hoppy2468's Profile
Dinner in June near Lincoln Park
North Pond Cafe which is in Lincoln Park. It fits all your requirements. Across Michigan Ave. from the AI is the Gage, an excellent Gastropub.
Recommendations for Restaurants with Gluten Free Menu Options
My sis-in-law with celiac's really enjoyed hub 51 when we took her there. Plus it's really hip.
Where to eat after drinks at the Aviary??
It's not close but we really enjoyed going to Resi's Bierstube after Aviary. The contrasts in food and drink were stunning. Great German food and bee!
Sun Wah
Exactly! 1/2 duck leftover. They carve it up tableside, take away the carcass and in a little bit you get duck soup and duck fried rice. At $37 I don't know if that is pricey or not but it is the most expensive item on the menu, by far. It was really good too!
Sun Wah
Going for the first time with a group of four this Saturday. Need to order Peking Duck by Friday. I've never had the duck and really want to as I hear that it's great. The person I talked to at Sun Wah says the duck will feed all of us. Here's the problem, not everyone wants the duck. If we order it for only two of us, how much will be leftover? Does it reheat well?
Best restaurants in Chicago to give an engagement ring
How about this...Everest for the engagement and then North Pond for brunch the next day. It would be great in August, the lake is there, the park, zoo and there is also a small conservatory that is quite nice.
or this. Charlie Trotter is closing his restaurant in August. Depending on the timing you could propose at a historic restaurant eating one of the last dinners prepared by an iconic chef.
Don't be put off by the service issues at Everest mentioned by others. There are just as many of us who have never encountered problems despite numerous visits. I'ts a friendly and ongoing debate on these boards. The fact is that you can pick any restaurant in town and you'll find people complaining about something.
Again, I would choose Everest. North Pond is very nice but this night should be more than nice.
Best restaurants in Chicago to give an engagement ring
...and let us know which restaurant you picked and how it went or if you chicken out instead.
Best restaurants in Chicago to give an engagement ring
Everest. Forty floors up. You have to take a series of elevators to reach the restaurant and then walk a length of hallway and then you reach a beautiful room with a great western view. The journey to reach the restaurant raises the level of anticipation. Food and service are excellent. Ask for a window table and tell them why. The table won't be private but no more or less than any other restaurant. I don't know about what beer they might have but the wine list is world class and I bet they'll have a bottle or two of champagne for you to choose from. Good Luck!
Getting a reservation at Next for the El Bulli menu?
The Next Facebook page has El Bulli @ $365 per plus tip and tax, booze inclusive. They also state it will be 29 courses.
MK vs. North Pond vs. Other Suggestions
North Pond. We went last Oct. for our anniversery and we were very happy with our meal. From service to food, everything was topnotch.
We want GREAT food for dinner!
Go to OpenTable.com. Chicago. For Feb 4 there are more than 400 restaurants with openings b/w 6 and 8pm. You can narrow it by cuisine. Or, you can give us a little help and tell us some likes and dislikes beyond "great food" which isn't helpful. Do you have a car and/or are willing to cab it?
Where is the best apple pie in Chicago?
Hoosier Mama Pie Co. On Chicago Ave. VERY Tasty!
Lookin' for fried chicken! Anything downtown?
Table 52 (Art Smith) does fried chicken on Sunday. I've heard that it is very good and the restaurant is a lovely setting but the tables are closetogether.
El Ideas
Elsewhere, I read a personel assurance from Chef Foss that he and the other chefs that work with him will carry on and that there will be no dropoff in quality, taste, originality etc...
Go, eat, have a great time!
El Ideas
My wife and I were early adapters and went last August. We loved it. Chef Foss, now that he has closed Meatyballs, has turned his focus solely to El Ideas. To that end they have expanded seating a little and I got an email from them yesterday about VDay and they are having two seatings on multiple days. This is a departure from the one seating only when we went. I don't know if two seatings per night is permanent but it would allow for double the diners. Only problem is your choices are 5pm or 9pm (Ithink).
Reservations are tough but not Next or Schwa tough, at least not yet. For a BYOB it is a bit pricey but we thought it worth it. To begin with, once you win the lottery, you'll be dealing with Dina who is super nice. She'll answer any questions you have. Get there on time, they won't wait. If you're late, you'll miss courses. Bill is the one and only server and he is great. The chefs will talk about each course as it is brought out and questions are encouraged. They want you to know what is going on with the food. Mosey on back to the kitchen if you want. They may put you to work plating or serving though! It can be a totally immersive experience if you want. We really enjoyed it. I highly recommend.
Sausage Rolls, Meat pies, Sausages.....
Chief O'Neils has a new chef who is committed to a more authentic menu...but give it a bit of time as he's only been there a couple of weeks
HELP! Chicago Birthday Dinner idea something unique with fun atmosphere and GREAT food
nsxtasy offers some great choices. I especially second Mercat. I would also toss Graham Elliot's and Moto into the mix especially Moto if Chris Jones wins/won Top Chef.
Report: MarketHouse and Girl and the Goat
We've been three times including a very busy NYE and have never had the issues you described. Doesn't mean it didn't happen though. I'm not going to make excuses because you had a really awful experience but from my times there I think you really ran into an anomaly. 10:15 on a Saturday night is not an ideal time to sit down for dinner but that's not your problem, They should have handled it and your server sounds like an ass. I really feel terrible about where you were seated, I can't imagine a worse spot where people are brushing up against your table, scoping out what you're eating and then making comments. I think I would have asked for a different table as soon as they had one available. I think I would have demanded it. It has been well chronicled that some dishes can be awesome while some can miss the mark. I don't know what happened to the dishes you ordered but it's too bad that they didn't match your expectations. The only quibble that I have with your review is the timing. If I understand correctly that you arrived at 10:15, waited 25, each course was 30 apart, then your dinner didn't end until nearly 2am? If I were you, after such a horrible experience, I wouldn't go back. More room for the rest of us.
Paddy Long's bacon tasting?
She does love cider and any respectable pub has two or three available.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is with regard to the beer part of the tasting. If each beer is 12oz or a pint and my wife just has a sip or two...that's a lot of beer going to waste as I can't drink mine and hers too and be able to walk :)
Paddy Long's bacon tasting?
We have a certificate for 1/2 off their bacon and beer tasting. This is heaven for me but my wife
pretty much hates beer. She can stomach a sip or two while doing the tasting but that's about it.
I need to hear from someone who has done this. How much beer and bacon do you get? Were you full and drunk or still thirsty and hungry when done with the tasting? If still hungry, how's the rest of the food on the menu? Any impressions and thoughts will be a big help.
Les Nomades Question & Bonus Topolobampo Inquiry
I'm going to miss his cosomme. I got it every time we went.
Noise level at Sable?
True. We stopped in the bar for a late night cocktail after we returned from dinner elsewhere and it was deafening. My wife and I resorted to texting. To clarify, we were in the "bar area".
Good Food near United Center
Last year before a Hawks game I went to WestEnd @ 1326 w. madison about 6 blocks E. of the UC. Sports bar with really good burgers and beer. Even better they have a free shuttle to the UC. They do it for Bulls too but with no season so far that's not a concern. Practically next door to WestEnd is Viaggio Italian restaurant. Haven't been but they got good reviews on Check Please! With regard to WestEnd, I got there about 5:30 for a 7:30 game start and got the last seat at the bar so go early. There are other places....BillyGoat, etc and some of those may have shuttles as well. I know that the shuttle is what sold me on WestEnd to begin with and then the food was good too. If you have a vehicle, Little Italy isn't far away as are the restaurants over on Randolph...Girl and the Goat etc.
Piccolo Sogno
We ate there last Friday. As nsxtasy points out, the bread service is truly delicious. We also had the sformato di zucca. I thought it ok. It didn't "wow" me. Wife had a daily risotto which was excellent. I had the spaghetti neri “frutti di mare". Outstanding. The string cut black spaghetti was wonderful. And then...coniglio all agro for both of us. This "WOWED" us. Unbelieveable. The semolina pudding that it came with were the best "mashed potatoes" I've ever had. Well, the ones at Guy Savoy in Paris were actually the best but then those were potatoes. No dessert, we went to the chocolate buffet at The Lobby but that's another story.
Lastly, we arrived maybe ten minutes late and had called to say that we would be. We were told to wait at the bar. No room there of course and as it was our anniversary, we wanted to wait until we got to our table to toast with some bubbles. We watched many people leave while we waited and waited. We were NOT going to get a drink at the bar. I hate restaurants that delay your table in the hope that they can pick up a few extra bucks by making you wait in the hope that you'll buy a drink. Then a table opened up in the bar/waiting area. It sat empty for about 10 minutes until we were taken to it. As it was our anniversary there was no way I was taking that table as it was quite loud around the bar. As I was stating this fact to the hostess, one of the owners was passing by and heard me. He assured me that he would find us another table and he did, once we waited another five minutes. Once we got past this opening B.S. dinner was wonderful, what I've come to expect at P.S. but that wait has got to stop.
MK or North Pond
We went this past Saturday night and I'm so glad that we did. As it was our anniversary and they knew it, we received personalized menus with Happy Anniversary Ted and Alice across the top. Kinda cheesy but kinda nice too.
A bit of history. We used to go to N.P. 2-3 times per year but stopped about five years ago. Service had slipped and I thought the food had as well. I returned with a hint of worry. Many restaurants survive a long time on past sucess.
No need to worry. This was really, really good. Just like I remembered the good old days when we enjoyed N. P., recommended it to everyone and took out of town relatives and friends there to impress.
We were seated in the front room with its great view. Cocktails to start. Martini made with small batch vodka. Prairie something vodka. Very good. My wife had one of their signature cocktails made with cider which she said she could drink all night and she's not a cocktail type person but she just loved it.
Amuse was a walnut/mushroom consomme served with a small bite of something. The consomme blew me away. Asked them to bring me a bowl. Was turned down.
First course was Egg, Mushrooms for her and Tuna, Octopus for me. The T/O had huge peices of octopus, the tuna was perfect and the sake marinated watermelon that was on the plate was great. My wifes dish was delicious as well, I got a bite. Kind of an egss benedict take on things.
Salads. Beat, Pear for me and Lettuce, Crab for her. Both very well executed.
Mains. Pork, Apple for her and Pheasant, Cabbage for me. These were excellent as well. I'm running out of adjectives here. The mains as well as the other courses were just well balanced with creative use of multiple ingrediants that worked oh so well together.
Dessert was Cream Cheese, Pecan for her and cheese for me. She inhaled hers and I enjoyed the cheeses but alas, here was the first service misstep of the evening, the server who brought the cheese didn't say which was which or point out the order they should be eaten in. Horrors!
Wine service was excellent as well. Drinking by the glass the recomendations worked very well and a side note, my wife is a picky wine drinker and for her main, our server brought tastes of three reds for her to try.
In every way, they worked at pleasing us and they did. The chef, Bruce Sherman, is at the top of his game. Back into our regular rotation they go and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend N.P. to anyone who wants a wonderful night of dining.
Affordable French Restaurant Downtown...
Take a look at Maudes Liquor Bar. Don't let the name mislead. They have great food. And great drinks.
On a personal note, why the need for so many choices? 25-40!! entrees. I don't even think Denny's has that many on their menu. That many entree choices tells me that a restaurant does nothing well so they're throwing everything at the dining room wall in order to see what sticks.
Le Sardine is an excellent choice as well. Tuesdays they have a $27 prix fixe dinner and Friday it's $1 oysters at the bar.
thanksgiving in chicago
We went to Wildfire in Schaumburg and plan on going back this year. It was pretty good. Surprised us actually. They have outposts around Chicago and Chicagoland. I looked at going to a lot of places and we were glad this is where we chose to go.
