Celeste

I did a search but nothing came up - has anyone tried Celeste in River North?

I am finally making a visit home to Chicago after several years in Hong Kong and am meeting up with several girlfriends. Given everyone has migrated to the suburbs since I left, I am trying to find a venue near-ish to Union/Ogilvie stations where 7 of us can enjoy a nice meal and catch up. Celeste has availability, and from what I've read it seems nice, but I trust this forum much more than any magazine or web review. It also fits my personal agenda of not eating Asian food for the 6 nights I am home (love it, but I get lots of it here).

Any other suggestions are also welcome, but would love to hear if anyone has been here.

If anyone needs any Hong Kong recommendations, BTW, feel free to message me. I'm not as active on this board as I used to be when I was living in Chicago, but always happy to help a fellow LTH-er.

111 W Hubbard St.
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 828-9000
http://www.celestechicago.com/

I've enjoyed 2 meals at Celeste, on the 2nd level. It can be a bit of a scene at times, and the door guys take themselves very seriously (it's kind of clubby on the ground level).

For food, I did eat what I consider the best fried chicken I have had in Chicago (I haven't eaten nearly as many places for fried chicken as others on this forum, so will simply leave it at that), but I believe that is only sold after 10pm. Everything else I have eaten, though, has been a standout, including the stuffed squash blossoms and beautiful trout dish.

Cocktails are top notch - they have a lengthy menu with various areas of focus like many cocktail bars in Chicago - most cocktails are liquor-heavy, but balanced.

The vibe can range from quiet and intimate to semi-raucous, which will depend entirely on the other diners in the room as one loud table can raise the volume level pretty significantly in the space.

I'd definitely recommend it.