Chicago and suburbs

BYO Forum - Wine at Restaurants
41

Had a dinner for 12 at May Street Market on Wednesday and thought it was an excellent BYO option. It would also be a good offline location.

Food is Modern American with a focus on seasonal ingredients. There’s a great value $35 pre fixe, otherwise a la carte is pretty reasonable too.

Weds is free corkage night, although the menu suggested that you could BYO any night. Probably worth emailing them if you’re looking for a different night.

They have good stems.

42

Clayton-
We’ve heard a ton of great feedback on May Street Market- what are your thoughts on some ideal varietals for a offline there?

43

Hey Megan, thanks for the tip… glad you made it over here, you should check in at the new members thread at The Asylum.

44

Shane, we also like May St (and manage to forget about it cause it ain’t on Opentable, duh.)
I would think Pinot/Southern Rhone/Italian would fit there the best, but pretty much anything properly aged should work short of ooze monsters. For instance, we brought two SQN syrahs there one night; the 1997 Impostor McCoy worked, but the 2005 Atlantis not so much.

45

May Street Market will close as of October 30th, 2010…
the tweeted the news…
http://twitter.com/#!/maystreetmarket/status/28951565277

46

Bummer

47

I was told by the manager @ Longman and Eagle that corkage will be waved if you buy a bottle off the list.

48

Was at Ruxbin last night. Good food, nice people working there and never felt rushed.

49

Thanking you for the recommendation, David… zero corkage, good stems, truly excellent food and service. Nice place for an OL, IMHOP.

50

Had a great dinner last night at a BYOB I just found called Dorado Restaurant. The bill themselves as a fusion of mexican and french cuisine, but I think it’s more like mexican with french techniques. I’ve written up my experience on a thread on LTH Forum. I highly recommend it.

51

John what did you guys drink? I’ve been wanting to do a Cab Franc tasting and Dorado would be a good spot me thinks.

52

Coincidentally, one of the wines we had was a Cab Franc based wine. I brought two bottles, one red and one white, that we had brought back with us from a visit to some friends who live in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region of Canada. Here’s a link to the tasting notes elsewhere on WB. I think a Cab Franc offline would be cool there.

53

Hey John, were the lamb chops as good as the ones at Cote du Rhone?

[head-bang.gif]

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54

[rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]

I could eat my shoe and it would be better than the lamb at Cote du Rhone.

My wife and I went to Dorado again last night with another couple at the last minute, because we couldn’t get into Ruxbin Kitchen (they open at 5:30, we got there at 5:40 and they were full). We had a great meal. I ordered the lamb again, but had them substitute the chipotle mashed potatoes. Definitely the right call on the potatoes. The lamb came out underdone (the middle was raw). They fired a new set no questions asked and the new ones were perfect. Definitely a great service place.

55

Nightwood (http://nightwoodrestaurant.com/) allows corkage for $15. I love this place (just had some delicious grilled sardines for brunch). Stemware is more than serviceable.

I was also at Ria on Friday (http://www.riarestaurantchicago.com/), and was told I could bring wine for a corkage fee of $35. It’s probably worth calling ahead to double check. I went with friends of the restaurant, so I can’t say for certain whether this is official policy. FWIW, I ended up not bringing wine, as there are some deals on the list. Stemware is, unsurprisingly, outstanding.

56

Bluette Cafe - Wilmette
Usable Stems
BYOB - No Corkage
www.bluettecafe.com

Very hit or miss from my experience, but apparently on the upswing

Abagail’s - Highland Park
Good Stems
$15 Corkage - often waived or negotiated down
www.abigails493.com

Very good American Bistro

Inovasi - Lake Bluff
Good Stems
$15 Corkage - often waived
28 E Center Ave Lake Bluff, IL 60044-2585 - (847) 295-1000

American Bistro - unique farm fresh menu, very good.

Trattoria Oliverii - Northbrook
Passable Stems
$10 Corkage
http://oliveriinorthbrook.com/

Very good family owned Italian joint

Cooper’s Hawk - Orland Park, Burr Ridge, Wheeling, South Barrington, Naperville
Good Stems
$8 Corkage

Concept is a higher-end causal American Bistro that makes own wine.

57

Had a terrific experience at 160 Blue last night

1400 W Randolph St
Chicago, Illinois 60607
(312) 850-0303

This restaurant has fallen off the radar over the last number of years, but their wine service is impeccable, and last night’s meal is one of the best I’ve had in Chicago over the last 6 months.

One terrific private room and one good private room.

Went with regular last night and they waived corkage, so you’d have to call for the per/bottle rate.

58

Nice— sounds like an O/L is in order.

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59

Ate a nice meal and good experience with nice French theme Saturday night at:

Bistro Bordeaux
618 Church St
(between Chicago Ave & Orrington Ave)
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 424-1483
www.LeBistroBordeaux.com

French Bistro Menu

$15 corkage on Saturday nights, I think some days its no corkage.
We brought a Champagne, so I cannot comment on stems, but flutes we fine.

60

Hello all,

I added Glenn’s Diner to the master list at the top of this thread. I had a great dinner there about a month ago and will be there again on Saturday night. The seafood is excellent, which is their specialty. Stems are non-existant, so bring your own glasses. They have a small wine list but fully expect people to BYO. They state $5 per bottle corkage, but when we were there they only charged us a single $5 for the table. That seemed appropriate due to the lack of glassware.

Glenn’s Diner
1820 W. Montrose
Chicago, IL
773-506-1720
http://www.glennsdiner.com/home.html