Low-Class Diners Seek Rec for Fancy Eats

We were thinking of going out to a nice restaurant since we most likely won't be doing such a thing again for a while. However: we are both neighborhood dive types and have NO IDEA where to go. Someplace in between Red Lobster and Tru, pricewise, would be good though. Preferably someplace that won't be a month's wait for a reservation, given out time constraints. Cuisine and location in city totally open.

If you're in Rogers Park, you're not far from Pensiero, where LTH's Jazzfood is currently manning the kitchen. If you tell him you're a long-time LTHer, you might get a bit extra truffle on your tagliatelle. Thread here.

1) Use OpenTable to find a place that is open when you want to go.

2) Go to Mado. Bring a couple of nice bottles.

Bonsoiree, Sweets and Savories, you can spend your money on nice food, and BYOB. These are neighborhood feel type places. Or do you want a fancy interior and don't care about food price?

I second Mado or Sweets & Savories. Mado will fit the bill if you're in the mood for the farm-to-table thing, and Sweets & Savories will give you an intimate, low-key, neighborhood fine-dining vibe. Both are BYOB, both have friendly & professional staff, and both are top dog in their respective categories.

nicinchic wrote:Bonsoiree, Sweets and Savories, you can spend your money on nice food, and BYOB. These are neighborhood feel type places. Or do you want a fancy interior and don't care about food price?

Well, a slightly nicer kind of "feel" would be a big plus, but we don't really care about fanciness per se. The BYOB thing doesn't factor into this decision because my OB would probably frown on my tippling

I was just looking at Zagat's list of "Top gourmet dining places in Chicago" and was interested to see that all but three are in the suburbs.

You said "in city," so I assume you've ruled the suburbs out. You've also ruled out their no. 1 choice, Alinea, due to pricing. That leaves Les Nomades and Topolobampo.

Les Nomades
222 East Ontario Street
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 649-9010

Topolobampo
445 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 661-1434

We haven't ruled the suburbs out, although I don't see us travelling to, say, Buffalo Grove. We are actually much closer to Evanston or Skokie or such than we are to downtown, anyway.

I'd suggest Vie, truly awesome... but if you're in Rogers Park, that's a nasty travel to Western Springs.

JoelF wrote:I'd suggest Vie, truly awesome... but if you're in Rogers Park, that's a nasty travel to Western Springs.

If you like Vie, you'll love Michael, in Winnetka, several towns north of Rogers Park. If you want to keep it closer, in addition to the previously mentioned Pensiero, Evanston has several more terrific restaurants where you don't have to spend a fortune: Oceanique, which specializes in seafood (although their soups, sauces, and desserts are all killer); Chef's Station, which has contemporary American cuisine with a whimsical touch; Campagnola, a moderately-priced Italian bistro; and Bistro Bordeaux, a moderately-priced French bistro.

We are similarly not people who do much fine dining, but we had a really memorable dinner at Oceanique awhile back, six months or so. We felt very pampered but not fussed over, which would have been annoying, and the food was really terrific.

We ate at Chef Station a couple of years ago; it was nice, pleasantly upscale without being over the top (recognizing that these are categories that may be a matter of opinion) and memorable, but not as much as Oceanique-- unless you are not fond of seafood.

Campagnola -- just had dinner there three weeks ago, to celebrate a job promotion-- very nice Italian bistro, excellent food, but not as special as Oceanique (or as costly).

All that said, for my money, I might want to go to Sol de Mexico...

i love Anteprima in A-ville. I think it's a really great food experience and they have a lovely back yard to dine in if the weather isn't beastly. They also have a great fixed price deal where you pick an antipasti, a pasta and an entree (or some combo of those and dessert) but a relatively low price. They cook seasonally and very well and the housemade breadsticks and focaccia are delicious. I always feel a bit transported when I'm there -- as if I'm really not in Chicago but somewhere in Italy.