Tourist Eats: best spoon forward for out-of-towners

I've been reading and posting on a couple of threads here having to do with painfully bad eats near Chicago's tourist attractions, and I thought maybe we'd help improve the food near such by gathering our complaints together in one place - and offering recommendations for better eats nearby.

For instance, I'll never forget the dinner we had at Riva's on Navy Pier for our 5th anniversary; it was a while back, but the entire dinner bordered on the inedible - the bread was stale (and not that good to begin with,) the pastas were overwhelmed with sauce with pools of butter floating on top, and we both had terrible indigestion for the tour on the Windy II that followed.

From then on, we've always eaten at the Billy Goat for Navy Pier; it's cheap and the food is good plain Chicago-style; at the very least predictable (I wish they had fries, but you can't mess with tradition)

I've had exactly the opposite experience the many times I've eaten at Riva. Granted, it's a bit overpriced, but for a dining dsestination that will wow the out-of-town client (I only eat there when it's an expense account thing) Riva can be top notch. I've had several different fish preparations there that have been as good or better than anyplace else in town.

stevez wrote:I've had exactly the opposite experience the many times I've eaten at Riva. Granted, it's a bit overpriced, but for a dining dsestination that will wow the out-of-town client (I only eat there when it's an expense account thing) Riva can be top notch. I've had several different fish preparations there that have been as good or better than anyplace else in town.

I agree and echo your sentiments. I have dined there many times prior to Shakespeare Company productions, mainly for convenience, but I've had some excellent dishes there, good service and the setting really is wonderful. The drop-dead gorgeous views of the lake and the skyline most likely far outweigh any quibbles some people may have of the food, especially in an out-of-towner's mind.