St. Pattys day place for visting in-laws, loop / near north

Hey all,

In laws are in town on St Patty's day

They aren't exactly the type to drink green beer until they pass out (as I may be inclined), but want to see the river dyed green and the parade etc. etc. etc.

I am looking for suggestions for a good place in or adround the loop or near north that we can go for afternoon beer and lunch that won't be totally overrun by crazy kids vomiting all over themselves (i.e. Wrigleyville.)

Thoughts? I would imagine anything on Rush St. is out of the question?

TIA

Gage?
http://www.thegagechicago.com
I always like to take tourists to the Signature Room for cocktails, cheesy but awesome. Always a better alternative IMHO to paying to get to the Sears or Hancock observation decks...
http://www.signatureroom.com

oh..i think the Gage will be completely impossible to sit down in. It's owned by Irish folks...and for that matter, I think every pub in the Loop will be very crowded -- although you may be able to get a reservation there.

You might want to steer clear of the Irish theme and stick to a river theme -- where they can get a good gander at the green water. Maybe Smith & Wollensky or any of the places that line the river, perhaps Fulton's on the River -- i hear that the Erie Cafe has a good view of the river --maybe something like that would work.

s

Downtown is a Zoo. A couple of years ago St Pat's fell on a Sunday. On our walk across the River to the Civic Opera House to see Die Zauberflöte, a beer bottle was observed flying across Madison St along with throngs of drunk revelers.
The saving grace was that the Lyric Orchestra broke into a flute arrangement of 'Danny Boy' during the performance. Try Chief Oneill's on Elston, there is lots of room and they seem to have better control.-Dick

I'm looking forward to working in the loop on Monday

anyone know what time they dye the river?

[url=http://www.saintpatricksdayparade.com/chicago/index.htm]Dyeing the Chicago River 10:45am: Saturday March 15th
This is scheduled for 10:45, Saturday March 15th and can be best viewed from the upper level bridges at Michigan Ave or Columbus Drive.[/url]