Group dining in Chicago

[sleopold]

I am looking for a great place that is good for group dining...Im having such a hard time because there are so many freaking places to choose from.

The areas that I would like to stay around are streeterville, river north, downtown area-ish....probably a group of about 12 people. I would like it to be nice (its for a bday party), but reasonable in price. Preferably not a "chain-y" restaurant.....

Thanks
Steph

[ms. mika]

Any preference on type of food? And what do you consider a reasonable price per person?

[sleopold]

No real preference on type of food...reasonable amount per person under $30 for food....plus drinks...$50ish....maybe more, but right around there. Has anyone been to Sable, Capital Grille???

-----
Capital Grille
5340 N River Rd, Rosemont, IL 60018

[chicgail]

Don't know Sable, but Capital Grille is way above your price point. Plus it's a chain out of DC.

You might consider:
Coco Pazzo Cafe on St. Clair
Bandero on Michigan Avenue
Quartino's on North State
Iberico for tapas on LaSalle St.

-----
Quartino
626 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60654

Coco Pazzo Cafe
636 N St Clair, Chicago, IL 60611

[nsxtasy]

I ate at Sable (the restaurant in the new Hotel Palomar in River North) a couple of weeks ago and LOVED IT! The food was absolutely terrific and the prices were a bargain. They also have craft cocktails. It's run by Chef Heather Terhune, who presided over Atwood Cafe until she left a year ago to run Sable. www.sablechicago.com

[sleopold]

Thanks! We ended up trying Sable....food was really good, service started off strong and fell short at the end. I would recommend it.

I had thought about Quartino...they didnt have any available times. I am not a fan of Cafe Iberico....I was unimpressed the last time I was there. Thanks for the heads up on Capital Grille....it was a fall back.

[Kitchen Imp]

I'm looking for the same thing, same number of people, at a similar price point, for next month.

I've got a reservation for us at Quartino but I'm a bit worried because they have a huge party booked for the entire upper floor that night. Does anyone know whether their service and/or kitchen would suffer under those circumstances? It sounds like they do a lot of large groups, but this is a very special birthday and so I'm a bit concerned.

I am also considering Sol y Nieve - anyone have experience with them?

Thanks in advance!