Here's a look at the best new Chicago restaurants, corporate event venues, hotels, conference centers, and private and party rooms to open for events this summer. These new and renovated Chicago venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, conferences, meetings, weddings, business dinners, teambuilding activities, cocktail parties, and more.
Kehoe Designs opened The Geraghty, a 25,000-square-foot open event space, in Pilsen in May. The all-white space has 22-foot-high ceilings, free Wi-Fi, a large area devoted to coat check, work stations, and secure parking. There's also a 1,200-square-foot divisible green room on site. The Geraghty can hold receptions for 1,000 guests.
Prime & Provisions opened on the border of River North and the Loop in May. The steak house has a design inspired by 1920s supper clubs, with wrought-iron fixtures and a two-story, illuminated wine tower. With its own bar, a television, and a microphone for presentations, the private dining room seats 70 guests or holds 100 for cocktail receptions. The private room offers river and city views, and event staffers can prepare passed, plated, or stationed food. Menu items include lump-crab Caesar salads, shellfish towers, and all-natural black Angus beef.
Hyatt opened the first outpost of its lifestyle brand, Hyatt Centric, in the Loop in April. The hotel has 275 rooms and is housed in a 22-story, Art Deco-style building from the 1920s. On the second floor, the venue has 2,513 total square feet of meeting space and six meeting rooms. The hotel also houses a rooftop bar called Aire and an upscale French bistro called Cochon Volant Bakery Brasserie and Bar.
AC Hotel Chicago Downtown opened in May. The eight-story, 226-room hotel has 3,000 square feet of meeting space. There are three meeting rooms that can hold receptions of as many as 105 guests, as well as a board room that seats 12. The hotel offers complimentary Wi-Fi, a fitness center with an indoor pool, and an eatery that serves a daily breakfast. On the fourth floor, the AC Lounge and Kitchen can hold receptions for 125. The eatery serves craft beers, cocktails, and wines on tap, and has bartenders that double as concierges by offering tips on what to do in Chicago. A fifth-floor patio can hold receptions of 65.
C Chicago, an upscale seafood restaurant, came to River North in April. The two-story venue spans 8,000 square feet, and is decorated in shades of green and gold with nautical-theme decor. The Pacific Room seats 40 guests and has two 55-inch flat-screen TVs for presentations. The Atlantic Room offers a boardroom setting with seating for 20 guests; it has one 55-inch screen. The Mediterranean Mezzanine, a semiprivate space, has a 60-inch curved flat-screen with presentation abilities; the space seats 40. Menu items include whole fishes, U.S.D.A. Prime beef, and entrees such as boneless herb-roasted chicken.
Level 257, a Pac Man-theme entertainment complex, opened in Schaumburg in February. The 42,000-square-foot venue holds 16 bowling lanes and 4,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. The venue can be bought out to hold events for 1,000 guests; it can also host smaller gatherings for groups of 12 to 400 in its event and banquet suite. Meetings can be conducted in presentation rooms with stadium-style seating for 15. Other features include multiple bars, arcade games, and a central restaurant that serves sushi, pasta, pizza, and sandwiches.
Pinstripes—a venue that combines bowling, boccie, and a bistro—opened a Streeterville location in February. The venue has four ballroom spaces. The largest seats 220 guests or holds 300 for cocktails; the smallest ballroom seats 40 or holds 75 for cocktails. A balcony can be rented out to host cocktail receptions for 125 or seated functions for 80; when combined with the main floor, it holds 400 for cocktails or seats 300. There's also an outdoor area that can hold cocktail receptions for 75. Hosts can also rent out the entire bowling area, which has 11 lanes and can hold 130 for cocktails.
Presidio, a cocktail lounge inspired by San Francisco, opened in Bucktown in February. The venue can hold cocktail receptions for as many as 100 guests. The beverage program places an emphasis on local, seasonal ingredients, and specialty cocktails include the "Fools Rush In," made with Japanese whiskey, honey, orange blossom, and lemon. Snacks also rotate seasonally, and may include fried fish bites or confit rabbit salad. Decorated by Wolf Home Design, the cozy interior features plum cowhide bar stools, tufted sofas, and a chandelier made from salvaged metals.
Trigger opened in Irving Park in March. The 3,600-square-foot loft can hold receptions for 150 guests. In a rehabbed 1930s building, the venue now houses a recording studio, a kitchen, and a space designed for photo shoots. Other features include 14-foot ceilings, two bathrooms, and Wi-Fi. Though the venue is about seven miles northwest of the downtown Loop, it's easily accessible by expressway.
DreamDry, a blow-out and hairstyling salon co-founded by celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe, opened in Lincoln Park in November. Decked with chevron-pattern flooring and sleek black-and-white fixtures, the venue can hold sales meetings, corporate events, product launches, press conferences, incentive events, or executive retreats. The salon can accommodate 100 guests for a reception, and staffers can provide 13 services per hour. There is a full kitchen on site.
