I am planning a trip to chicago for my sister's bachelorette party. We are all in our mid 20s and there are seven of us. I have made reservations at topolabampo, but i am wondering if that is going to be to stuffy/and expensive. I am just looking for a fun/nice place to go out to dinner before we go out. I have made reservations at scoozis for saturday night. Any suggestions on where I should make reservations other than those two places or anywhere that would be more fun? We are going to be staying downtown at the millenium knickerbocker hotel. Any recommendations on bars and things to do after dinner would be greatly appreciated!! thanks!!

Topolobampo is lovely, but very expensive and the portions are smallish and more gourmet. You'd probably have a more fun night at the attached Fronterra Grill--same ownership, upscale Mexican, but more casual and reasonable than the exclusive Topolobampo. The only catch is that they don't take reservations.

The food isn't anything to talk about, but we have never had a more fun time than when we went to Ed Debevics. The more people you have, the faster you get in (no reservations either). We had a group of 10 and waited 5 minutes. Groups of 2 were told 45 minutes to an hour.

I would definately try some tapas. My favorate is Iberico on LaSalle, but Cafe Ba Ba Reba and Sangria in Lincoln Park are also lots of fun. Check out Metromix.com for reviews. You will also want to spend some time on Rush street (which is relatively close to your hotel). I am not sure when you are coming, but if the weather is nice it is great to sit ouside and people watch. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Enjoy Chicago

I agree with Rocky's choices on tapas and Rush Street for night life. Should be a good time!

We recently went to a Turkish place in Lakeview (a few miles from downtown) called A la Turka with a large group and everyone enjoyed it. On the weekends they have belly dancing which is a hoot!

http://www.turkishkitchen.us/

Afterwards we went to a comedy improv show at Comedy Sportz which is about a mile away from A la Turka. Comedy Sportz is BYOB so you can bring your own spirits

http://www.comedysportzchicago.com/

Another fun idea for groups is Spanish tapas where you can share all the small dishes, I don't think Cafe Iberico on LaSalle (closest to downtown) takes reservations on the weekends but Cafe Ba Ba Reeba up in Lincoln Park might. And the Lincoln Park area will have better places to go out afterward than downtown

http://www.cafebabareeba.com/
http://www.cafe-iberico.com/

I always end up in Greektown for lunch but I think that might also be a fun group place to go. Greek Islands is my favorite, you might check and see if they do anything special on weekends

http://www.greekislands.net/contact/contact.html

I really enjoyed Ed Debevic's when I was younger and it was still run by Melman but the quality of the food the last time I was there was awful and it was expensive for what you got. It's a 50s style diner with sassy wait staff and 50s music blaring.

I agree with the posts steering you towards the tapas bars - they are fun and encourage a lot of interaction. You might look into something like Howl at the Moon for fun afterwards or if you want to get a little crazy try and look into getting a table at the Baton Lounge - a crossdressing revue show. Very fun and FILLED with bachelorette parties. Metromix.com will have tons of info.

sushi samba, cafe ba reba (best tapas in the city and most fun), Japonais, National 27 and Tizi Melloul would all be great choices for girls visiting the city.
As far as bars Rockitt (current hot spot), Fulton Lounge, Reserve, Le Passage. If you want something fun and interesting to do I would also highly recommend the baton club. It is a blast! Of course another suggestion is Second City which is a big Chicago Tradition of comedians.

Hi there...I agree with many of chicago31's recommendations. You should definitely hit Rockit Bar & Grill on one of those nights...perfect for a bunch of young twentysomething divas, plenty of eyecandy for guys and girls alike. I know one of the owners and he's a young hottie that you'd love. (Tell 'em Billy Dec told you to come pay them a visit.) I definitely don't recommend topolabambo or scoozi...both have good food, but I don't think the atmosphere is nearly festive enough (both cater to more of a late 30s and up crowd). On your other night, you should go to either Nacional 27 (great latin fusion food/drinks, upscale, plus awesome salsa dancing action. We go all the time and it's a blast.) OR Japonais (excellent japanese-french fusion and drinks, gorgeous place, kickin' lounge downstairs, it's been THE place for a while). Off the beaten track is 4taste - my sister had her bachelorette dinner there...great upbeat music, atmosphere, contemporary tapas, etc. Iberico is upbeat for sure, but it's pretty casual, so I don't know if it's what's you're looking for.

For a drag show experience, you can go to either Baton Club as suggested or Mashed Potato Club, if that still exists. (I think it might've been replaced with Coyote Ugly, which is another place you can hit up. That's pretty close by to Nacional 27 and the girl bartenders supposedly dance on the bar counter so you can join them.)

In terms of good bars, Soundbar, which is a club often hosts international DJs and is also a hop skip and a jump from Nacional 27, Coyote Ugly, etc. Reserve and Fulton Lounge are both cool places in my hood (West Loop near Lake St.)Sonoteque on West Chicago ave. is always good, but a little more remote from the main bar/club action in River North and in the West Loop by Lake street.

Hope that helps. As you can tell, I'm a Chi-town party girl. There's plenty more where that came, just let me know if you need any other suggestions.

Oh yeah, one more tip. Most of the true bars or lounges won't have a cover, but clubs like Soundbar, Vision, Sonoteque, etc., definitely will. You should check out their websites online and see if you can sign up ahead of a time to get on their guestlists (usually you have to get there by 11 or midnight to get admission comp'd). You can also try calling the night before or the day of and let them know your bringing a large group of YOUNG, good-looking girls in for a bachelorette and see what they can do for you. Lots of times they'll give you VIP status so you'll get stamped to go into the VIP areas. Have fun!

I've been to all the places posted...all good suggestions. I would go with the Tapas Bars because they are fun and lively, give you the start to a totally cool weekend and the sangrias as amazing!

Cafe Baba Reba is great but it is crowded but call ahead for a large group. Ed Devevics is fun and very very casual but it also is very family oriented. On the other hand, if you want to start getting rowdy somewhere, that could be a good place as well. The wait staff is trained to be obnoxious!

Another place is Dick's Last Resort. It's near Navy Pier. Great shrimp and crab, all finger food and they love bachelorette parties...they may ask for a pair of panities to put up behind the bar. See if you can get Rick...very cool, nice butt and well, he's very accomodating to single women. Good luck and have fun in Chi-town!

I love tapas but they're not really "big night out" kind of places. You can get awesome sangria, mojitos and caiprainas at Nacional 27. Babareeba's ok but it's smack in the middle of Lincoln Park, so unless you're into heading after to bars a la college bar atmosphere with guys in baseball caps and flannels, I'd pass on that.

Ed's is way to casual and it's a big family place. Dick's is...well, Dick's. Fun in the summer when you can pull your boat up to their dock on the river, but other than that, it's old news and cheesy. (No offense Icpc22.)

was gonna recommend Cafe Ba Bareeba like someone else mentioned!

It's good, fun, inexpensive...we went there for my girl friends bachelorette party last May and there was 8 of us and we eached paid like 25.00...tons of food and tons of sangria. It's in a nice area too, easy to get to...and we got free dessert ;-)