Chicago-Great food with interactive atmosphere

[adagiodream]

In Chicago for a couple days the first of May. Looking for a spot where the food is fabulous...but where the atmosphere, staff, and other guests are engaged with each other...somewhat interactive and fun! I've been to a few Italian restaurants in NY where guests are singing with the owner...dancing around the tables...lots of fun and a great way to meet others when traveling.

Any ideas in the Chicago area? We'll be staying on E. Huron...but very willing to travel if needed. Doesn't have to be elegant by any means...but can be upscale if the atmosphere is great.

Thanks!
Lisa

[jkap910]

Used to be a place called the mashed potato club. Since it closed, not so great. We do have 2 piano bars that I think would do the trick. Red head piano bar is an institution. No food, but really good time after dinner. Howl at the moon has food, but it is nothing to write home about. Great atmosphere in there, and a blast!!

[Mugs]

Greektown's restaurants can be interactive. If you order saginaki the waiter will exclain "Opaa!" upon lighting it and other diners will look your way. That can lead to table-to-table conversation. This is most likely to happen at the Parthenon and Greek Islands and least likely to happen at Costa's and Santorini.

Some of the acclaimed gourmet joints in the West Loop might have communal seating, e.g., Avec, but I've no first-hand experience.

You could try LTHforum.com and also metromix.com.

Have fun.

[bryan]

The first place that came to mind was Ed Debevicks (sp?). But yes, Greektown is a great idea.

I don't recall there ever being an "opera" type place here. And while I love opera, I don't think I want it up close and personal while I'm eating dinner.

The next place I thought of was the drag show restaurant on Halsted, but I cannot recall the name. I've heard it's quite popular for a girls night out thing. But once again, do I really want dinner with Liza and Judy singing at me?

[lbs]

That's the Kit Kat Club on Halsted. Not so bad - the girls are all good singers and it's actually in good taste. The thing that surprised me the most was that the food was quite good. We just did appetizers and one that stood out was the friend green tomatoes. It's also a fancy kind of place. White linen, etc,