Chicago-Hugo's Frog Bar
 

Would anyone recommend this restaurant as a good place for 10 to go before the Lion King this Friday night?
ez

Sorry, but if you think you are going to get reservations for 10 people at Hugo's this Friday, dream on!! Yes, it's a great restaurant. So great you have to book in advance, especially for a weekend. A party of ten?? I'd book two months in advance.

I ate there last year (in early December 2002). While the food was good, it was very hectic. We had a reservation for 8 pm, did not get seated until nearly 9 pm and had to keep badgering (nicely, but with increasingly less patience) to see what was happening with our table. The place was mobbed, so waiting around was not that comfortable--there was no place to sit down, we had to stand for nearly an hour (not so bad for me with my sensible shoes, but my colleagues were all Italian ladies wearing fashionable pointy toed high heels), holding our coats (no place to put them). All in all, I would recommend against it if you think you might be in any kind of time crunch.

I've heard good things about Hugo's, you still might try giving them a call, you never know.

I tried to see if they had availability on www.opentable.com but they don't do online reservations for over 4 people. But they did have availiabilty for parties of 4.

Give yourself plenty of time though if you choose this one, I've heard lots of stories of people waiting for an hour even with reservations. And you're more likely to get a reservation at 5 or 5:30.

It is not close to the Palace Theater so you will have to take a cab.

I agree that it's unlikely that you'll get a reservation for this Friday for that many people, but give it a try. It's sister restaurant, Gibson's, shares the kitchen so you might want to try there too. It is a great restaurant.

Thanks for your input. We had made reservations for 5:30 but hearing the problems you had with getting seated, we decided to go to the Chicago Chop House for a late lunch instead! The Lion King is at the Cadillac Palace at 8:00 so that will give us time to eat and walk it off before we sit for 3 hours! Thanks for your help.
ez