Need Rec's: Good People Watching Downtown

OK, I need some help here. Two of my wife's friends are coming into town next weekend. They are staying in the River North area. My problem is that they want to eat at some "hip" places with "good people watching." Now neither my wife nor I are hip so we have no clue where to take them. Anyone got any suggestions? Good food and service would be a plus. Not super pricey or impossible to get into would be good too.

Much obliged for any assistance.

Hub 51 is the first thing that comes to mind .....

Japonais might fit the bill. Maybe Sushi Samba Rio? Also, if the rooftop patio is open at Zed451, I hear that's one of the cool places to be.

I hate just about every place in the Rush & Division area, but I go sometimes anyway to watch the gorgeous young women and the mazeratti-driving, rich older men who pick them up at the bars. Tavern on Rush and Gibsons are the archetypes. Both are expensive, with crappy food. Hey, you can't have everything.

What about Mercat a la Planxa?

Hellodali wrote:What about Mercat a la Planxa?

I was thinking the exact same thing. Or Avec? I've never been to either. These will be "ladies only" events. I've come to the realization that ultra-hip pretty much implies expensive.

thanks for all the suggestions and keep them coming.

MADO is the it restaurant right now in that area. You might even see Billy Corgan sitting at a table.

peaches wrote:MADO is the it restaurant right now in that area. You might even see Billy Corgan sitting at a table.

ha ha ha. i doubt they would even know who he is.

Hugo's Frog Bar was an entertaining people-watching experience on my first visit to Chicago. I had one of the outside tables though, which may not work for you because of the weather, but from it I could watch the already-mentioned rich old farts picking up sleazy-looking girls across the street. The food wasn't horrendous.

Depending on where they are staying, I'd also recommend Rockit Bar and Grill on Hubbard. Decent fancy bar food with enormous portions (not necessarily a good thing) with a very hip vibe.

Kennyz wrote: Tavern on Rush and Gibsons are the archetypes. Both are expensive, with crappy food. Hey, you can't have everything.

I'm no apologist for these places, but your comment about Gibson's seems like hyperbole at best. Much better steak around town, for sure. However, Gibson's and the adjoining Hugo's do some things quite well, particularly with seafood in my experience. I had a kitchen tour once and was surprised/impressed to see the spotless room where the house fish guys break down whole, never frozen halibut, salmon, grouper, whatever daily. Same deal with the meat and veg prep stations. Veggies start with washing the mud off, not with a bag of frozen stuff. I half expected a high-end version of a Grizzlebee's set up. Not so. They take the product very seriously from what I can tell. Not a lot of Sysco around the kitchen.

Say what you want about the cattle call, Viagra, the dumb spiel with the raw meat, the silly giant desserts, I always manage to eat well by looking for some quirks on the menus (one can order from either or both in both restaurants): chopped liver (Gibsons menu) among the best in Chicago and anywhere, lake/yellow perch fry (Hugo's), avocado with king crab appetizer (Gibson's), soups, and a couple of other things are really quite good. Maybe this is damnation by faint praise, since I've essentailly abandoned red meat at Gibson's. However, once you are dragged in there for business dinners often enough, it turns out that certain not-steak items satisfy due to top notch ingredients and simple, competent cooking.

I agree with you there, Jeff. Add the fried chicken (if available) to that list of things prepared very well and worth ordering.

Gage (across the street from Millennium Park) is a good place to people watch if the weather is nice. Otherwise the place is generally crawling with people worth gawking at after work hours.

I haven't looked to see how well or poorly the place has been reviewed in these or other pages. For what it's worth, I've eaten lunch there twice, dinner once, and had drinks with apps. three or four times. None of the entrees I ate stand out in my mind(although they were good), but I do remember the fries being excellent and the fried chicken livers being exceptional (not something you usually see at a restaurant, let alone a trendy one).

Here's the website:
http://www.thegagechicago.com/

JeffB wrote:

Kennyz wrote: Tavern on Rush and Gibsons are the archetypes. Both are expensive, with crappy food. Hey, you can't have everything.

I'm no apologist for these places, but your comment about Gibson's seems like hyperbole at best. Much better steak around town, for sure. However, Gibson's and the adjoining Hugo's do some things quite well, particularly with seafood in my experience. I had a kitchen tour once and was surprised/impressed to see the spotless room where the house fish guys break down whole, never frozen halibut, salmon, grouper, whatever daily. Same deal with the meat and veg prep stations. Veggies start with washing the mud off, not with a bag of frozen stuff. I half expected a high-end version of a Grizzlebee's set up. Not so. They take the product very seriously from what I can tell. Not a lot of Sysco around the kitchen.

Say what you want about the cattle call, Viagra, the dumb spiel with the raw meat, the silly giant desserts, I always manage to eat well by looking for some quirks on the menus (one can order from either or both in both restaurants): chopped liver (Gibsons menu) among the best in Chicago and anywhere, lake/yellow perch fry (Hugo's), avocado with king crab appetizer (Gibson's), soups, and a couple of other things are really quite good. Maybe this is damnation by faint praise, since I've essentailly abandoned red meat at Gibson's. However, once you are dragged in there for business dinners often enough, it turns out that certain not-steak items satisfy due to top notch ingredients and simple, competent cooking.

not mere hyperbole, though I have limited my main-course ordering at Gibson's to steak (since that's what they're supposed to be known for), and have been sorely disappointed twice. I have also found the servers clueless and unhelpful, the wine list exorbitant and pedestrian, and the caesar salad dressing made a mockery of what the real thing is supposed to taste like. I'll be back to in the future for sure for a drink and some people-watching in the bar. If someone happens to put a gun to my head and force me to sit down for a meal, I'll be sure to order chopped liver* or a piece of Hugo's fish next time.

I have nothing against the Gibson's restaurant conglomerate, and I've posted positive comments about Quartino** and Lux Bar on the forum. Both are much better choices, imo.


*I've never noticed this, and can't find it on the Gibson's website menu. Is it part of some other dish? Maybe served on the side of the 14 dollar piece of carrot cake?

**any place that obsessed with searching the depths of Gotham to find enough NYC subway tile for the entire entryway wall and much of the rest of the restaurant scores big points in my book. When the restaurant in the Plaza hotel closed, Quartino practically cleaned out their stash.

Distressed to see the chopped liver is not on the current menu, but I'd bet they have it as a "secret" item for the regulars.

Looking at the Hugo's menu, I'm impressed that among the small number of well-selected fish (except for tilapia(!)) are the entire trinity of Great Lakes fish - Yellow Perch, Pike and Whitefish. Hugo's a Localvore? I like it.

peaches wrote:MADO is the it restaurant right now in that area. You might even see Billy Corgan sitting at a table.

Not downtown, not River North.

Good chow though.

If they want "hip" and "good people watching" - can we assume they want to look at hipsters? Or are they looking for beautiful people at a new and hot restaurant?

leek wrote:If they want "hip" and "good people watching" - can we assume they want to look at hipsters? Or are they looking for beautiful people at a new and hot restaurant?

um....i'm not sure exactly how to answer that. i think they want to be surrounded by the "it" crowd. whatever that is. i find the whole thing absurd and i intentionally avoid such places.

these women are late 30s, once professional, now stay-at home moms, looking to turn back the clock and forget about changing diapers for a few days.

Ok, just to give this thread a resolution....they went to Mercat a la Planxa on Friday night and my wife said the crowd there was "suitably annoying." There was even a guy in her sight-line wearing very fashionable low-rise jeans exposing his butt crack to her. Now I know what to look for when shopping for a pair of jeans that won't get me thrown out of fancy restaurants. She reported the food was OK, but not as good as the decidely unhip Emilio's in Hillside.

Essentially having given up on trying to find another trendy place to go she took the crew to Spiaggia Cafe. Luckily the crowd there was not too nerdy and the girls did not complain. My wife reported to food to be absolutely outstanding and the service to be impeccable. She kept rambling on about octopus, wild boar sauce, and chocalate panna cotta something or other.

Thanks for all your advice, I investigated all the ideas.