Chicago restaurant rec's

[hz80408]

I live in Chicago, but am not a major foodie (due to my H's pickiness of eating like a child) and often hit up the same spots.

Looking for suggestions for a Saturday night meal for my ILs 60th birthdays where we can get reservations for 5 at end of October somewhere in the city.

FIL loves meat. MIL can't eat garlic. FIL is hard of hearing, so it can't be overly loud.

Up to $50/entree. We eat tapas a lot, so that's out.

ETA:
I looked up Girl and Goat and its not available. SIL/BIL went to RPM Italian and were not impressed, so that's out.

Also looking for night activities, we're considering:
-two birds with one stone: dinner boat cruise
-Second City show
-bowling
-Signature Lounge for drinks (although SIL will be ~24 wks pregnant so we wouln't want that to be an all night event)
-movies

[vampsterdam]

I'm pretty sure you can't make reservations there, but Tango Sur.

Hmm I'm having a hard time thinking of places that aren't loud and/or trendy. Also ones with less crazy food.

Zed 451 is like Fogo de Chao as in it's a nicer buffet, but they have a wide variety. Even my H was impressed with their salad bar. Way better than Fogo's IMO.

Table 52 is more of an upscale Southern restaurant. The chef is Oprah's former chef. It's a really small restaurant and it's definitely not loud there.

With a big group, most LEYE restaurants are a safe bet.

[hz80408]

Oops, I should do some updates!

[wineenthusiast]

We celebrated some birthdays at the Pump Room in Public Chicago Hotel and LOVED it. The prices were really reasonable for the city and the food was so amazing. Not sure if your FIL prefers red meat but the pork chop was the best H has ever had. The ambiance is really cool and it wasnt loud at all.
www.pumproom.com/

[mdgirl]

Aug 16, 2012 10:22:02 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Topolobampo or Frontera Grill might be good if your group likes high-end Mexican.

If you're interested in high end Mexican and you want to go to Second City, Salpicon is a couple blocks down the street and really good.

[hz80408]

Aug 16, 2012 11:35:21 GMT -5 mdgirl said:

If you're interested in high end Mexican and you want to go to Second City, Salpicon is a couple blocks down the street and really good.

Thanks, I've never heard of it. We've done Adobo Grill/2nd City combo before which is convenient

Aug 16, 2012 11:23:22 GMT -5 wineenthusiast said:

We celebrated some birthdays at the Pump Room in Public Chicago Hotel and LOVED it. The prices were really reasonable for the city and the food was so amazing. Not sure if your FIL prefers red meat but the pork chop was the best H has ever had. The ambiance is really cool and it wasnt loud at all.
www.pumproom.com/

Thanks! We actually used to live in the building attached to Public House (when it was Ambassador Hotel); but have yet to try out renovated Pump Room. I’ll add this to our list.

Vampsterdam- Thanks for the suggestions. We love Tango Sur; although we’ve never been able to take ILs there because of the non-reservation issue. It used to be awesome when Take 5 bar was open next door and you could get drinks there while you waited. Thanks for the other suggestions. I’m going to look up their menus.

Rock- I'm still waiting to go to Girl and Goat. Last time I had reservations (made 3 months in advance), we had something come up last minute and had to cancel! And Gage is one of our fav fish'n'chips spots!

We’ve never been to Spaggia. Any thoughts on it?

[natsnow]

I was going to rec Zed451 also. I wouldn't call it a buffet. It's a brazilian steakhouse with amazing meats and a huge "harvest table" that has meats, cheeses, veggies, soup, salads, etc

[hz80408]

Aug 16, 2012 11:59:13 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

One more thing: there are a lot of Chicago foodie ladies on the MM board if you don't get enough responses here.

Thanks, I'll post over there too!

[librarygirl]

Le Colonial is my favorite restaurant. It's French Vietnamese cuisine and the interior is gorgeous (old world French Hanoi etc). It's somewhat upscale but seems like a great celebratory spot.

[hz80408]

Aug 17, 2012 7:18:27 GMT -5 librarygirl said:

Le Colonial is my favorite restaurant. It's French Vietnamese cuisine and the interior is gorgeous (old world French Hanoi etc). It's somewhat upscale but seems like a great celebratory spot.

Thanks. I used to live in Gold Coast, I know exactly where there is, but have never dined there!