Hi - In Chicago tonight 5/24, need some recs. People here have recommended the following
places.....I want good, innovative food, great selection of wines, cool atmosphere.
Also - a place we CAN get into tonight given that the NRA is in town.
Here's the list in no particular order.
La Madia, Topdiggio, Blackbird, Xoco, Carnival, Decerro, l20, Red Light, decerro
Thanks for the help!
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Red Light
820 W Randolph Steet, Chicago, IL 60607
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La Madia is one of my favorite downtown restaurants for relaxed, casual dining, particularly for lunch where it has a lot of specials. (and if you don't want to wait at Xoco, it's right around the corner). But for innovativeness and interest it's not in the same league as Blackbird, Topo, L20, and Carnival -- the first three of which are also far more expensive. So, if you want to relax and take a breather and be served some respectable Italian food (of the lighter sort) with a thoughtful wine list, La Madia would fit the bill. If you want a very special, memorable meal, where expense is not a concern, Blackbird, L20, Topo, and probably Carnival would probably be the better choices.
›1 Reply -
nsxtasy
May 24, 2010 03:56 PM
>> a place we CAN get into tonight given that the NRA is in town.
Make a reservation. All of those except Xoco take reservations on Opentable.com and you can make them even at the last minute. With a few clicks on your browser you can tell what's available all over town. (Oh, and Xoco is closed on Mondays.)
I'm pretty sure there's no place called Topdiggio; you're thinking either of Topolobampo (Rick Bayless's Mexican restaurant in River North, which accepts reservations on Opentable) or Topo Gigio (the Italian place in Old Town, which doesn't). Look for De Cero by spelling it as two words.
Looking on Opentable for a table for six at 7:30 tonight, La Madia, Carnivale, and Red Light are wide open. There's nothing at Topolobampo or De Cero, both of which are closed on Mondays, at L2O which has a 3:00 pm cutoff for same-day reservations so you'd have to call, or at Blackbird, which usually books up in advance. Other good places with openings shown on Opentable.com for various hours tonight include Cafe Spiaggia, Coco Pazzo, Kiki's Bistro, and most of the steakhouses including David Burke's Primehouse.
