Fun, tasty food and great experience for girl's night out

[foodslave]

I need a recommendation for some where to take my best friend for a night out on the town. Preferably something exotic or unusual (like Ethiopian, Thai, etc), where the quality is great, the ambience good,maybe a bit on the trendy side, and maybe in a part of the city where there are other things happening nearby (like a theatre, club, etc). Oh, and eating with your hands is always cool....

Thanks fellow Chowhounders!

[nmalphrus]

We recently discovered a website www.greatgirltrips.com -- it has suggestions for restaurants in Chicago. Might be helpful

[nsxtasy]

Two neighborhoods with a large concentration of entertainment options are River North and the West Loop. Here are several places that would be perfect for your girls night out, with interesting great food, fun trendy atmosphere, etc:

Nacional 27 (Latin fusion, River North) - www.nacional27.net
Carnivale (Latin fusion, West Loop) - www.carnivalechicago.com
Red Light (pan-Asian, West Loop) - www.redlight-chicago.com
Sunda (pan-Asian, River North) - www.sundachicago.com
Cafe Iberico (tapas, River North) - www.cafeiberico.com
Quartino (Italian small plates, River North) - www.quartinochicago.com

[jjo]

One recommendation: Marigold for dinner and the Green Mill for jazz. Marigold is somewhat upscale Indian, and the Green Mill is half a block away.