MemberHi girls:
We are getting married next summer down near Michigan Ave and Northwestern’s medical campus. Does anyone have any good rehearsal dinner suggestions??
We are thinking around 60 people.
MemberI’m not sure if you have a budget, but I would highly recommend Spiaggia.
MemberWe’re doing ours at Rock Bottom Brewery. You can get a private room upstairs which is nice, and the prices were reasonable compared to a lot of the other downtown restaurants.
MemberThanks ladies. @brwneyedgrl, Spiaggia might be a little high for my fiance’s parents to pay, but I’ll definitely look into it. It looks delicious!!
@dookie32, I love Rock Bottom. Thanks for the tip. I didn’t even think if it.
MemberWe’re not doing one anymore because of budget reasons…but our building concierge sent me this. Our guests are staying at Hotel Palomar (Sable is the restaurant there) so these are all suggestions from around there (sorry the fonts pasted so weird!). Thought this might help someone!
The Sable Kitchen has a heavy shared plates menu and is extremely reasonable- I attached the menu for you. If people are arriving that night, it might be convenient for you to have it there. If you have a budget you want to spend as a total or per person, I can see how and where in the hotel we can arrange this for you. The Chef for Sable Kitchen also caters all the events in the hotel, so I am sure we can customize something for you if this is your ideal location. Also FYI- There is a complimentary Wine Tasting for all guests that stay at the Hotel Palomar from 5pm-6pm each evening! (Knowing how unpredictable weather can be in August, sometimes convenience may be best….especially for older family members).
MemberThat’s great @jen33! Thank you.
MemberHi Meganrose!
My fiance and I are getting married at Fourth Church across from the Hancock building this August so we were looking at rehearsal dinner spots in that same area, nothing as expensive as Spiaggia but still nice. We were thinking much smaller though, around 30 people. We ended up going with McCormick & Shmicks which is right next to the church, so location/convenience won out with a crowd that is almost entirely downtown and staying at the James Hotel (where our reception is). Here are the other place we looked at, all within one mile of the Hancock Building. I am also including the estimated open bar cost/person and the estimated food cost for a sit-down dinner per person. This is totally based on my own estimates, so if anyone from the restuarant industry is checking this out, please feel free to update!!
Restaurant
Est Bar Cost/Person
Est Food Cost/Person
Ditka’s
32
45
McCormick & Schmick’s
25
35
Grand Lux Café
25
40
Osteria Via Stato
35
42
Weber Grill Restaurant
25
33
Joe’s Seafood & Stone Crab
30
55
Shaw’s Crab House
30
45
Sullivan’s
unknown
59
Haray Caray’s
26
40
Maggiano’s
24
41
Brasserie Jo
25
40
I hope that is helpful for you–I’d love for someone else to benefit from my hours of research! Congrats and have fun picking out a place!
MemberYou ladies are the best!!! Thanks for all the info @MindyLeigh!
I have to head to Chicago in early October, so I’ll be scoping things out then.
Memberyou ladies were a great help! I think we’re going to end up going with Harry Carays! It fits our budget and ties in nicely with the baseball loving side of my fiance and I!
MemberThis is such a great thread! I just wanted to give it a little bit, as I am pulling my hair out a little to find an affordable rehearsal dinner spot in downtown Chicago. 🙂
Are there any other ideas out there?
MemberIt’s not downtown, but Cafe ba ba Reeba in Lincoln Park is excellent and last time I checked their prices were reasonable.
For a smaller group, I like the idea of a rehearsal/welcome dinner at Giordano’s/ Pizzeria Uno/Lou Malnati’s – it’s casual and fun and out of towners love the deep dish pizza. Plus it’s budget friendly.
MemberBoth good ideas! I love Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, but am just a tad concerned about it being a bit far north for everyone staying in hotels downtown. I love the pizza party idea – I don’t think the budget for that can be beat! 🙂
MemberAlso, has anyone run into a problem with minimums? We’re hearing about $3,000 food and drink minimums just about everywhere we’ve asked for proposals…
Member3 suggestions:
Cafe Iberico. I think it’s better than Ba Ba Reeba, and it’s much closer to downtown (LaSalle and Chicago). Also very affordable.
Quartino. Great pizzas and small plate Italian. Great wine. Also quite affordable.
Trattoria Isabella. Cute little Italian place. Great staff. Met my H there so I’m partial to it 🙂
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