Loop/River North/Downtown dinner recs...

First off, I'm new here. Moved to Chicago two months ago from Portland, Oregon. So- hey, hello, nice to meet you.

My mom and stepfather are coming to visit this weekend and we're looking for somewhere to have dinner Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. They're dyed-in-the-wool NW'ers so they don't want to have to dress up too much... They're also not the most adventurous eaters, but they're not too shy either. If anyone's familiar with Portland, Giorgio's in the Pearl is a favorite, as are clarklewis, Nostrana, and Jake's.

So, where should I take 'em? I'm thinking Avec one night, but then...? Ethnic places are good too, especially Indian and Thai (I think Devon may be a bit too far for them, but we'll see).

Thanks!!

Not having to dress up too much isn't a problem. You can get by with "business casual" (non-blue-jeans slacks, shirt with collar, etc) just about anywhere except fewer than a dozen of the fanciest, most expensive places.

You might want to avoid Avec at prime times, like Saturday night, due to their no-reservations policy. (And I don't know about your parents, but mine wouldn't really appreciate the communal seating, either.) I would recommend Blackbird, next door and co-owned, but I just called them last night and they didn't have anything open for Saturday night between 5:00 and 9:30. Wherever you decide for Saturday night, you should really make a reservation.

For a nice meal, I'm particularly fond of North Pond. The food is wonderful (contemporary American, fresh and local ingredients where possible) and the setting in the middle of Lincoln Park (the park, not just the neighborhood), at the end of North Pond with the skyline visible at the opposite end of the pond, is exquisite, day or night. Also open for Sunday brunch.

There are lots of other great places for contemporary American food in and near downtown - one sixtyblue, Aigre Doux, Custom House, Naha, MK, Sweets and Savories, Spring, etc. In addition to these, other excellent mid-priced places in the greater downtown area include Cafe Spiaggia, Coco Pazzo, Vivere, and Trattoria No. 10 for Italian, Bistro 110 for French bistro food, Shaw's, Hugo's, and Fulton's for seafood, and a whole bunch of steakhouses. My favorite of all of these, aside from North Pond, where I just went last weekend, is one sixtyblue; as of last night, they had plenty of availability on opentable.com for this Saturday night. Many of our restaurants accept reservations on opentable.com and it's a handy way to see at a glance which ones have availability at the times you're looking for.

For another meal, but less expensive, I would take them to a place for authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Take your pick - double-crust "stuffed" pizza from Giordano's, Edwardo's, or Bacino's, or single-crust "pan" pizza from Lou Malnati's, Pizano's, Gino's East, or the original location of Uno's - you can't go wrong with any of these. You can phone your order ahead of time if you want to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for your pizza to bake; you can find their menus on their websites.

Chinatown is very close to Downtown/Rivernorth and is only a short El trip/cab ride away. There are several GNR award winners in Chinatown and people here have their favorites which include Lao Sze Chaun (Szechuan) and "Little" Three Happiness (Cantonese). Check out the great neighborhood restaurant award winner threads for info on these restaurants. I also like the Phoenix on Archer Ave in Chinatown for Dim Sum on a weekend morning afterwhich you can stroll around chinatown and poke your head into some of the shops which are always full of interesting things.

If you like Mexican you can head to Nuevo Leon in Pilsen, another GNR winner, also not to far of a ride in a cab from downtown.

Have fun

Custom House might be a good compromise place. A meat-heavy menu, but still fine dining.

I recently had amazing meals at Blackbird and Custom House and would highly recommend either, but I think if you weren't dressed up, you might feel out of place. Custom House is pretty elegant fine dining and Blackbird is quite sexy-trendy-nightclubby. I haven't been to Avec, but I understand it's the more casual sibling to Blackbird - so that would be my recommendation.

Thanks everyone. I think Avec might be out considering the whole communal dining thing. I don't mind, but the folks wouldn't be too into it.

Any particularly good lunch spots down there or in the Wicker Park/UK Village vicinity?

sarcon wrote:I recently had amazing meals at Blackbird and Custom House and would highly recommend either, but I think if you weren't dressed up, you might feel out of place.

I think that depends on your definition of "dressed up". As I mentioned above, neither jackets or ties would be needed for gentlemen at either place. But if your definition of "dressed up" includes business casual attire (e.g. gentlemen in "dockers" type pants and shirt with collar), then yes, that would be appropriate (i.e. not ragged jeans and t-shirts).

JoeDixon wrote:Any particularly good lunch spots down there or in the Wicker Park/UK Village vicinity?

It depends on what you're looking for, for lunch; you can get anything from cheap eats to fine dining. For example, the deep-dish pizza places are all open for lunch, seven days a week. Most, but not all, of the other places I previously mentioned, which I consider "casual fine dining", are open for lunch or for Sunday brunch. Realize, though, that you are talking about Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; few places are open for lunch on Saturdays, many places serve brunch on Sundays, and some are open for lunch on weekdays but may be closed on Mondays. You can find hours for any of them on their websites (just click on the links in my previous post).

If I were to come up with an ideal itinerary for visiting parents, it might look something like this:

Saturday dinner at one sixtyblue
Sunday brunch at North Pond
Sunday light dinner near their hotel
Monday lunch or dinner at Giordano's or Lou Malnati's

or like this:

Saturday dinner at North Pond
Sunday brunch at Orange on Harrison or Bongo Room
Sunday dinner at Giordano's or Lou Malnati's
Monday lunch at Custom House

For more ethnic flavor, replace one of the lunches with Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown.

I don't think there are many big fans of Irazu (Costa Rican) around here, but I like the food a lot, and the oatmeal shakes are really, really yummy.

Irazu
1865 N Milwaukee
Chicago IL
(773) 252-5687


Monday - Saturday 11am—9pm
Closed on Sunday

nsxtasy wrote:If I were to come up with an ideal itinerary for visiting parents, it might look something like this:

Oh man, I do this all the time. Twice a year both my parents and grandparents come in for the weekend. So, talk about having to cater to tastes...

They were just in this past weekend. We did:

Friday night dinner - Pane Caldo (great food, insanely bad wine service)
Saturday lunch/brunch - Frances'
Saturday night dinner - Sweets and Savories
Sunday brunch - Four Seasons (a spectacular brunch btw, even better than when the Ritz Carlton brunch was in the Dining Room)

I originally wanted to do North Pond on Friday night, but we were going to be a party of 7. Apparently if you're more than six you must choose a set menu in advance. Not only would this have been difficult, but the idea really put me off, so we went to Pane Caldo instead.

Other family dinners we've done:
Tru, Everest, Spiaggia, Avenues, Alinea, Custom House, Sappori, Coco Pazzo, Naha

Lunch/brunches:
Tempo, Ritz Carlton Cafe, Frances'

sweetsalty wrote:I don't think there are many big fans of Irazu (Costa Rican) around here, but I like the food a lot, and the oatmeal shakes are really, really yummy.

I love love love Irazu! I love their pepito sandwich, potato tacos, and shakes. They get some love in this thread among some others here and there. I do believe that their burrito is a favorite among some of the regulars in this burrito thread.

jesteinf wrote:Sunday brunch - Four Seasons (a spectacular brunch btw, even better than when the Ritz Carlton brunch was in the Dining Room)

I've had the Sunday brunch at Seasons a year or two ago, when the Dining Room was still open at the Ritz, and it was spectacular even then. It's a buffet-style brunch with gourmet-caliber savory dishes, along with the more conventional breakfast type dishes. Not inexpensive, though. And it will fill you up, so don't plan on a big dinner later that day.

I haven't been to the Sunday brunch at NoMI, but based on the price, I would expect it to be similar.

jesteinf wrote:Other family dinners we've done:
Tru, Everest, Spiaggia, Avenues, Alinea

Maybe your family would like to adopt me?

The brunch at NoMi is a bit more scaled back than either Seasons or what was the Ritz brunch. It's a small (but very nice) buffet with a handful of menu items you can also order. The price is also a bit more reasonable. At $50 per person I think it's actually a very good deal given the quality of what you can get.

I took a quick look at the restaurants you mentioned in Portland, and based on that either Cafe Spiaggia Cafe or Coco Pazzo might be good choices. Both are excellent Italian restaurants. Cafe Spiaggia is smaller and shares the kitchen (but not menu) with the much more formal Spiaggia. Coco Pazzo is in a big open Timber loft in River North.

If you want something that they can't get in Portland, you might consider Frontera Grill. Honestly, you can get food as good or better than Frontera at several less expensive places if you are willing to drive a bit (Sol de Mexico, Xni Pec, etc) but Frontera is right in river north and is a little more upscale in feel. Only downside is the reservation policy - reservations only for parties of 5 or more, although if you call early (8-9am) on the same day, they will make a limited number of reservations for smaller groups. Salpicon is another good option that I prefer to Frontera and has a normal reservation policy.

Another interesting option would be Le Colonial - French Vietmanese in a very space designed in a French Colonial theme. Or the newly opened Old Town Brasserie serves excellent French Bistro specialties (as do Brasserie Jo and La Sardine)

You might also consider Santorini in Greektown. Not quite as refined as some of the others, but its very good Greek food in a lively atmosphere and focuses on Fish dishes in addition to the standard dolmas/lamb/Soufflaki/etc that you might expect from a Greek restaurant.

Someone also mentioned North Pond which I have not been to but sounds like an excellent choice as well. Its been on my to-do list for months now and I never make it over.

Since we're talking about Sunday brunches, it's worth noting that there are three different kinds. (I'm sure we can come up with many, many more, but I'm trying to simplify here.)

1. Huge buffet brunches - these are common among the hotel restaurants downtown, including Seasons, NoMI, and the Ritz (which still serves its brunch, but now in the Cafe, I believe). Very expensive ($40-60), all you can eat.

2. A la carte brunches - these are brunches where you order items from a special menu for Sunday brunch. They are common among lots of other restaurants, including North Pond, Bistro 110, and Sweets and Savories.

3. Breakfast places - Chicago has a bunch of restaurants that specialize in breakfast, usually seven days a week. They serve from an a la carte menu. These include Bongo Room, Kitsch'n, Orange (on Harrison and on the North Side), Wishbone, Flo, M. Henry, Lou Mitchell's, and Original Pancake House. Beware, most of these places don't take reservations, and on weekends long waits are common.

JoeDixon wrote:I think Avec might be out considering the whole communal dining thing

What does this entail?
Like Benihana, where they put
random people at a table until
it's full? There's nothing on their
website about it.

The decor of the place looks like
a f'n Sauna! Do you have to
change into a towel? If so, I
hope the staff wears full-body
hairnets.

SCUBAchef wrote:What does this entail? Like Benihana, where they put random people at a table until it's full?

Yes. They have long tables, and depending on how many people you have, your group may be sitting alongside people you don't know. It can be a lot of fun. It can also be a nightmare.

SCUBAchef wrote:

JoeDixon wrote:I think Avec might be out considering the whole communal dining thing

What does this entail?
Like Benihana, where they put
random people at a table until
it's full? There's nothing on their
website about it.

The decor of the place looks like
a f'n Sauna! Do you have to
change into a towel? If so, I
hope the staff wears full-body
hairnets.

Basically the restaurant is made of of 4-tops and 6-tops down one side of the restaurant and a bar on the other. Seating is done "Tetris"-style. If you're a party of 2, you might be seated at an empty table where you might be joined by others later or you could be seated at the last 2 seat of a table that already has a party of 4 sitting there (i.e., they don't wait for a "full table" to be in place before seating you).

I don't know, the setup has never really bothered me. In fact, I'll be going in for dinner tonight before the Bulls game (even on a Friday, if you get there before 6 you most likely will not have to wait for a table).

nsxtasy wrote:

SCUBAchef wrote:What does this entail? Like Benihana, where they put random people at a table until it's full?

Yes. They have long tables, and your group will be sitting alongside people you don't know. It can be a lot of fun. It can also be a nightmare.

There are smaller tables. I'm not sure what you mean by "a nightmare". I've never had a bad experience there.

jesteinf wrote:There are smaller tables. I'm not sure what you mean by "a nightmare". I've never had a bad experience there.

Nothing within the control of the restaurant. Just a matter of whom you're seated with and what they happen to be talking about...

jesteinf wrote: I'm not sure what you mean by "a nightmare". I've never had a bad experience there.

It's very personality dependent. I generally don't like to talk with "strangers" who are seated at my table. 7 times out of 10 the strangers don't talk to me and my dining companion.

2 times out of ten the strangers keep to themselves but occasionally talk to me. That's fine with me. No big deal. It certainly doesn't affect my enjoyment of the evening.

But one time out of 10 the strangers at the table act as if we're all part of the same group and don't let you have any time alone with your dining companion. I don't like this and it can be awkward to say "leave me alone!".

Naturally, some people are ok with this and like to share their dinner with others who happen to be seated with them.

Not everything meets your criterion, but there have been other, similar queries here:

60th Birthday Celebration[url=http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=15665]
Help...In need of a really good restaurant suggestion![/url]
Suggestions for a foodie bunch and aging parents
My parents are in town this weekend...

As always, any good place to start is the GNR list and map

nsxtasy wrote:There are lots of other great places for contemporary American food in and near downtown - one sixtyblue, Aigre Doux, Custom House, Naha, MK, Sweets and Savories, Spring, etc. In addition to these, other excellent mid-priced places in the greater downtown area include Cafe Spiaggia, Coco Pazzo, Vivere, and Trattoria No. 10 for Italian, Bistro 110 for French bistro food, Shaw's, Hugo's, and Fulton's for seafood, and a whole bunch of steakhouses.

Joe -

I moved to Portland, OR three years ago after spending eight years in Chicago. I strongly agree with the list above and think a lot of these places will mirror what you're used to here (by that I mean style, not necessarily one-to-one menu items).

Favorites of mine on the list above are: one sixtyblue, Naha, MK, Spring, Cafe Spiaggia (even though I have a political issue with Levy, I'll let it go), Coco Pazzo & Trattoria 10. Trattoria 10 is great for a business lunch.

Bistro 110 is not one of my favorites, (once again, I have issues...) but everyone I've taken there has loved it. Matter-of-fact, knowing what your parents like here in PDX, this might actually be one of your best bets.

Cat