Thanks all, for the great responses. I'll repost when we check some of these places out.

great thread! I'd also love to know about quiet lunch places, especially in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area. Sometimes I just want to go read a book on my lunch break and every place i can think of for an inexpensive lunch that will take less than an hour would seem to be too loud and chaotic for peaceful reading.

sarcon wrote:great thread! I'd also love to know about quiet lunch places, especially in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area. Sometimes I just want to go read a book on my lunch break and every place i can think of for an inexpensive lunch that will take less than an hour would seem to be too loud and chaotic for peaceful reading.

When the weather's nice, Cyrano's on the riverwalk is perfect for this.

Kennyz wrote:

sarcon wrote:great thread! I'd also love to know about quiet lunch places, especially in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area. Sometimes I just want to go read a book on my lunch break and every place i can think of for an inexpensive lunch that will take less than an hour would seem to be too loud and chaotic for peaceful reading.

When the weather's nice, Cyrano's on the riverwalk is perfect for this.

Kennyz, is Cyrano's on the riverwalk open again? They had that explosion, was it last year?, and I tried to find info to see if they're open again and it's not on their website.

Diane wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

sarcon wrote:great thread! I'd also love to know about quiet lunch places, especially in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area. Sometimes I just want to go read a book on my lunch break and every place i can think of for an inexpensive lunch that will take less than an hour would seem to be too loud and chaotic for peaceful reading.

When the weather's nice, Cyrano's on the riverwalk is perfect for this.

Kennyz, is Cyrano's on the riverwalk open again? They had that explosion, was it last year?, and I tried to find info to see if they're open again and it's not on their website.

I don't know anything about an explosion, but the shack that they cook in looks fine from my office window. They're not open though, as I think they typically wait until around Memorial Day.

Kennyz wrote:

Diane wrote:
Kennyz, is Cyrano's on the riverwalk open again? They had that explosion, was it last year?, and I tried to find info to see if they're open again and it's not on their website.

I don't know anything about an explosion, but the shack that they cook in looks fine from my office window. They're not open though, as I think they typically wait until around Memorial Day.

Well, since you have a birds eye view, could you keep me posted? Thanks!

For lunch near Mag Mile check out La Madia. I've been there primarily on Saturdays for lunch but it's usually quiet and pleasant then, and they've got some terrific lunch deals: http://www.dinelamadia.com/

Continuing the quiet (and Italian) theme, try Rhapsody for dinner but ONLY after the concert has begun. Preconcert dining is frenetic; it slows to a waltz once the opening chords sound.

Bump!

I'm looking for a quiet restaurant for dinner this Friday with some older relatives who we see infrequently, where we won't feel rushed out. The closer to Deerfield the better and $20/person or less. Any cuisine is fine- we're all adventurous eaters. TIA!

abe_froeman wrote:I'm looking for a quiet restaurant for dinner this Friday with some older relatives who we see infrequently, where we won't feel rushed out. The closer to Deerfield the better and $20/person or less. Any cuisine is fine- we're all adventurous eaters. TIA!

In Deerfield, Carson's, for steaks and barbecue, is reasonably quiet and you won't feel rushed. Nearby, two French bistros also fit the bill: Froggy's in Highwood, and Cafe Central in Highland Park.

Not sure if Kabul House in Skokie is too far but meets all other requirements!!

boudreaulicious wrote:Not sure if Kabul House in Skokie is too far but meets all other requirements!!

Oh yeah, that would be good. No, not too far- the relatives are early-to-bed types, so the closer we are, the longer they can stay out. Location is pretty flexible, and the price is a little flexible. It's more the atmosphere of the restaurant that's a priority.

It is not adventurous, but is a value place for an older crowd, Andrew's in Park Ridge. I have been able to sit and have conversations without any strain, though they do get busy on the weekends. There are threads with their mention if you need to know more.

Andrew's
http://andrewsopenpit.com
2610 East Dempster Street Park Ridge, IL 60068-8404
(847) 824-3800

Star of Siam on Illinois is a relaxing place with a good atmosphere, decent Thai food, and it is pretty quiet. And not expensive. I have been going there for 20+ years and it is always a good experience.

If you happen to be in Hinsdale, Hua Ting is very nice. You can get a big booth that is not too close to other tables, and they play Zamfir flute type music in the background very low. It is never that crowded in there, even on a Saturday night. Decent Chinese food (Chicken with Green Beans is good) and not expensive.

Looks like we're going with Ruby of Siam. I know their quality has gone down a bit recently, but they're still pretty good for a suburban Thai place.

Thread bump! My husband's throat hurt from raising his voice at dinner last night. City options please.

Almost all of the high-end restaurants are relatively quiet, including the super-expensive temples of haute cuisine (Alinea, Grace, TRU, Everest, Sixteen), and the next tier of somewhat-expensive restaurants (Naha, North Pond, Acadia, Michael, the Lobby, Oceanique, Quince). However, because they are at least somewhat expensive, they're not places most of us would go on a regular basis.

When you start looking at moderately-priced restaurants with creative/delicious food, the problem is that for those very reasons they tend to be pretty darn popular, and even the ones that don't approach ear-splitting levels are still pretty darn noisy. When I think back at moderately-priced restaurants I really enjoyed this year, they were all rather noisy, including places that are among my favorites where I keep going back (Deleece, Sable, GT Fish, Campagnola, Frontera, Salsa 17, Inovasi, Abigail's, E+O) as well as places I was trying for the first time (La Sirena Clandestina, Salero, Kinmont, Yusho, Carnivale, the Bristol, Boltwood, Fish Bar, County Barbeque, Quartino). So I wouldn't recommend any of these to someone looking for a quiet restaurant. The only mid-priced places that come to mind as being not so noisy are two places I didn't hit this year: Atwood and Café des Architectes. So those might be two candidates for you.

Other than that, I'd suggest dining at off hours, either early (seatings of 5:30 or before) or late (seatings 9:00 or later); that way, a place might be noisy for part of your dinner, but part may be relatively quiet. Similarly, weekdays tend to be less noisy than weekends, at least at places that aren't totally full during the week. If weekday lunch works for you, that's another possibility for some places that might be quiet; for example, Naha offers a three-course prix fixe for $26.

Incidentally, in their user reviews, Opentable shows summary ratings for "noise level". Unfortunately, there's no way to sort or filter on this characteristic, so you would need to look up each restaurant individually to find which ones have the less "energetic" noise ratings.