The Big Downtown restaurant in the Palmer House

Has anyone been to The Big Downtown restaurant in the Palmer House on State St.? What's it like?

well it's like Bennigan's only way more expensive, but then
your downtown. menue appeared to be a lot broader. used
to have live R & B on wensday nite (?) phone first


dashboard diner
"come as you are, you can eat in your car"

I ate at the Big Downtown about six months ago. As another poster noted, it's like a Bennigan's, only more expensive. Think sports bar grub. Food was adequate but nothing particularly special.

Lillafury

HI,

An event I was involved in was canceled tonight due to weather. INstead I am taking the train to meet my guest speaker at the Palmer House for dinner. Is there a restaurant in the immediate area to have a nice dinner?

I am thinking about the restaurant in the Hotel Burnham might be good. Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

An event I was involved in was canceled tonight due to weather. INstead I am taking the train to meet my guest speaker at the Palmer House for dinner. Is there a restaurant in the immediate area to have a nice dinner?

I am thinking about the restaurant in the Hotel Burnham might be good. Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Rhapsody in Symphony Center can be nice if they're open and, in a completely different style, Miller's Pub right next door to the Palmer House on Wabash. Of course, my first recomendation would have been Trader Vic's (R.I.P.) down in the basement.

Hi,

What do you recommend at Miller's Pub? Is it possible to have a conversation and hear each other? My Dad doesn't always hear well if there is a lot of background noise.

Meanwhile I will call Rhapsody.

Thanks!

Regards,

Russian Tea Time and Rhapsody are a block away from the Palmer House. Both are good. Rhapsody is contemporary American stuff, and Russian Tea Time is pretty obviously eastern European. Reservations would be good at both. I've had brunch and lunch in the Atwood Cafe, which is the place in the Burnhan hotel. It's a four or five block walk. I like the room, and I imagine they'd do a good job at dinner.

Jonah

Cathy,

Victor and I have often found ourselves hungry in this area at night, so here are some thoughts:

Yes, the Atwood Cafe on the first floor of the Hotel Burnham is excellent, though expensive. It is also a very beautiful space (and fun to peek at the gorgeous old elevators on your way in) with great service.

Close by, I'm also fond of Russian Teatime (on Adams, right off Michigan)-- though I know some folks think it's not so great and too expensive, I've always enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

Some people like Rhapsody, a few doors west of Russian Teatime, but I didn't find a reason to go back after the first visit.

Further west on Adams is 17 West (formerly the Berghoff Restaurant). I had lunch there once, and it was just fine. I think they have most of the same things the Berghoff had, with maybe some more typical contemporary bar-restaurant items added.

Also in the area, you could check out Trattoria No. 10 (10 N Dearborn), which has good food and--if you're there between 5 and 8--a nice buffet at the bar for $12.

You could also cab it over to Greektown for 5 bucks or so, and then eat at Venus (the Cypriot place--the lamb in foil is amazing) or Santorini (the best Greek one, I think).

Or, if your speaker is adventurous, you could hop the Red Line (available right on State Street, just outside the hotel) down to Chinatown and take him/her to LTH or another favorite.

Hope this brain dump doesn't come too late to be of use,
Deb


Atwood Cafe
Hotel Burnham
1 W. Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Tel: (312) 368-1900
Fax: (312) 357-2875
http://www.atwoodcafe.com/

Russian Teatime
77 East Adams St.
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312)360-0000
Fax: (312)360-0575
http://www.russianteatime.com/

Rhapsody
65 E Adams
312-786-9911
http://www.rhapsodychicago.com/index.asp

17 West
17 W Adams
312-427-3170
http://www.17westchicago.com/

Trattoria No. 10
10 N Dearborn
312-984-1718
http://www.trattoriaten.com/

Venus Greek-Cypriot Cuisine
820 W. Jackson
Chicago, IL 60607
Tel (312) 714-1001
Fax (312) 575-0549
http://www.venuschicago.com/

Santorini
800 W Adams St
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 829-8820
http://www.santorinichicago.com/

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

What do you recommend at Miller's Pub?

Burgers & such. It's bar food and perhaps better as a watering hole than a restaurant, but the food is more than passable.

stevez wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

What do you recommend at Miller's Pub?

Burgers & such. It's bar food and perhaps better as a watering hole than a restaurant, but the food is more than passable.

For comedy, order the tower of onion rings. I thought we'dd be getting something like the Hackney's onion loaf, but instead we got a preposterously phallic post with o. rings threaded through it.

They're OK onion rings, as far as that goes. A little greasy, IIRC.

stevez wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

What do you recommend at Miller's Pub?

Burgers & such. It's bar food and perhaps better as a watering hole than a restaurant, but the food is more than passable.

I agree(post the recent dust-up w/ *jefe* wherein I also quasi-rec'd Miller's Pub for burgers and specials...but, certainly not a Chicago destination). Rhapsody, I've enjoyed. The Atwood Cafe is sorta near(okay food....assy, attitudinal service on occasion).

I'm sure it's too late to help, Cathy but Pizano's is just a block or so away from the Palmer House!

Best pizza in the loop.....

Shannon

On Madison at Wabash

HI,

Thanks for all the tips. Proximity was quite important due to weather, which really was lousy. We ended up at Rhapsody, which less than a block from the Palmer House, which suited our guest (with no winter boots) wonderfully.

My guest and I had the Ceasar Salad, which was not shy of anchovies. Those critters were in the dressing as well as small white filets arranged on our salad. There were two long croutons that you could either break with your fork and mix into the salad or eat it separately with your salad.

My main course was a seafood risotto, which was strong in lemony accents. I still felt it needed a bit of salt, which was available only upon request. These were tiny salt and pepper dispensers, which seemed easy to pilfer. They probably should switch to something more conspicuous and leave them on the table. My guest ordered a double order of braised beef ribs from the appetizer menu, which looked pretty good.

Initially I had no intentions to get dessert because nothing seemed very appealing or triggered a must-have reaction. My guest ordered a glass of skim milk, then made some passing remark about cookies. There were cookies on the menu, though stated as selection of the day. We had the waiter give us the rundown, then selected a cookie per person with one left over. I ordered for myself a poppy seed cookie with a raspberry jam center, which reminded me of Christmas cookies. My guest had two double-chocolate chip cookies, another had an apricot bar and the last I simply don't recall.

When we arrived, they were still at the height of serving the pre-concert crowd. Once they cleared out, then you felt Rhapsody was there to only serve you.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.