NYE dinner with a WOW kick

If you wanted to impress a date whose birthday is December 31st, where would you take this person? What other activities would you suggest? We are both hispanic, love music, love to dance. I am looking for something new for the both of us.

I thought of Signature Room on 95th, but am being told to consider Spiaggia instead.

Thing's we've already done -
Tapas
Carnivale
Nacional 27
Mastro's Steakhouse
All kinds of Mexican

Thanks

You will be lucky to find a reservation at McDonald's at this late date. I would go to Open Table and see if there is any place that still has a table.

What about one of the downtown hotels? Most have some type of NYE package including dinner, music and dancing (book a room for extra credit and fun). For example, one year we went to the Fairmont. The food was what you would expect from a hotel kitchen (nothing special), but in one ballroom they had BB King playing and in another, there was a big band and a dance floor.

Well, you're certainly going to be limited by availability. For example, even if you wanted to go to Spiaggia - assuming your date wants to get dressed up - their only openings are at 5:00 and 10:00, nothing in between. OTOH there are some places where you can get a reservation for pretty much any time you want.

Last year on NYE we went to Deleece (the one on Southport, now in their new location in the 3700 block) and it was one of the best meals we had all year. I posted about it here. According to Opentable, availability is wide open all evening. They are doing the same thing as last year, with a four-course special menu for $60 ($80 with wine pairings) and they also offer their regular menu.

Deleece is a very lively bistro type place, classy and casual at the same time. Another place you might consider in that same category, is Mexique, which has creative provincial Mexican cuisine with a slight French accent. There, too, availability is pretty much wide open all evening.

Opentable has a listing (here) of special NYE plans for many restaurants.

teatpuller wrote:You will be lucky to find a reservation at McDonald's at this late date. I would go to Open Table and see if there is any place that still has a table.

Actually, there are quite a few restaurants that still have openings, including some of our very best in many categories. Granted, some of them have only certain times available, but there are openings, even at Naha and L2O. Others, such as Deleece and Mexique, are wide open and you pretty much have your pick of any time you want.

There still seem to be plenty of restaurants tweeting about NYE availability.

You might want to give Avenues a call to see if they have any availability left for their gala. We did this a few years ago and are doing it again this year. Black tie, big band, balloon drop at midnight. It's a bit pricey, but it's a good excuse to throw on a tux and have some fun.

Isn't Avenues closed?

Sorry, I meant the Peninsula. Dinner and dancing are both in the lobby.

Both Rhapsody and Chicago Cut Steakhouse are bringing in jazz vocalists at around 9:00. Food's usually good at both places, so you might want to check there for availability.

nsxtasy wrote: [snip] if you wanted to go to Spiaggia - assuming your date wants to get dressed up - their only openings are at 5:00 and 10:00, nothing in between[snip]

Actually, Spiaggia at 10 on NYE sounds great, you'd be there at midnight.

No idea if they have availability, but Everest has one of the most gorgeous views of the city at night, and the food ain't bad either

cant promise a reservation but my vote is for TRU

leek wrote:No idea if they have availability, but Everest has one of the most gorgeous views of the city at night, and the food ain't bad either

Opentable had 5:00 available earlier today, but that seems to have been taken. Later times are shown on Opentable as "restricted by restaurant", so you'd have to call them to find out. I suspect they'd have availability. It's indeed excellent.

gocubs88 wrote:cant promise a reservation but my vote is for TRU

Opentable does not show any availability for TRU. Sometimes a restaurant holds some tables back so you can snag a res by phoning them, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

In today's Tribune, Phil Vettel lists over 100 restaurants that have a reservation in his name for NYE; if you're the first to call and request his table, you get the reservation:

Please be seated