chicago restaurant recs?

B

Bwood

Bwood
I was going to post this on the food page, but couldn't find it.

Anyway, if a person or two maybe had time to squeeze in one extra lunch or dinner on a short trip to Chicago in the very near future, where might such persons dine other than the standard, most obvious choices, particularly for persons inclined to somewhat casual over somewhat more formal, who might prefer, say, Bar Boulud, if one were inclined to designate one dining ideal of sorts, to some cutting edge temple of molecular gastonomy, or who might prefer, say, great sushi located not to far from the standard Michigan Ave/Lake Michigan tourist area to, say, driving, an hour to find the absolute best pho in the entire state of Illinois, and who would definitely prefer not to stand on line to dine avec the trendy but might trend towards a place where a simple reservation would work -- any ideas?
 
There's a line at Avec these days? Too bad.

Sepia is around the corner and I've been happy there.
 
If you're in the Michigan Ave. downtown area, then definitely worth going by Habana Libre on 1440 W. Chicago Ave.
If you're further up north, then Think Cafe is excellent for Italian, for more oriental food Spoon Thai and Sticky Rice on the north side (close to the Montrose brown line stop) are both outstanding (nd have no corkage if you're bringing wines - and on the south side Lao Szechuan in Chinatown is outstanding. All of these quite informal and inexpensive (Spoon Thai in particular), but I've visited all several times when I lived in Chicago a year+ ago and they've always been great.

Also - if you want something really casual and don't mind a brief line, visit Hot Doug's. Although if it's a Friday or Saturday, the line for duck fat fries will be long.

(One other suggestion, more high end is Custom House in the Loop. Slightly more formal than the others, but outstanding food.)
 
Yes, I've heard good things about the Bristol, too. And yes, there is almost always a line at Avec (only at like 11pm is there not one). Sepia is good, though they got a new chef not so long ago, but I haven't heard anything about the place in a while. Hot Dougs is def worth the wait.

There is a few new byo's around now. In the west loop there is The Grocery Bistro. Which is solid, not great, but good. They have a great prix fix for $25 from 5-7pm. There is Mado in Wicker Park which is pretty good; not flashy. And while not new, Habana Libre is a great cuban byo place.

My favorite place is Publican. It's owned by the Blackbird/Avec people and is their oyster/pork/beer place. Awesome.

There will be more that will come to me and I'll post as I can remember them. If you find yourself looking for a little improptu jeebus let me know. I live about a mile from Habana Libre and a few blocks from Publican.
 
The Bristol is indeed delicious, but as of three weeks ago when I last ate there, the wait was still prohibitively long. Second on Mado as a very solid alternative and a shorter wait-time.

Also in the same neighborhood (Bucktown/Wicker Park), Hot Chocolate offers consistently delicious food and great desserts. Real emphasis on craft beer pairings as well. And Spring (sister restaurant to Custom House) is an old standby, and delivers fantastic and inventive food.

And yes, there's often a wait, but the trio of Avec/Blackbird/Publican are really tough to beat. Blackbird's the most formal of the three, while Publican really does feel like a beer hall - a beer hall dedicated to the elevation of pork belly to artform. Paul Kahan can't put a foot out of place, it seems.

Oh, another great downtown business lunch/dinner place is Naha. Carrie Nahabedian is a terrific talent and her brother Michael runs the front of the house with real warmth and hospitality.

For Mexican, Salpicon is probably tops in my book; food and wine list are inspired, space is beautiful, ambience is not terribly formal. Finally, for Italian, Spiaggia is the uncontested heavyweight champion (jacket required, NB).

The list goes on and on, but these are some of the standouts...
 
Blackbird is outstanding.

Le Lan was also great for dinner but I have not been there in about a year.

Both are on the trendy side of casual and reservations for two can usually be had with at least a week's notice through opentable.
 
FWIW Le Lan closed last week, citing the economy. If 'near future' is really in the next three days, be aware that the National Restaurant Association convention is in town, which may make reservations/walk ups at the non-reservation places more difficult to come by.

Agree with all the other recs, there's a ton more if there's more specific desires....
 
originally posted by Aaron:

Also in the same neighborhood (Bucktown/Wicker Park), Hot Chocolate offers consistently delicious food and great desserts. Real emphasis on craft beer pairings as well. And Spring (sister restaurant to Custom House) is an old standby, and delivers fantastic and inventive food.
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Here's another vote for Spring. It's not terribly casual, but the cooking's consistently good and we've never had a problem getting in.

And yes, there's often a wait, but the trio of Avec/Blackbird/Publican are really tough to beat. Blackbird's the most formal of the three, while Publican really does feel like a beer hall - a beer hall dedicated to the elevation of pork belly to artform. Paul Kahan can't put a foot out of place, it seems.
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Yeah, I understand the objection to waiting for Avec, but otherwise it qualifies on all counts.

Mark Lipton
 
JB:

I had a pleasant casual meal at Bistrot Zinc in the Gold Coast area last fall.

Menus, directions here: Bistrot Zinc

Pretty reasonably priced for the area and rated highly by the locals. I remember that they had a serviceable wine list too.

Have a fun trip.
 
As mentioned, Naha and Spring are both great, and I'd claim that Spring's service is more casual than its decor would suggest.

I also had a very good experience at Takashi.
 
originally posted by Arjun Mendiratta:
As mentioned, Naha and Spring are both great, and I'd claim that Spring's service is more casual than its decor would suggest.
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You think that a renovated underground swimming pool is a formal setting? Hmmm....

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Dan McQ:
Lou Malnati's
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You are correct. Barack, however, doesn't agree.
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Not to get pizza drift going, but since it's an extraordinarily rare opportunity to discuss a restaurant I actually know well enough to comment on meaningfully, I'm fucking taking it.

Pi is in my neighborhood, and it's really very good. Not so much like Chicago-style at all, but even my Hyde Park-raised wife loves some Pi. Lots of cornmeal in the crust which gives a resounding initial crunch to the outside of the crust, and a pillowy softness to the interior. Lots of local ingredients, with organic as the fall back source. Really nice beer list. Haven't looked at the wine list recently.

Cheers,

Dave
 
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