Where to take my staff for a great holiday lunch?

November 19, 2012 5:30 PM

Need recommendations for a great place to take my staff of seven for a holiday lunch in Chicago Loop/Boul Mich area.

My fallback is Naha, but I'd like to try something newer. I'm looking for a trendy place with a casual atmosphere and memorable food. Some data points:

- MK would work, except I swore I'd never eat there again after a horrible sevice failure
- Something like the Purple Pig is close but no cigar; the menu is too eclectic and I don't think they do groups well
- Bandera has the right atmosphere, but I'm looking for a more interesting menu
- No food factories like Grand Lux Cafe, Heaven on Seven or Joe's Steak and Crab, please
- No steakhouses or meat palaces, please
- No Italian restaurants, please
- Sable in the Palomar Hotel would have worked once, but they changed their menu and I dislike it now
- Shaw's is great, mostly, but I'm looking for something newer/trendier/higher end
- Ethnic is fine, provided that it's popular and will have something that appeals to my picky eaters

Again, think of Naha as a baseline.

Thanks for your ideas!

posted by Short Attention Sp to Food & Drink (3 answers total)

Slurping Turtle is real good. It's definitely casual yet memorable, but probably depends on how picky we're talking here.
posted by evisceratordeath at 6:22 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I love Henri. They have a reasonably priced prix fixe lunch menu and I have yet to have a bad meal there. They do a lot of "work dinners" for the place where I work and are always willing to go the extra mile--specially printed menus for the occasion, for example.
posted by fiery.hogue at 7:36 PM on November 19, 2012

Response by poster: Thank you, evisceratordeath and fiery.hogue. Henri it is!
posted by Short Attention Sp at 3:41 AM on November 20, 2012