Quiet Restaurant

Okay, so I am over 60! and like to eat out -- every restaurant is sooo noisy -- does anyone have suggestions for restaurants that are nice, not crazy expensive, and either north or north suburbs --

Sushi Kaya comes to my mind when considering a quiet restaurant. It's our go-to place after a rough day. Although the name implies Sushi, their menu runs the full gamut of Japanese food, all of it prepared extremely well (and the sushi is always great too). I always leave this restaurant in a good mood.

Sushi Kaya
6026 W. Dempster St.
Morton Grove, IL
847-965-6688
Mon-Sat 11 AM-10 PM
Sun 1 PM - 9 PM

Maybe it's slightly self-serving, but the place I nominated for a GNR - Charcoal Oven - would seem to fit your needs well.

Here's a link to our dinner there last night.

Charcoal Oven
4400 Golf Rd
Skokie, IL 60076-1202
(847) 675-8062

Most surburban restaurants tend to be quiet. But you need to narrow things down a bit more. What kind of food? What area would be best? Name a place you've found too noisy so there will be a point of reference. Name a place you've liked. There are a lot of north suburban eaters on here to help out.

Jonah

I haven't seen a dedicated thread to this topic (unless I did a bad job of sifting through the search results), but I'd appreciate some LTH wisdom: what places do you find consistently delicious and consistently quiet? Something about the vitality of innovative food seems to mean that the most interesting eateries are often noisy, while the only reliables for dinner with grandma (or dinner where sustained conversation with your companion is possible) are old school, perhaps too formal, and perhaps a little staid.

My favorite exception to this is Takashi. What are yours?

annak wrote:what places do you find consistently delicious and consistently quiet?

Some of these are GNR's. Almost all have dedicated threads and serve delicious food in settings I find quiet and calming.
In no particular order:

Sunshine Cafe
Katsu
Aroy
Rapa Nui
LM
Toons (except special event days which can be loud)
Shokran
Nomi
Beograd
Marie's Pizza (except when there's live music or other special event)
Merlo
Veerasway
Mysore Woodlands
Brasa Roja (the new one on Irving Park)

Sweets & Savories
1534 West Fullerton Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 281-6778

I like quiet.

My voice is kind of deep and I have a hell of a time speaking to an entire table in a noisy room.

I would disagree that Veerasway is quiet... Actually it's always been very loud everytime I've been in there, due to the acoustics and the other people talking. Just my experience, but I'm pretty sensitive to it because my girlfriend is deaf in one ear so talking is sometimes trying.

I love quiet. The combination you seek is increasingly rare these days, but my favorite--not innovative but consistently delicious--is Smak Tak.

In my neighborhood, A Tavola is also very pleasant but borderline grandma restaurant.

Smak Tak
5961 N Elston Avenue
Chicago IL 60646-5504
773-763-1123

A Tavola
2148 W Chicago Ave
Chicago IL 60622-4820
773-276-7567

I hate overly noisy restaurants, but when the food is great, it's hard to keep everyone from noticing. Fortunately, there are still plenty of places where you can carry on a conversation, and those that are excessively loud are still pretty much a minority. Especially if you avoid all of Paul Kahan's places.

One restaurant to avoid is Socca. Food was good, very good actually. But it was the loudest restaurant I've been to in a very long time. I was at a small table, but still had to yell. Walking outside after dinner, a quiet calm came over me. Strange feeling to have at the corner of School and Clark streets.

Even the freakin' websiteis loud and you don't get a "sound on/off" button for about 20 minutes.

Chez Joel on Taylor Street

http://www.chezjoelbistro.com/

Tru and L2O.

Alinea.

happy_stomach wrote:In my neighborhood, A Tavola is also very pleasant but borderline grandma restaurant.

I'm intrigued. I like Daniel and A Tavola. Just what constitutes a grandma restaurant?

bean wrote:Just what constitutes a grandma restaurant?

One that's quiet.

Like Oceanique

bean wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:In my neighborhood, A Tavola is also very pleasant but borderline grandma restaurant.

I'm intrigued. I like Daniel and A Tavola. Just what constitutes a grandma restaurant?

I like A Tavola, too. It's a grandma restaurant because at least a third, usually more, of diners I see there look like grandparents.

They've had two or three changes of chefs since I was last there, so I can't actually vouch for the food anymore, but one of the most serene dining experiences I've had in Chicagoland was at Karma in Mundelein.

Karma
510 E. Ill. Route 83
Mundelein, IL 60060
(847) 970-6900
http://www.karmachicago.com

cafe matou

I wanted to give this thread a bump.

I'm also looking for a place where we can hear our guests talk. We had a great time at Prairie Fire last night and I think it worked because the rooms are carpeted.

Other thoughts & suggestions? We've got another birthday gathering approaching.

Spoon Thai

Several places I've enjoyed within the past year and were reasonably quiet were Cafe des Architectes for contemporary American, Cibo Matto for contemporary Italian/bistro, and Mundial Cocina Mestiza for contemporary Mexican.

My husband and I had a lovely dinner at Crofton on Wells - the food was wonderful and the decibel level qualified for easy conversation.

I haven't been able to find any previous threads on this topic and am hoping someone on here can help: I am looking for a Chicago restaurant with excellent food that can be described as peaceful, quiet or serene. Even on a Saturday night.

Here's the dilemna: where can my wife and I go to have a great meal where we're not seated cheek by jowl with the table next to us (or, god forbid, in communal seating), where the music is in the background, where conversations are generally soft, and where there is enough space so that we are not constantly jostled by waitstaff and other patrons? This question is driven by recent experiences at Hot Chocolate, Brown Trout, Cafe Orchid and Mixteco. Wonderful food at all four, but varying degrees of bad dining experiences at each. Lately, I've been excited to go to Gemini Bistro - until I read a review that said the noise level approaches deafening.

Now I'm assuming that places like Avenues, Charlie Trotter's, Alinea, etc. all offer what I am looking for. But those are a bit out of the price range, so I am really eager for suggestions of places at the next price-point down from this. We're willing to pay for the experience. And we're adventerous eaters, very flexible on the cuisine.

Thoughts?

I'm going to suggest some places that don't necessarily get a ton of LTH love, but which I adore because they do offer some privacy/peace & quiet (aka are good date restaurants). I've listed these in order from most quiet to less quiet. (Those with * aren't necessarily quiet by design, but I find that they're often not busy, which means they end up being quiet.) You might also want to consider Sunday-Wednesday night dining.

Socca
Yoshi's
Marigold
Merlo on Maple
Prairie Fire
Bin 36
Crofton on Wells
Graham Elliot
Takashi *
Agami *
Chizakaya *

I've been sitting here for the last 5 minutes just thinking of quiet restaurants...I could only think of two and that may have more to do with the date and time we attended.

Naha - We basically sat right when they opened, but the space filled up within an hour, and it was still very quiet.
Deca - Large open space, not a lot of commotion, and it smells like clean hotel sheets. Awesome.

It'd be great if the mods would merge this thread with the Delicious and Quiet thread.

One of our favorite restaurants is Magnolia Cafe. Some tables are close together but we have always been able to have a conversation without having to yell at each other.

http://www.magnoliacafeuptown.com/