New Chicago hotspots
 

I haven't been there in a while but am looking for fun, mid to upper range places to try. Loved Cafe Baba Reeba. Would go again but if something new and in similar vein is out there, would like to try it. Thanks for all suggestions.

I personally love Roy's - it is pan asian cuisine - primarily fish. Same Roy's that is in Hawaii. I prefer the tapas at Emilio's over Baba Reeba. Once you have some suggestions check out the metromix.com website for restaurant reviews - I have found that I agree with a lot of them.

Also - check out www.Chicagoreader.com <BR>They have a great resturant review section with a very good search engine(distance from Theaters etc) Also Cafe Babba reba is a lettuce entertain you resturant,I think most of their resturants tend be be good for groups at mid - high end prices. here is there website:<BR>http://www.leye.com/ <BR>I like National 27 and Brassire Jo<BR><BR>Also think about Topolambabo/Frontera Grill , Bin 36 ,or Opera<BR><BR>

If you're after another Spanish restaurant, Cafe Iberico at 739 N. LaSalle St. is my favorite (partially because they serve everything with alioli)<BR><BR>There's a couple of good Turkish places with belly dancing on the weekend. Ala Turka at 3134 N. Lincoln (I think that's Lakeview) has nicer decor and atmosphere but I slightly prefer the food at Turkish Bakery &amp; Cuisine at 5605 N. Clark (Andersonville).<BR><BR>Greek town restaurants are a lot of fun, we've had good meals at Costa's and Greek Islands, both on Halsted. Santorini on Adams also is rated highly

Thanks for responses. How about Polish, Ukranian or other Eastern European ethnic as a possible lunch place?

-Lutz's cafe and Bakery, <BR>-Bergoff Downtown - Really german, but they have alot of eastern european things on the menu<BR>-Little Bucharest on ashland - I have never been here but I have heard good things. <BR><BR>

Jim,<BR>Why don't you check-out www.metromix.com. It has all the latest openings, what's hot/what's not, reviews, and a great search engine for any style/neighborhood/price restaurant. It also has great info on bar/nightclub as well as theater/concert scene. <BR>Great site and worth a look!<BR>Have a great trip!

I think the best Polish places will be on Milwaukee Avenue around 3100-3200 north. Do a search on metromix as was suggested and a whole bunch pop up, you can look at customer reviews on there as well.<BR><BR>Over near the Art Institute at 77 W. Adams is Russian Tea Time. It's a bit on the pricey side but the food is good.<BR><BR>Not for lunch but an option for dinner if you're really looking for an ethnic experience is Serbian food at Skadarlija at 4024 N. Kedzie Ave. The place doesn't really get going until late,everyone smokes and there's live Serbian music. They have a veal dish, wrapped around some kind of goat cheese sauce, that is delicious.<BR><BR>Metromix lists Little Bucharest as Euro Cafe, also only open for dinner.<BR><BR>Another couple of ideas-Reza's for Middle Eastern food, 2 locations, one closer to downtown on Ontario, and there have been several Brazilian places that have opened in last last year or two, Fogo de Chao is the one I've seen reviews of, but you have to bring a big appetite and love meat.

Thanks for such good info. Now I need to figure out how to stay longer so I can sample more of these great sounding places.

Chicago Magazine's May issue has a listing of the 20 best new restaurants. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that the online site has a way to access the article.<BR><BR>Anyway, listed among the 20 is Hortex, a Polish restaurant at 7149 West Irving Park Road, here's a link to a mini review<BR><BR>http://www.chicagomag.com/dining/1102realchi.htm#more<BR><BR>Opera (Chinese) and Fogo de Chao (Brazilian), mentioned in above posts, are also on the top 20 list.