Need Help: 50 people, river north, $50/head

Looking for suggestions. We have a group of around 50 coming in from around the country. Looking to pay around $50/head not including drinks. Location around Michigan & Ontario. We don't need a private room, but that could be a plus. People are normal, not foodie types.

Ideas I've thought of:
Bin 36
Shaw's
Lawry's
Osteria del Stato

Any obvious choices I've missed?

Quartino's got some great space for that many people. And their buffet menus are very reasonable (from $30 per person and up).

Quartino
626 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 698-5000

Shaw's does a fantastic job with events that size, and that's a good budget for a very nice meal there. Quartino is good too, though as nice as the upstairs space is, it's not private and you'll have people walking through all night on their way to the bathroom. In case that matters to you. My top choice back when I planned these kinds of things frequently was Brasserie Jo, but that is sadly no longer an option

Wildfire is the first that comes to mind. They have private rooms, I think that price range will work, and they are Lettuce Entertain You so you'll get a massive amount of points for booking a party that size. Plus, they're really good at handling large parties. I would pretty much suggest any of their restaurants. Shaw's is one of them.

My other suggestion would be Ditka's. They have private rooms upstairs and have amazing pot roast nachos. Yum.

I want to pipe in again about Quartino -- the space has three sections -- two of which can handle 50 people. One is open, as Kennyz mentions - the other has doors to shut it off. So you can do a dinner for 50 (which is what i was looking for) privately.

Shannon

I've very much enjoyed events at Quartino, they do a nice job. So does Maggiano's (on Clark, they have a couple of private rooms). I went to an event at Flatwater recently (on the river at Clark) - the food was much better than I was expecting & they have a large private room with an adjacent bar on the lower level overlooking the river with a nice patio. If you're not foodies its a nice spot for out-of-towners because of the river location (they did a nice iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese, choice of steak or salmon with appropriate sides & then a mini desserts/coffee buffet for us, a group of 80).

Cyrano's (on Wells) also has a private room & should be able to work with your price point. Zed 451 has a gorgeous private space, I've loved events there, not sure about the price though.

Quartino would be my first choice, certainly before Maggiano's (and probably Widfire - not bad but still feels banquet-hall-ish).

Thanks for the input guys/gals. I will make my recommendation, but ultimately my boss will decide. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I'll tell you what -- those rooms upstairs at Maggiano's are HOT. I had an event up there last year and I thought we were all going to sweat to death while eating. I've never been that impressed with them -- they're fine but certainly not special. I feel the same way about Ditka's, whose rooms are rather boring and dark.

Carnivale isn't exactly River North but they have wonderful rooms and really good food -- and definitely a family style menu in your price range. They have one room that has 2 levels and is great if you're having a cocktail hour before your event. Get some guac and their addictive chips and drink up a storm before you sit to dinner in a very lovely room.

Carnivale
702 West Fulton Market
chicago, IL 60661
(312) 850-5005

Kennyz wrote:My top choice back when I planned these kinds of things frequently was Brasserie Jo, but that is sadly no longer an option

Brasserie Jo is still open, and isn't closing till some time next month.

Greektown for something different? We had a large group at greek Islands and was family style, appetizers, 4 proteins, salad and sides and wine! $50 a head. fun too..

Greektown and Carnivale are good ideas, but we want it to be within walking distance of the hotel. Some of these folks are from Idaho, Nebraska, etc. They would probably get freaked out trying to go more than a couple blocks in the big city.