Like West Town Tavern?

I'm having visitors from out of town next weekend, and I'd like to take them to West Town Tavern, but we need something closer to the Loop and/or River North. Here are the apsects fo West Town Tavern that I'm hoping to duplicate:

1) Price. Something a little more expensive would be okay, but I'm ideally hoping for something in the under-$25 for entrees, under $10 for appetizers range.

2) Food that will not alarm a picky eater.

3) Atmosphere. In fact, West Town Tavern is little less "trendy" feeling than one of my vistitors would like.

Help! Thanks for your suggestions.

Avec sounds like a possibility...clearly trendy, great prices, great food. On the picky eater front, well maybe not perfect, but they have a house made pasta bolognese. I can't think of better dish for a picky eater.

http://www.avecrestaurant.com/

Avec rocks, yeah.

If you were willing to consider something further afield, I would suggest lula cafe.

I have had several fine meals there this summer.

E.M.

I totally agree with Avec, some of the best food in Chicago and a great design, however since they don't take reservations I'd go as early as possible. It is small inside, but if it is a nice evening you can always wait for a table with a glass of wine outside.

Allen's, the New American Cafe, might be a good option. A group of us had a great time there, but, in the interest in full disclosure, my friend knew the chef. (Too much time has passed for me to expound any further on the menu.)

Allen's, the New American Cafe
217 W. Huron

-The gP

What about Green Zebra? I think it came to mind because of proximity, not similarity, but still, it might be a good substitute (certainly comports with the price and "hipness" requirements).

I like Follia enough. Fulton Market feels cool, and you can gape at the Moto crowd.

Opera is decent. Of course, it's Chinese food.

Anyway, I agree whole-heartedly with Avec, and just got really depressed trying to come up with something similar. When are we going to get the Chicago branch of Blue Ribbon that we so badly need. Are you listening Brombergs?

Okay - Green Zebra is down the street from West Town, even a little further west, so you might as well do West Town in that case.

I think it's going to be tough to find something in River North or the Loop that is like West Town in terms of it's relative approachability in food and its price. Why? The chef/owners of West Town, Drew and Susan Goss, had a restaurant in River North- Zinfandel- which was there for about 9 years before they opened West Town in about 2001. During the tenure of Zinfandel, the neighborhood, River North, had transformed from being slightly seedy to downright trendy. Thus, rents were likewise affected. The moral of the story is that most restaurants in that area cannot serve relatively straightforward food at reasonable prices and survive.

Having said that, while I love Avec and Green Zebra and Follia, I'm not sure their food or portions or price are necessarily appealing to picky, somewhat-thrifty eaters.

In fact, I'm racking my brain and can't think of anything in those areas (especially in the Loop) that meets your price point (West Town charges roughly between $10-20 an entree, including a beef tenderloin entree) and level of trendiness.

Could you just hop in a cab to West Town? It's only about 10 minutes down Chicago Ave. from the Gold Coast.

Thanks for the suggestions! Avec would be perfect, and I've been wanting to try it, but I'm worried about the Saturday night/no reservations thing. Guess I'll have to go to Avec another time...

In the meantime, I decided that I should just make reservations at West Town Tavern instead of trying to duplicate it elsewhere.