Another birthday dinner question! Help me out, please!

Hey all --

Going out this weekend for the GF's birthday. She wants something "festive," I want someplace that has good food (and is reasonably nice). Carnivale was a big hit last year -- what are more places that have a more "uptempo" or celebratory vibe but great food? My tendency is to lean towards places like North Pond, which is super romantic but not quite the right atmosphere given her request. I know you guys can help me out!

As far as price goes, I'm looking for special but not ridiculously extravagant.

She's also not a fish person, as hard as that is for me to accept. Your recs please!

I would recommend one of the KDK restaurants - I really like Opera, but Red Light is probably closer to the area of the city you're looking for and has solid food and great atmosphere.
http://www.kdkrestaurants.com/

Trader Vic's is pretty festive too - especially during the holiday season - and while I like the food I know some others here find it kind of 'meh'. http://www.tradervicschicago.com/

If you're feeling splurgy, NoMI has outstanding food & service (and prices) and the view is beautiful http://www.nomirestaurant.com/gallery/n ... ntredirect and the cocktail lounge at the Park Hyatt is pretty nice for a before dinner drink.

I also had a great meal at Cibo Matto in the Wit hotel http://www.thewithotel.com/the-attracti ... -matto.cfm - the food & service were excellent and the room is vibrant and fun.

For festive contemporary American food, consider Sable, in the Hotel Palomar. The food from Chef Heather Terhune is superb as well as surprisingly affordable, and many of the dishes are available in half-portions so you can try a lot of things. They have artisanal cocktails, and the place is very very festive and fun.

For French bistros, La Sardine is always a lot of fun and very festive, with very good food too. Especially when they bring the dessert souffles to the table.

I agree with the Red Light and Opera recommendations. Both are very festive and feature great food. Sunda may also fall into this category (festive as well as pan-Asian).

While I've found the food to be great at NoMI and Cibo Matto, both strike me as somewhat more subdued than what she says she's looking for. Make no mistake, I like them both a lot, but they're not as vibrant/festive (and even loud) as the others. NoMI tries to be higher-end (although I love the view of the park and the Water Tower), and the night I dined at Cibo Matto, it was rather quiet, with the mix split among couples/families and those in business attire. If you want to go in the direction of contemporary Italian (a la Cibo Matto), I've found Vivere to be very good and more festive, until about 7:15 when it empties out of all the theatergoing diners.

Tobermory wrote:
I also had a great meal at Cibo Matto in the Wit hotel http://www.thewithotel.com/the-attracti ... -matto.cfm - the food & service were excellent and the room is vibrant and fun.

The one time I went to Cibo Matto there were several bachelorette parties there, certainly causing a "vibrant and fun" environment. Of course, you have to be ok with all of the associated shrieking.

I don't know how you feel about retro fun and festive,
but at Sabatino's there's a piano bar and they do flaming dishes and flaming desserts tableside...
It IS retro- you feel as tho you will see Ol' Blue eyes walk around the corner,
but the food is great, but not cutting edge by any stretch.
Just another thought.

We ended up going to Mercat a la Planxa, and it was the best meal I've had in my life.