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At the risk of being off-topic, Teeda Thai over on Columbia is far better than the others for delivery. And they're quick.

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Teeda
218 Columbia St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

My wife has about five braising cookbooks, but we both like the Cook's Illustrated Slow and Easy Recipes the best. The Molly Stevens' All About Braising is OK, but it has a lot of strange flavor combinations.

Also: lucky friend.

Thanks everyone, these are all great suggestions. After perusing nsxtasy's wonderful post for Chicago first-timers, my wife and I realized that we've never been to one of Rick Bayless's restaurants, despite being mexican fiends and a fan of his PBS show for years. We didn't find anything on Opentable, but a call to Frontera Grill revealed that they still had a 10:15pm table available--a little late, but hey, it's new year's eve. The pseudo-prix fixe (you have your choice of a few apps and mains) is $85 exclusive of alcohol, but again--hey, it's new year's.

We're planning to hit either Perennial or Sable tomorrow night, so thanks for that suggestion. And last night we had an excellent deep-dish pie at Lou Malnati's, which is just down the street from where we're staying. I have no doubt that this board has engaged in a great many "which pie is the best" discussions (to which I have nothing to add, since I've only tried the one) but I was impressed at how nice and crunchy the crust stayed even with all that cheesy goodness on top.

Thanks again, Chicago!

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Frontera Grill
445 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654

NYC-based Hound and his wife just found out that we're stranded in Chicago until the 1st (damn you, Snowpocalypse). We're looking for a nice place that might still be accepting reservations for a New Year's Eve dinner. We're staying in Lincoln Park--though we're happy to take an easy cab ride somewhere--are looking to pay up to $50 each (excluding wine), and love most every type of food, though we're especially interested in any great Chicago traditions.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Has the outdoor/bar section of Trout (entrance on Pacific) changed as well? Or is this just the interior space (entrance on Smith)?

I think Teeda Thai on Columbia St is the best in the neighborhood, but agreed, that's a low bar.

Good to hear. Sounds like we should give it another try.

My wife and I tried out Enoteca last night, and we thought it was fine, though the overall experience was far from wonderful. First, the highlights: The pizza was great. We got the plain margarita, which almost hit the perfect crisp-and-chewy combo (could have been a touch crisper). A fried-then-baked eggplant dish was also excellent, but the baked veal meatballs were simultaneously oily and mealy—a far cry from Bocca Lupo's perfect iteration of the dish. We started with a spinach, pear and mushroom salad, which was fine, if a little overdressed.

As for the wine, we started with two flights—the red ($10) and white ($8) Italian flights. The selection of whites was very nice, but the reds were virtually indistinguishable—all were medium-bodied and too dry. We wanted to continue with a bottle of red that had more fruit and sweetness, so we told the server what we were looking for and asked for her suggestions. She said she would get the manager, which sounded fine. But instead of coming by to talk about various options, he simply emerged with bottle in hand, assuring us that we would love it. We did not—again, it was a really dry medium-bodied Italian red. It was also $5 more than what we said we wanted to spend. This place bills itself as a wine bar, yet the wine service was probably the most unpleasant part of our evening. (Our service was otherwise very good.)

The worst, though, was the music. No joke, they were playing WPLJ—insipid pop hits from the '80s and '90s—at an obtrusively loud volume. Taylor Swift is not invited to dinner at our house, and I'd rather not have her join us when we're out.

I've not tried it yet (been meaning to), but in case anyone is interested, Alan Richman votes "no."
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/alanric...
"The bad news: The pies finally showed up. The crusts were hard, flat, bland. Pie number one, titled The Pizza, consisted of insipid tomato sauce, decent mozzarella, and no noticable hint of the promised Pecorino Romano"

A bit out of the nabe, but I just read that Bubby's in Dumbo is now open 24/7:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/...

Yeah, the one disappointing thing about moving to CG has been the lack of late-night eats. Even finding a place open until 11 can be tough.

According to Eater, someone at the cart says "three weeks."

http://eater.com/archives/2009/04/che...

Calexico's Red Hook storefront
122 Union St., Red Hook/Columbia Street Waterfront
Status: After receiving a number of reader inquiries regarding the hold up here—remember the plywood was first spotted back in September—we went to the cart to get the intel. According to one worker, she should be up and running in three weeks.

The brunch at Char No. 4 is really good, though no promises on a <20min. wait. Haven't tried Buttermilk Channel brunch yet, but that's next on the list.

It's one of our neighborhood faves. Come on Tuesdays, when they have a half-price special on bottles of wine.

I love Pacific Standard, and one reason why it's a California-style beer bar is that the owners are UC Berkeley grads. Please note the blue and gold on the walls. As a Cal alum myself, this just brings it ever closer to beer bar perfection in my book.

Actually, that's where we're having our reception! From everything I've heard and seen, it should truly be great.

Nine D, really? I think of that as just another mediocre thai spot in the 'hood. (Agreed that Joya ain't no great shakes either, though.) My fave thai is Teeda over on Columbia St. Speaking of which, I think Mazzat (right near Teeda) is the best middle eastern south of Atlantic. Great falafel and veggie salads.

And this isn't really for a student budget, but Chestnut elevates the nabe from mediocre to destination-worthy.

Yeah, we took a look at the space upstairs that they would be able to give us at the Clarke Cooke House and really liked it. I think we're going to head back up to Newport next weekend to check out the others.

We'd be happy to do it in a different area. In fact, that may be preferable.

Oh definitely, a reservation will be a must. I don't want to leave a thing to chance here.

Bocca Lupo on Henry & Warren(?) is fantastic italian small plates. Everyone I've ever taken there loves it, though it may stretch a student's budget. Also try Alma on Columbia St & Degraw for pretty solid mexican and worth-the-trip views of Manhattan across the water. For cheap stuff hit the middle eastern spots on Atlantic, especially the veggie options at Waterfalls Cafe.

This fall, mid-October or so.

Yes, it changed to $30 a number of months ago. Still a deal!

Hi everyone. I'm looking for a great place to have a rehearsal dinner in Newport. Our plan is a bit unorthodox: We'd like to have a regular rehearsal dinner for family and the wedding party, then invite all out-of-towners to a cocktail reception later in the evening. Is there anywhere that could smoothly accommodate that request?

I've searched the boards and found these old posts, which were helpful:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/405371
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/442791
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/521750

Right now, our top choices are the Clarke Cooke House, The Moorings (we had lunch there a few weeks ago when scouting wedding venues and loved it), the White Horse Tavern, and 22 Bowens. Anywhere else we should consider?

Thanks in advance for your help!

It sounds as though Jonathan's is a real favorite of everyone here. Does anyone have any intel on how it compares to Brooks, which seems to be pretty well reviewed by the LA Times and others?

http://www.restaurantbrooks.com/index...

Again, thanks!

Wow, Moqueca sounds awesome. My only fear is that Brazilian food may be too daring for this crowd. Thanks for the tip, though!

Yeah, unfortunately we're planning on a Saturday night dinner, but otherwise this place sounds perfect. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks! Yes, I went to a wedding at the Ranch House a few years ago and thought it was fantastic. Jonathan's seems to have a pretty solid following amongst Chowhounders, always a good sign.

Hi everyone. My fiancee and I will be flying into town at the end of April to introduce our parents to each other. My folks live in Westlake Village, hers are in Santa Barbara, so I'm looking for a nice restaurant somewhere in the Oxnard/Ventura area (approximately halfway between the two) to take them for dinner. I've searched through the site and found a few possibilities (Jonathons, The Sidecar, 71 Palms, Brooks), mainly culled from these posts:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/408501
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/80023

What we're looking for is somewhere elegant yet not too stuffy, a type of food that everyone is sure to like (such as New American, Italian or seafood), and something with a good wine list—both my father and especially hers are wine fanatics. Do those restaurants fit the bill? Are there others that you would recommend? Thanks in advance for your help!