Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I'm headed to Chicago this Sunday, and back home Tuesday. Monday is all tied up, including a planned dinner at some steak house near the Merchandise Mart, which leaves me Sunday night free. I have one night - one meal - one chance to have a really great meal in Chicago, and I'd like it to be spectacular.

I'll be staying walking distance from the Mart and probably won't have a car. Frontera is right around the corner - but closed on Sunday. Is that common in Chicago? Recommendations for that one dinner??

My husband basically lives at the Mart for weeks on end...I will ask him. He's not there on weekends though. I know Kate G. had an unforgettable once in a lifetime meal at the Trump tower there.

SS,

I've not eaten there, but I've heard wonderful things about Schwa. It may be difficult to get a reservation, and it's a cab ride away from where you're staying. Note that it is BYOB, but the corkage fee is quite reasonable.

I will never eat at Frontera again. We did a dinner there during the Chicago get together (my God, was that really nine years ago?!), and it was a horrible experience, even though they knew we were a group of foodies.

Amy

Alinea is the obvious really expensive choice. http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magaz ... ing/33440/

Tim,

She would have to be exceedingly lucky to get a last minute reservation, which is why I didn't mention it. Of course, that may be true of Schwa as well.

Amy

Amy, I just looked at Schwa, and they aren't open on Sundays - is that a Chicago thing?

Tim, Alinea sells tickets 2-3 months in advance. There's always a slim chance of snagging a last minute table, but they seem to do tickets in 2's, 4's, & 6's. Even if something pops, I'm not sure they'll do a single. But I'm certainly going to try! That would be the ultimate choice.

Assuming Alinea is unlikely at best, I'd still welcome suggestions.

Chris is suggesting Harry Carey for upscale near the mart.(although I am now looking at the site and it's a steakhouse) He travels for business so on a per diem and doesn't go too fancy. .
There's a good Brazilian place nearby too and Mo's cantina for Mexican (again, looking at their site and not necessarily what you are probably looking for). All should have online menus. Or Bridge House for lunch, he had a bacon popcorn appetizer there he still talks about. edit to fix name of restaurant and note they are only open for brunch on Sundays.

Haven't been in town often enough this year to keep up, but here are Chocago Magazine's recommendations.
linky
When I was a kid I would pour over the reviews and carefully chose which new place we would go out to on Friday night. It had to be cheap-at the time it was around 25 bucks for the lot of us-and have interesting food. Their comments tended to be accurate.
If you are willing to take a cab, Green Zebra and Custom House are both very nice, Arun has fantastic Thai, Graham Elliot is supposed to be great, and Moto is a different take on the molecular gastronomy front.
Heck, if you get a good Italian beef sandwich you won't be disappointed!

SS,

So far, my favorite upscale Chicago place has been Purple Pig. I liked them better than Girl and The Goat. And PP is open on Sundays.

three trips and I've not been yet since we always seem to be at the opposite end of the city when dinner hits...and hubby never seems to make it there either, not sure why. Maybe this year. It's rated #8 of 8000+ restaurants on tripadvisor too.