Need restaurant inspiration for tonight

Just got a call from a friend, who's in town tonight and wants to get together for dinner. She's at the Renaissance Hotel (State & Wabash) and I'm in Lakeview. Her requests: casual, not Mexican or anything Asian. My initial idea was to go to Deleece--casual, but great food. But...I'm not thrilled about the idea of going making two roundtrips between Lakeview and the Loop to pick her up and drop her off. (She's driven me lots of places when I've visited her, so I don't want to ask her to take a cab.)

Any great ideas for places within a 5 minute drive of the Renaissance that fit her criteria (and mine, which is great food)? My first thought was Bin 36 or Cru, but I think both are probably a bit dressier than she's looking for.

chgoeditor wrote:Just got a call from a friend, who's in town tonight and wants to get together for dinner. She's at the Renaissance Hotel (State & Wabash) and I'm in Lakeview. Her requests: casual, not Mexican or anything Asian. My initial idea was to go to Deleece--casual, but great food. But...I'm not thrilled about the idea of going making two roundtrips between Lakeview and the Loop to pick her up and drop her off. (She's driven me lots of places when I've visited her, so I don't want to ask her to take a cab.)

Any great ideas for places within a 5 minute drive of the Renaissance that fit her criteria (and mine, which is great food)? My first thought was Bin 36 or Cru, but I think both are probably a bit dressier than she's looking for.

The Gage? What about stuff further down Michigan ave?

Gage came to mind, but doesn't have reservations when we're looking for them.

Thinking about Tizi Melloul. I haven't been there in years, and know that the food isn't 5-star, but I think she'd like the atmosphere. Otherwise, maybe Avec. (It's debatable about whether it could be called casual, but the food's great!)

A Mano...just downstairs from Bin 36.

ETA - Your idea of Avec is also a winner.

I'd forgotten about A Mano (haven't eaten there yet, but have wanted to). Great idea...thanks!

Ah yes, it's St. Patrick's Day.

I really like 312 Chicago if you're sitting at the chef's table, which is almost never taken

A ways down MI you could go to cafe spiaggia

She actually joked about corn beef and cabbage, though I don't think she was serious. But it did occur to me that Deleece is the kind of place that might actually have a St. Pat's inspired dish on the specials menu. However, that's certainly not a requirement! Right now I'm leaning toward A Mano or Avec (or I'm leaning toward them until I hear an even better suggestion *grin*).

In scouting A Mano for a group dinner next month, a coworker and I stopped in last week. We only had some wine and an order of polenta fries, but really liked the polenta fries. I liked the feel of the space, both in the lounge area, at the bar and in the main dining room. I think A Mano fits the bill perfectly!

Thanks for the suggestions, all!

We ended up at A Mano, which solid, with some dishes better than others. It compares similarly to Avec, though I think Avec's dishes are better.

We had the Bin 36 Merlot. I'd recently read an article about restaurants that are upscaling the house pours, and working with top-notch vineyards to produce a custom-blended house wine. Bin 36 was mentioned, so when we spotted it on the menu, we decided to give it a try. Terrific wine (1/2 carafe for about $16), though it didn't pair perfectly with some of our dishes (like the garlicy clam pizza).

One note: This can be a loud restaurant, even when it's not very crowded.

Edited to add: I just took a look at their website. Although the restaurant has been opened only 6 months, the menu posted online is out of date. (The homepage, however, lists an event happening tonight, so parts of the site have been updated.) I noticed that the antipasti & salumi is listed on the site as $4 each, 3 for $12 or 6 for $22. Actual prices were $5, 3 for $15 or 6 for $26. At least 3 of the dishes we had aren't included on the menu, or have been modified from the website menu.