Dinner Recs in Chicago

Yeah eds was/is great. Supposedly half the kitchen left and started down the street at northern city, which is great as well.

Had a nice 3-day weekend trip to Chicago. Ate at Del Frisco, Spiaggia, and Next. Spiaggia was great, the other two were awful. Next was most disappointing because of all the hype, and also because I really like Alinea.

I've yet to go myself, but you are the second person this week to say that next was a little disappointing



jungleroller said:

I like this thread.  Forgive me if it's been mentioned prior but I just recently went to Tango Sur in Wrigleyville and found it fantastic.  The wait sucks but we had a group with reservations so it was only about 20 minutes but from what I've read it can be a couple hours.

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+1 to this. Have been a few times. Twice with a fairly large group and once with just my gf. Food and atmosphere is great.

Went to Honey butter fried Chicken finally. Fuckin yum! Pimento Mac and cheese yes please! along with everything else of course.

I thought it was kind of mediocre. I mean, it was a good sandwich, but it is pretty out of the way and was kind of expensive. Do they still have lines at prime times? Because it is definitely not worth a line.

If it were within walking distance, I might eat there more often, but if I gotta go further, I would prefer to go for the sandwich at crisp or even at chick-fil-a (which lacks the accoutrements but makes a juicier piece of fried chicken)

Did like the small corn muffins though... It was like Mediterranean places that let you but individual falafel. You know you want some but you don't want to be forced to get a whole side of half a dozen (or a huge piece of cornbread) since you are already eating a bunch of food.

Three Floyds Brew Pub in Munster IN. Excellent food...and Beer http://www.3floyds.com/brewpub/?age_verification=24ffb6a465

That one I don't think is mediocre. Been meaning to ride my bike down there sometime this fall before it gets cold.



JayJay said:

Had dinner at Grace tonight. It was one of my best dining experiences in Chicago, ever. Great food and exceptional service. Nice tour of the kitchen, too. It ranks up there with Alinea and many of the other Chicago fine dining venues. Glad I went.

On the other hand, I had the opposite experience last night at Elizabeth's.

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Michelin guide is out and gave Grace all 3 stars.

I've still been wanting to go, but this will probably make it more difficult.

Alinea kept 3, 42 Grams was introduced at 2 (and is BYOB and up the street from me...I may have to go). No other real changes except Mexique lost its star due to inconsistency...not surprising as it wasn't very good when I went there).

Yea I was planning on going to Grace within the next year because I heard how good it was and it seemed a bit underrated. Well, now it's no longer underrated and much harder to get a table for!

I am sure it will die down relatively quickly. There aren't *that* many people willing to spend that money on dinner, and people tend to have fairly short memories. After trying a couple times and discovering all of the tables are gone, they will stop looking. I mean...it isn't that hard to get a table at Alinea in advance unless you specifically want some popular night.

This makes me want to go to 42 grams even more:

42 grams will not be accommodating soy/egg/dairy/sugar free, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian or pescatarians with this menu. The tasting menu may contain peanuts, tree nuts, soy, sesame, dairy/egg (and derivatives), sugar, wheat and other glutens. It is not prepared in a kosher or allergy-controlled kitchen. The tasting menu may also feature red meat, pork, seafood (fin fish, shellfish, mollusks), offal, fungi, any number of fruits (berries, stone fruit, etc) and vegetables.

If you or anyone in your party has a food restriction or severe allergy to any of the above we strongly advise against dining with us.

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otc said:

This makes me want to go to 42 grams even more:

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I have a ticket to go in a few weeks. Can't wait.

I see they have a website offering last minute tickets. They got wiped out pretty quickly following the star list announcement, but when I first looked, there were several nights with single tickets available at both the Chef's counter and the communal table.

Wonder what it would be like going there alone...but since it is super close to my apartment, I could see myself buying a single last minute ticket instead of going to the grocery store on a night with nothing else going on.