Venues

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.

Chef Curtis Duffy, formerly of Avenues at the Peninsula, opened his own restaurant in December. Named Grace, the West Loop eatery has two multicourse prix-fixe menus and a private dining room that seats 14. The lofty space, decked with exposed brick walls and vertical beams, is available for buyout. It has a 64-seat dining room and a lounge that can hold 16.

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.

Gather, a contemporary American restaurant, opened in December in Lincoln Square. The venue's back room can host private dinners for 12 or receptions for 20. Chef Ken Carter is a Charlie Trotter's alumnus and prepares ingredient-driven, seasonal cuisine. Menu items include pan-seared walleye, tagliatelle with mushrooms and lemon-garlic butter, and sticky buns. The casual venue, conceived as a neighborhood gathering spot (hence the name), is decked with subway tiles and graphite granite countertops.

Park Tavern opened in the West Loop near the United Center in December. The gastropub has three private dining rooms that can hold groups of 20 to 225; the entire space can also be reserved for groups of 600. The 10,000-square-foot space has a lodge-style setting and serves craft beers and playful pub grub such as Animal Tots (pulled pork, gravy, and cheese curds over tater tots) and the Little Jar of Jam, which is bacon jam, pickled cherries, and brie on garlic toasts. Off-site catering and complimentary shuttle service to the United Center are available, and the venue will open a 3,000-square-foot beer garden in the spring.

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.

A real comeback story, the Glunz Tavern reopened in Old Town in December after being shuttered for more than 90 years. Originally founded in 1888 as a neighborhood gathering spot, the space is operated by Barbara Glunz—the granddaughter of the original founder, Louis Glunz I—and her son Christopher Donovan. With 48 seats, the space serves wine, beer, spirits, and a menu of classic European fare including braised red cabbage, sausages with sauerkraut, and spätzle Uberbacken. A six-seat private dining room has a Germanic-style carved wood table, high-back chairs, and walls dotted with portraits of the Glunz family. Guests of private parties are served with the family's private crystal stemware collection.

Sumi Robata Bar, a new venture from chef Gene Kato (formerly of Japonais), is scheduled to open this month on Wells Street. The restaurant, named for the Japanese word for "charcoal," will specialize in vegetables, meats, and fish prepared on a robata grill. Decked with fixtures that incorporate wood, water, and charcoal, the venue will have a Zen garden patio for alfresco dining in the warmer months. A private dining room known as the Tatami room will host dinners for eight. Below the restaurant and with its own entrance, Charcoal Bar is an underground cocktail lounge that can host 12 guests at a time.

Anne Carlson and Cody Modeer, owners of the now-shuttered In Fine Spirits, opened Ward Eight in Evanston in December. The 35-seat cocktail lounge serves small-batch liquors and hosts private wine, craft-distillery, and absinthe tastings for groups of 25. It can also host standing cocktail receptions for 50. Cheeses, meats, and sandwiches are available on the food menu.