Where should I eat in Chicago?

October 17, 2007 4:45 PM

What's a good seafood or American restaurant near the United Center in Chicago?

We're heading to Chicago this weekend to see Springsteen at the United Center. I'm looking for a nice place to eat dinner (preferably seafood, but some kind of American restaurant would be OK too) before the shows.

We would prefer a nice place, but not an extremely dressy place, as we'll both probably be in jeans.

Where should we go?

posted by whatideserve to food & drink (7 comments total)

How close of a place are you looking for? If you're looking for someplace walkable, there isn't really much over there. If you're willing to take a cab or buses, there are some great places in the Randolph St market district where you could wear jeans. Both Red Light and Marche would be good options.
posted by awegz at 5:08 PM on October 17, 2007

Yeah, you're probably looking at a cab ride for dinner. There's very little really close to the UC.

On the plus side, Greektown, Taylor Street (the remnants of Little Italy) and the aforementioned Randolph Street are nearby. Lots of good seafood to be had in Greektown, along Halsted -- try Santorini to start. If sushi is acceptable under "seafood," there's Starfish and Sushi Wabi.
posted by me3dia at 5:19 PM on October 17, 2007

Randolph Street is a good bet. There's lots of good places, although they tend toward the French or panAsian.

The Randolph Street Tasting room has one of the very best views of the city. It's a wine bar (and a cab ride to the United Center; there is *nothing* near the United Center), but the food is good.

If you're willing to go all the way into the Loop, I highly recommend Catch35 (seafood) or the South Water Kitchen.
posted by crush-onastick at 6:09 PM on October 17, 2007

Not really a seafood place; but the lobster mac & cheese is out of of this world. I recco Phil & Lou's.
posted by cusack at 7:52 PM on October 17, 2007

Thanks for all the recommendations so far. I didn't realize there wasn't anything close to UC, so we'll probably hit Randolph Street one night and maybe Greektown the another night.
posted by whatideserve at 8:25 PM on October 17, 2007

Since there's not much in the way of nice food at the UC, I'd recommend you consider the Billy Goat Inn - a mere 4 block walk from the UC, and sister restaurant of the source of cheezborger, cheezborger, cheezborger ... no coke, pepsi!...

Tasty reasonably priced fast eats... It's casual and not what you're specifically looking for.. but there's not much in the way of fine dining by the UC that I'm aware of.
posted by twiggy at 12:14 AM on October 18, 2007

You can take the Damen bus north towards Augusta. Get off at Augusta and walk east to Ashland and go to El Barco.

Or take the bus up to Division and visit Smokedaddy, its American BBQ.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:00 AM on October 18, 2007