:This might be a nice time to highlight last year's LTHForum Jewish X-mas eve at Lao Sze Chuan, a huge success that I hope to reproduce this year.

Best,
Michael

Thanks for the reminder of that great event! I hope we do it again this year.

Our family tradition actually involves dining out on Xmas Eve (we prepare a large meal at home on Xmas Day). Although we typically frequent restaurants in the suburbs, such as Allgauer's at the Lisle/Naperville Hilton, I would imagine that a number of places, both in the city and suburbs, are open and doing a fairly good business on Xmas Eve. In other words, based on my experience, it isn't like the scene in the Christmas Story movie where the only place in town that's open is the Chinese restaurant (not that there's anything wrong with a feast at Lao Sze Chuan).

Ron A. wrote:Our family tradition actually involves dining out on Xmas Eve (we prepare a large meal at home on Xmas Day). Although we typically frequent restaurants in the suburbs, such as Allgauer's at the Lisle/Naperville Hilton, I would imagine that a number of places, both in the city and suburbs, are open and doing a fairly good business on Xmas Eve. In other words, based on my experience, it isn't like the scene in the Christmas Story movie where the only place in town that's open is the Chinese restaurant (not that there's anything wrong with a feast at Lao Sze Chuan).

You'd be surprised at the limited options that are open on the three worst dining out days of the year; Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas (Eve and Day).