Cocktails with a view?

I'm looking for a downtown restaurant for a ladies night out (not a girls gone wild night out, but we do like our fancy cocktails in moderation) that has the following:

Outdoor seating with a good view or maybe along the river

Unique or extensive cocktail menu

Dinner service with good food (duh.)

When we go out we usually spend ~ $100-$150 per person.

I was considering Sepia which has a fantastic looking libation menu, but I'll save that for a date in the fall or winter when we won't be able to take advantage of outdoor seating.

Thanks!

Assuming $100-150 isn't just your cocktail budget, NoMI has a fantastic outdoors space just off the Mag Mile, seven (?) floors up. Nice view.

NoMI
PARK HYATT CHICAGO, SEVENTH FLOOR
800 NORTH MICHIGAN AVENUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60611
312 239 4030 T

I second NoMI -- excellent cocktails and as mentioned, excellent outdoor patio.

You might want to check out this article, too, from Time Out.

Excellent suggestions and thanks for the link to the Time Out article - I let my subscription lapse so I missed it. I think either NoMI or Zed451 should do the trick! And no, it's been quite some time since we spent $100-$150 on cocktails alone - that would have been back in the Trader Vic days which did tend to lean towards the girls gone wild - we're older and get worse hangovers now, so a few foo-foo drinks followed by a nice dinner is usually the game plan (although when/if Trader Vic's reopens all bets are off!).

Speaking of which (if I can hijack my own thread) - has anyone heard anything else about the re-opening of Trader Vic's? I just googled it and the official TV's website says that Chicago is 'coming soon!' but nothing else, and I also found a march 2008 Chicagoist.com post about the new location 1030 at N. State, but nothing more recent than that. I'd be interested to know if the location looks like it's under construction.

I would also recommend Japonais. It is along the river and really nice.

NoMI is excellent in every way, including the food as well as the view. In addition to the outdoor seating, the indoor dining room has huge windows looking out onto Michigan Avenue.

A couple blocks from NoMI, another place for cocktails with a view is the Signature Room on the 95th Floor of the John Hancock Building. Have a drink there, then eat elsewhere.

Another one of our top restaurants with a great view is Everest, which is on the 40th Floor of the Midwest Stock Exchange Building, looking out on the city. Unlike the other restaurants mentioned here, it is dressy (i.e. jackets required for gentlemen). The food is French-Alsatian and is fantastic. They also have a huge wine list (1700+ wines).

And, one more place with a view is North Pond, which is located about three miles north of downtown in Lincoln Park (in the middle of the park, not just the neighborhood of the same name). The restaurant faces its namesake pond, with the city skyline looming over the opposite shore. This is the renovated building that was once the warming shelter for ice skaters on the pond. There is one small dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the pond. The inner, larger dining room doesn't have a view of the pond, although it's nice to watch the folks in the open kitchen along one side of that room. The food from James Beard Award nominated Chef Bruce Sherman features local and seasonal ingredients and is excellent.

Because the Signature Room and Everest are in high rises, neither has outdoor seating. I'm not sure whether or not North Pond does. (I didn't see any when I was there in October, but in October, you don't see any outdoor seating anywhere.) Perhaps those floor-to-ceiling window panels can be opened... anybody know?

All three of these - NoMI, Everest, and North Pond - are among our very best restaurants. NoMI and Everest may stretch that $100-150 budget, depending in part on your alcohol consumption, unless you go early for Everest's pre-theater special (3 courses for $50 at 5:00/5:30 every night they're open except Fridays). North Pond should be towards the low end that $100-150 range.

There is also an outdoor space above the Conrad Hotel. I think the entrance is on Grand near Rush. Or you can access the hotel from just outside the interior entrance to Nordstrom's. Not as “up scale” as Nomi, but nice nonetheless.