Dec 5, 2008

Monk's Pub, 205 W Lake Street, Chicago

My FAVORITE place for lunch by our office.

Great atmosphere, great service and GREAT FOOD.

I only order the teryaki chicken sandwich (with curly fries)/companion had buffalo chicken wings.

Always $25 for 2.

Rating: 10

The Bar, The Peninsula Chicago

It Sucked.

Over hyped, unfriendly, pretentious service.

Tables marked with "reserved" at 10:30 pm on a Wednesday night, told we couldn't sit there, when we left they were still open.

1 chocolate martini and 1 "312" beer (a good one from Goose Island) = $25.

Drunken, older crowd, I WILL NEVER RETURN.

The hotel was very pretty and well decorated.

Rating: .1 (only in the positive because of great decorations)

Park Hyatt, 800 N Michigan, Chicago

AWESOME.

AWESOME.

AWESOME.

Finally a place in the Hyatt chain that values a diamond member. I used a "fast and free" night, and we were upgraded to a suites, and when I choose the campaign as my "gift", they sent up 2 bottles and a cheese plate.

The room was great, quiet and AWESOME!!!!

Rating: 10

Dirty Dancing, Cadillac Theatre, Chicago IL

It was OK, first seat was really good with lots of dancing, second set was LONG and BORING, I would have left early, but Katie said it was "just like the movie" and she LOVED it.

It began at 7:30 pm and didn't end until 10:15, including 20 min intermission with a $6 beer.

Theatre was 30% full and the $125 tickets for 14 rows back and center were too much, when you could have bought the cheapies and walked down to sit anywhere.

Rating 6

Ditkas, 100 E. Chestnut, Chicgo

I love the bar here, especially at Christmas - great decorating and love the "vibe". We ate in the bar, I had "fridge burger", Katie had salad and turkey Chili, and we ordered the wings (HORRIBLE, I couldn't eat even one---funky garlic/breading taste). She had a couple of wines and I had several Hacker Pshorrs.

$105.53 with tip

Rating 9.6

Dec 2, 2008

Catch 35, Naperville - Saturday 11/29

Returned to the scene of the crime again on Saturday November 29th. Party of 8, and we arrived around 8 pm. The entrance was busy/crowded, although there were seats at the bar. It took them 5 minutes to seat us, and there were empty tables.

One big change from our visit from last Saturday, they didn't have the 24.99 laminated special menu on the table this week. Someone in our party had to ask for it.

The service was great, and I had the swordfish special and it was awesome. They are now 2 or 2 in terms of us having a great meal there. And it was even better due to the service.

Almost everyone in the party (except me) had the special, lots of wine and Hacker Pshor for me, and the bill with tip was 122.98.

Rating 9

Sugar Toad, Naperville IL 11/28

2139 CityGate Lane, Naperville, 630-778-8623

A brand new place located in the Arista Hotel at 59 and Butterfield. It is a strange layout, with a small bar right in the dining space and a long slender room overlooking the parking lot.

There was only one other table in the place, it was Friday night after Thanksgiving at 8 pm, and it was strange to dine being able to hear the conversation at the table next to us. The service was good, they used 6 waiters to deliver all entrees at the same time, but the wine guy felt compelled to listen/join in on our conversation.

I drank beer and was bit disappointed they didn't have Hacker Pshor, just Blue Moon, while everyone else drank wine. They did provide a complimentary appetizer, their "famous" crab cakes which were good.

Our party included a master chef, and his wife who is also a chef. Her comment was "this guy knows how to cook". The menu was a bit limited, and I had the Kobe flat-iron steak. It was really interesting, I have had Kobe steaks before, but this cut was new to me. I liked it, but it was really different.

It was a long meal which was strange since there was only 1 other table, it was also on the expensive side, total bill with tip came in at $204.03. We had a couple of bottles of wine, several beers, salads, entree and desert.

Everyone else in our party of 6 really enjoyed the meal, while I thought it was better than average. I would return if I had to.

Rating 8+