Help: Chicago Restaurant Advice

[jones]

  My wife and I are headed to Chicago tomorrow (Thursday 10/22) for business/pleasure and her birthday is on Sunday.  Any suggestions from the locals (ALady, don't you live in Chicago?) for a romantic restaurant for Friday or Saturday night that doesn't require reservations three months in advance?  Your suggestions are appreciated...

[mjkoehler]

Wish I could help. I was just there and saw a crap load of places that looked great, but it was from running the streets. Taterbug is also a Chi resident.

[jones]

Wish I could help. I was just there and saw a crap load of places that looked great, but it was from running the streets. Taterbug is also a Chi resident.

 By the way, congrats on your marathon completion mjk!

[BH]

First go back in time and make your wife's mother hold the baby in for one more week so her Birthday would fall on the weekend that MOF are in Chicago.  Just an idea.

[Love Dogg]

Avenue M   ;)

EDIT:

Closed   :(

[jones]

You guys... Subway it is. Ooooh maybe I can find a Schlotsky's!

[TheBigChicken]

deep dish pizza....deep dish pizza....getting hungry :D

[Taterbug]

It all depends on how much you want to spend.  I will post some links. For special occasions the  Signiture Room is very nice.

http://www.signatureroom.com/Home/#
http://www.nicksfishmarketchicago.com/
http://www.unos.com/
http://www.maggianos.com/locations/detail.asp?unit_id=001.025.0047

If you can tell me what you like I might be able to give you some more ideas.

[ALady]

 My wife and I are headed to Chicago tomorrow (Thursday 10/22) for business/pleasure and her birthday is on Sunday.  Any suggestions from the locals (ALady, don't you live in Chicago?) for a romantic restaurant for Friday or Saturday night that doesn't require reservations three months in advance?  Your suggestions are appreciated...

Hey, flyguy!  

Here are a couple suggestions:

My personal favorite is Bistro Campagne - local/organic French bistro, in a cute, neighborhoody part of town (Lincoln Square).
http://www.bistrocampagne.com/

Next door, Tank Sushi has really fantastic sushi and is kind of dimly lit, and romantic in a sleek/modern way.
http://www.tanksushi.com/

I haven't been to Cafe Absinthe in a while, but the food is consistently superb and the decor is elegant and modern.  Wicker Park is a fun neighborhood to stroll around, too.
http://www.cafeabsinthechicago.com/

Around the corner from Cafe Absinthe is the Violet Hour...definitely the place for a romantic drink by the fireside.  Serious mixology at work.  There's no sign outside and no cell phones inside, and as a result it's never crowded or noisy.  A very refined and unique experience.
http://www.theviolethour.com/

Also in the Wicker Park neighborhood (but more suited for a casual dinner, or ideally for post-fancy-dinner romantic dessert splitting  ;))  is Hot Chocolate:
http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/

If you want to stay downtown, Le Colonial is nice; French-Vietnamese food, kind of tropical/French Colonial atmosphere and delicious drinks:
http://www.lecolonialchicago.com/

Also downtown, I've heard good things about Everest, but have never been.  It's supposedly one of the best fancy-schmancy restaurants in town, next to Alinea and Charlie Trotter's:
http://www.everestrestaurant.com/

Hope this helps!  Have a great time, and happy birthday to your wife!

[Taterbug]

If your wife is a BIG meat eater like mine is  ;)..
There some great steak houses.

http://www.chicagoprimesteakhouse.com/
http://www.lawrysonline.com/
http://www.mortons.com/statestreet/
http://www.ruthschris.com/
http://www.geneandgeorgetti.com/

Gene & Georgetti is my my favorite joint out of all the above

[ALady]

Good call on the steak houses, Tater!  

[mjkoehler]

Is Houston's still open? I went there a few times for work things and remember the food was decent and the place was nice.

[Taterbug]

Is Houston's still open? I went there a few times for work things and remember the food was decent and the place was nice.

Houstons is CLOSED, I never had a chance to go there.

Whenever I get a chance I go to Gene & Georgettis, I love love love the BLEU  Cheese encrusted Filet. With Kettle One vodka straight up with 6 BLEU cheese olives I call the appetizer.

[Taterbug]

Good call on the steak houses, Tater!  

I like your suggestions Alady, I will check some of them  out. You should be a critic on that PBS show " CHECK PLEASE" :). There are so many choices of resturaunts in Chicago it will make your head spin. We are soooo lucky.

[mjkoehler]

Yes you are. I saw hundreds of places along the marathon route. Saw lots of little interesting bistros and cafes. Makes me wish I lived there. I live/love to eat.

Shame Houston's closed. Everytime I went there it was jam packed.

[jones]

  Thank you ALady and Taterbug for the suggestions!  We will definitely choose from these suggested restaurants.  We rolled into town tonight and went straight to Goose Island for an IPA.  That made the crappy weather a little more tolerable.
 My wife has meetings all day tomorrow and I will be working from the room, so I will have plenty of time to comb through the choices.
 ALady, I hope to check out Bistro Campagne while we are here.  Tater, you had me at "bleu cheese encrusted"...

[jones]

  We are back in the Bluegrass State after our Chicago visit.  Many thanks to ALady and Taterbug for the guidance!  

 On Friday, we went to Bistro Campagne, followed by a visit to Hot Chocolate.  The presentation and execution at Bistro Campagne was flawless; my wife really enjoyed Chocolate #1 at Hot Chocolate.  I am not really a dessert person, so I opted for the Three Floyds Alpha King IPA instead.  Great ambience at both restaurants!

 On Saturday we hit Gene & Georgetti.  We both opted for the filet and it was great.  Taterbug, big up for the 'bleu cheese encrusted' suggestion, as it was not even on the menu!

 See you at The Palace!!!

[Taterbug]

Glad I could be of help.  Did they prepare it for you w/ bleu cheese ?     I can't remember if it was on the menu the last time I was there or If I had to tell them prepare it that way. To bad the weather wasn't nicer for your stay.

[jones]

Glad I could be of help.  Did they prepare it for you w/ bleu cheese ?     I can't remember if it was on the menu the last time I was there or If I had to tell them prepare it that way. To bad the weather wasn't nicer for your stay.

 Yes, they did add the bleu cheese and I thought it was great!  It rained all day Friday (I worked from the hotel), but Saturday wasn't too bad.  We still had a good time!

[ALady]

Glad you dug it, flyguy!  Sorry we couldn't help with the weather this weekend...   ;D