Eating with Boring Friends

Hi, I'm a long time lurker and beneficiary of everyone's excellent advice on this site.

I wonder if you could help me out.

I'm meeting some out-of-towners who are literally passing through.

Are there any good, moderately priced restaurants close to the Sears Tower that serve food that is good but not adventurous in the least--just your standard American fare?

Last time they were here I took them to Iberico which was a major failure in judgment on my part...they liked the sangria, and that's it.

Needless to say, people like this drive me crazy around mealtimes.

Welcome Sarah,

I often find myself in the same position: Having to feed relatives or friends who are extremely picky. (Usually older relatives).

I always consider this situation a bit of a challenge. I try and find a place where they will find something standard to soothe them, but with a menu broad enough to allow for a little "horizon broadening", if the mood strikes.

Fortunately, not too far from the Sears Tower is a Chicago classic: The Berghoff. There are plenty of safe steak and seafood options for your friends, along with quite a few of their more interesting German specialties (schnitzels, sausages, etc.).

The price is moderate and the atmosphere is good. Your friends should be able to enjoy themselves and you probably won't find the place too boring.

The Berghoff
17 W Adams, Chicago
(312) 427-3170
Menu online at http://www.berghoff.com/

Best,
EC

Is this for lunch or dinner? Greektown is not too far from the Sears Tower. The restaurants there typically offer solid, if not spectacular, food for a decent price, and I can't imagine Greek being too adventurous for anybody unless they get too close some flaming cheese.

Also, Printer's Row is not too far away. There are a number of decent options there including Eduardo's, Hackney's and Trattoria Caterina that offer good, unadventurous food.

I had the same thought in the past - Greek, as presented in Chicago that is, isn't that "odd." People can always get fish or roast chicken. So went my very reasonable selection process when choosing places to take my parents, the epitome of unadventurous eaters. I was mistaken. Their assessment went something like: "well, it was certainly different." Different, by the way, is their euphemism for "we would rather gag on our own tongues than eat that again." In their presence, I refer to it as "the D word" since it is a curse above all others.

Steakhouses and Red Sauce Italian places seem to be the safest bets. I've also found the preference for simplicity and generous portions correlates with unadventurous eating.

rien

Yeah, and they may get freaked out by all that cheese bursting into flames all around them if you take them to Greektown.

The Berghoff is pleasant enough (if we're talking about dinner, rather than lunch, which can get crowded), and it's worked for me in similar situations a couple of times. Stick to the simple German fare (the wursts, in particular) and avoid the more elaborate dishes and especially anything that reeks of the nouveau. Their German potato salad and creamed spinach are dependable sides.

Another alternative, a little bit further up on Wabash would be Miller's Pub
(134 S. Wabash Ave). This is the kind of typical moderately priced ribs, hamburger, and steak joint that used to be in every Chicago neighborhood, but there are now surprisingly few of them left and it therefore provides an extra bonus for those wishing to pay a visit to those boring days of midcentury modern .

The Berghoff is definitely a good suggestion.

You can also try Elephant & Castle on Adams near Clark. It's a corporate chain English-style pub. The food's not bad and they have a wide variety of good beers.

There's also Italian Village on Monroe between State and Dearborn. It can be hit or miss, but it's definitely the kind of place i'd take boring diners.

I'll second both Italian Village and Miller's Pub as great choices for the unadventurous eater. Both have have kitchsy Chicago ambience taboot. Miller's pub feels like its been there for ages.

If one can travel as far as Iberico from Sears Tower, that sort of implies all of Randolph Street is fair game, and once one has a car there is Taylor Street and who knows what.

Trattoria #10, 10 North Dearborn used to get lots of good write-ups before the dawn of time (or at least before LTH Forum) and should be sufficiently non-threatening Italian.

Wishbone, 1001 W Washington does southern-style comfort food in a diner-like setting quite well.

And Ina's, 1235 W Randolph is another American comfort-food style place that I have heard good things about and never quite tried myself.

So seriously, tell us what kind of food you would like, and there probably is something darned good within a couple of miles.

BTW, I agree that Chicago Greek, as non-challenging as it may seem to us, would be terribly alien to my farm in-laws, for instance.

Boston Blackie's is another safe choice. Also, I believe there's a Pazzo's in the 311 S Wacker building. For nicer atmosphere, there's 1 North Kitchen and Bar at 1 N Wacker.

I agree that they might find Greektown too exotic (we went for a company lunch and one person refused to go), although they might like Artopolis.