May Event Space

The splashy Chicago outpost of Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House opened in early December. In the Gold Coast venue that formerly housed the Esquire theater, the restaurant has four private dining rooms. The smallest, the Oak room, can accommodate six to eight guests; the Esquire room can hold 35; and the Double Eagle room can host functions for 15 to 50. The mezzanine can be rented out to hold 90; when combined with the Double Eagle room, it can host receptions for around 150. Along with steaks, hearty side dishes such as macaroni and cheese, and desserts including a six-layer lemon Doberge cake, the venue offers 1,500 kinds of wine.

Chef Stephanie Izard of Girl & the Goat opened Little Goat in December in partnership with the Boka Restaurant Group. In the West Loop, the 8,200-square-foot space serves traditional diner fare made with farm-fresh, local ingredients. Options include a sloppy Joe on a fried steam bun, quail-egg chop suey, and patty melts. The entire venue, decked with 1950s-diner-style tropes, seats around 120. On the first floor, there's a bar, the diner, and an artisan bread and coffee shop. The second floor houses a demo kitchen and classroom for group cooking classes. The space will be available for meetings and private events and holds 40.

Master sommelier Alpana Singh opened the Boarding House in River North earlier this month. With multiple floors, the upscale restaurant and wine bar took over a vintage building that was—appropriately—a boardinghouse at one time. Billed as the city's first restaurant owned by a master sommelier, the eatery offers wine-driven menus developed by chef Christian Gosselin of Sofitel Chicago and Bistronomic. In the cellar and first-floor wine bar, the menu focuses on California-style pizzas, shared plates, and charcuterie. The second floor serves as the private dining room and hosts dinners for 40. The third level has a seating capacity of 90, with an additional 20 seats on an adjoining mezzanine.

Top Chef's Fabio Viviani plans to open Siena Tavern in River North in February. The Italian restaurant's intimate private dining room can host dinners for 15. It has a rustic chef's table with high-back seating, and a two-way mirror hides a 50-inch plasma TV that can hook up to Apple TV. An elevated deck on the eastern side of the restaurant holds a bar made out of salvaged airplane materials and an attached DJ booth; it can host private events for 50. The restaurant's focal point is a wood-stone pizza oven that can bake 16 pies at once.

From the owners of Old Town Social, Nellcôte took over the former Marché space in March. Catering to meetings, events, and banquets, the 11,000-square-foot restaurant is outfitted with crystal chandeliers, an Italian marble staircase, and a flower wall covered with live lavender. The space can hold 150 on its main floor and 250 if the upper level is used as well. Drop-down screens are built in throughout the space, which is also stocked with double-sided projectors. The interior can also host cocktail receptions for 500. A patio covered with flowery arches can seat 40 or hold 60 for cocktails. The menu has Neapolitan-style pizzas, house-made pastas, and meat and seafood dishes. The venue's name was inspired by Villa Nellcôte, a French estate where the Rolling Stones holed up to record Exile on Main St.

Balena, a new spot from the Boka Restaurant Group, opened in Lincoln Park in March. The Wine Cellar can host meetings for 40 and has two flat-screen TVs that can connect to laptops; hosts can also plug their own iPods into the venue's music system. Serving Italian-inspired fare, Balena has dedicated event menus with appetizers such as goat's-milk ricotta with honey and black pepper, platters of meatballs with gravy and aged provolone, and family-style dinners with options such as whole-roasted market fish and kale Caesar salad.

A 30,000-square-foot combination of restaurant, winery, event space, and concert hall, City Winery opened a Chicago location in August. The restaurant can seat 175 or hold 350 for receptions; the concert hall seats 300. The private barrel dining room, complete with audiovisual equipment for meetings, can seat 30. The winery seats 45, while the concert hall seats 320. The entire mezzanine can seat 175, and a smaller mezzanine dining room can host dinners for 18. The restaurant also has a private wine garden, which can seat 150. Billed as the city's sole fully operating winery, the venue offers 18 wines on tap and a menu of Mediterranean-inspired small plates such as eggplant, tomato, and feta paninis; main courses include burgers topped with broiled goat cheese, tarragon, and apricot-fenugreek ketchup.