Dinner near Hilton Ohare airport

[ruby]

I am planning a meeting at the Hilton in October. The guests are flying in from around the country for one night. Any suggestions for good dinner spots within walking distance or short cab ride? Everyone will be on their own -- no large groups. TIA

[BRB]

There are quite a few spots to dine within a 5 or so minute cab ride from the O'Hare Hilton, depending upon what you are looking for.

For steaks, there's the Rosemont location of the Chicago steakhouse Gibson's, on River Road. There's also a Morton's Steakhouse very close to the Gibson's on Bryn Mawr just off River.

For Chicago-style deep dish pizza, there's Giordano's, at the corner of River & Higgins.

Carlucci's is pretty decent for Italian (pretty good pastas, but all steaks, seafood, etc. It's on River across the street from the Westin and right next to the Marriott Suites.

At Manheim and Higgins, there's the Rosemont location of Harry Caray's (Italian/Steaks).

Around Higgins and Manheim there's also Nick's Fishmarket, an upscale Chicago seafood restaurant.

There's Maria's, which offers decent versions of standard Americanized-Mexican fare.

Rosewood is next door to Giordano's and offers upscale continental food (a little cheesy for me).

The Ram Brewery & Restaurant offers house brewed beers and pretty decent burgers.

All of the above are within 5 or so minutes of the hotel and all are upscale (except for maybe Giordano's, the Ram and Maria's) and you'll generally get a pretty good meal at any of them.

There are a number of more independent restaurants which I think are a little better in value and quaintness in the general area, but maybe 10-15 minutes from the hotel. Included in this category are Basilico (red sauce Italian), Edelweiss (German), Mj2 (upscale American), Black Ram (steaks/continental).

Let me know if you want a few more details on any of them

[nsxtasy]

Black Ram is only about five minutes away as well. All of the food there is absolutely GREAT - the steaks, the seafood, the desserts, everything. It doesn't get a lot of press, but it gets a lot of repeat business. The proprietor greets lots of arriving guests by name. And it's not loud and bustling like Gibson's and Morton's. If you're looking for a great steakhouse (and seafood) restaurant that nobody ever heard of, this is it. Highly recommended.

Black Ram Steak House
1414 Oakton St.
Des Plaines, IL 60019
847.824.1227
http://www.blackramsteakhouse.com

For Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, I agree that Giordano's is always a good recommendation for folks from out of town. Look on their website for the Rosemont location; that's the one BRB is referring to. Also let your guests know that it takes 30-45 minutes for the pizza to bake, but you can call ahead with your order if you don't want to wait that long in the restaurant, and they can have it ready when you expect to arrive. www.giordanos.com