10 New Chicago Venues for 2019 Summer Entertaining and Events

A year after the Essex Inn was shuttered, Hotel Essex took its place in the South Loop after a $250 million restoration that included the Essex on the Park luxury apartment building next door. The project, which debuted in April, was led by Oxford Capital Group (developers behind LondonHouse, the Godfrey, and Hotel Julian). Offering impressive views of Grant Park, the 274-room hotel includes a ground-floor restaurant dubbed Grant Park Bistro from LM Restaurant Group that seats 40 in the dining room and 26 at the bar, along with a seasonal 40-seat patio. The bi-level 1,600-square-foot SX Sky Bar is located on the fifth and sixth floors of the hotel and features a tech-inspired dance floor.
The bar features champagne and craft cocktails, including the $669 Dominatrix, which is served in a crystal vase made with a bottle of Dom Perignon Brut. The menu offers Californian and Asian flavors with sushi and small shareable plates that include pork belly lettuce wraps, Kentucky-fried cauliflower, and blistered shishito peppers. The sixth floor holds 540 guests for reception-style events or seats about 300. The Parlor, a private dining space, holds about 60 guests seated or standing. The fifth floor seats 69 guests or holds 154 for receptions. For business meetings, a 1,239-square-foot conference room features a large projection screen, audiovisual equipment, and high-speed internet access for presentations. The space seats 66 guests theater style, 32 in a classroom-style setup, or holds 107 for reception-style events.

Wicker Park is home to new event venue Exchange312, which opened in late April. Offering more than 2,550-square-feet of event space, it houses 150 guests for a reception-style event or around 100 for seated dinners. The light, airy space features exposed brick, flexible layouts, a built-in bar, and a variety of furniture options from sleek tables and chairs to lounge vignettes. It’s suited for a variety of gatherings from intimate weddings to board meetings of 12 to 14 attendees. Matt Woodburn and Sarah Neukom co-own the space and are co-founders of ESP Presents, a boutique event production firm that produces experiential events with clients such as the Art Institute of Chicago’s After Dark, Expo Chicago, and the Alzheimer’s Association.

City Hall celebrates Chicago’s grit and glamour with a communal atmosphere. Inspired by historic municipal buildings, this venue is a combination of bar, restaurant, and event space in the West Loop’s Fulton Market district and is slated to open mid-June. The sprawling, 23,000-square-foot former rental truck facility has 40-foot high ceilings and three distinct sections. The 8,000-square-foot enclosed patio connects to a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and bar accessible via retractable glass-paneled garage doors. A 10,000-square-foot event space has its own entrance on Kinzie Street, a 37-foot stone bar, original brickwork, ambient LED lighting, oversize 20-foot windows that offer skyline views, and a bridal suite that overlooks the space. A skylight runs the length of the column-free 1920s-era venue, which has an intricate bow truss ceiling. A curated menu of upscale pub fare is expected from chef Michael Taus (formerly of Charlie Trotter’s and Zealous) with bites such as cheeseburger sliders, loaded waffle fries, and pigs in a blanket inspired from a recipe from Taus’s grandmother. The cocktail menu focuses on seasonal options, mixed drinks served tableside in water coolers and mixed shots (or kickbacks), along with local beers and a global wine menu. The restaurant accommodates 300 standing or 150 seated and the patio can hold 500 for receptions. The event space holds 600 reception style or seats 300. Besides private gatherings, the venue plans to host community events such as farmers markets and makers markets.

Beatrix opened the first suburban location of its coffeehouse and restaurant in Oakbrook Center in February. The popular eatery by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises has three other Chicago locations in River North, Streeterville, and Fulton Market focusing on American comfort food with a healthy spin, including gluten-free and vegetarian options. The newest location features the largest private dining space, which seats 60 guests or holds 100 for receptions, or it can be divided into two semiprivate areas which each hold 36 guests. For buyouts, the venue has room for as many as 300 guests for family-style brunches, cocktail parties, or seated dinners. Food and bar options feature a variety of popular health-conscious menu items. For brunch, guests of 25 or more can enjoy specialties such as quinoa cakes with poached eggs, green chili enchiladas, and spicy chicken tinga. Fresh pastries are made daily, and other highlights include Intelligentsia and Metric Coffee served in the 90-seat coffee lounge, fresh-squeezed juice cocktails (which can be made sans alcohol), craft beer, and all-American wines. New for spring is a 40-seat patio and a coffee lounge that seats 20 in two outdoor areas.

The Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile’s new lobby cocktail bar Reviver (formerly Rush Bar) opened in late April as part of the hotel’s five-year, multimillion-dollar renovation that included all 1,200 guest rooms and suites and 65,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Designed by Whitespace Interiors, the bar is decked out in tones of blue, steel, and chic gold accents. On the menu are shareable and large plates developed by executive chef Frank Sanchez with a focus on elevated street food inspired by Chicago neighborhoods. Craft cocktails tell a story of Chicago past to present, and zero-proof cocktails inspired by Prohibition are also on the menu. The entire space seats 172, while the bar seats 28 and a semiprivate “library” space holds 50 for receptions.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago - Magnificent Mile has completed a massive $35 million renovation, sprucing up meeting space, guest rooms, a rooftop pool and terrace, and lobby, while adding a new restaurant and lobby bar, HotHouse, as well as the grab-and-go Made Market. New additions also include the first-of-its-kind “Five Feet to Fitness,” which offers guests in-room fitness equipment with workouts and equipment tutorials delivered through a touch-screen digital kiosk. For meetings, the redesigned 6,700-square-foot LaSalle Ballroom seats 700 guests theater style or holds 900 for receptions. For smaller gatherings, the hotel has 17 meeting rooms including the boardroom-style Fairbanks Room that seats 12.

This spring, Kimpton Hotel Monaco finished a renovation of its 191 guest rooms and 22 suites and lobby. The 1912 building, originally the D.B. Fisk & Co. hat factory, has three meeting and event rooms covering a total of 4,100 square feet. The Paris Room is 2,700 square feet and holds 190 people; the Athens Room has views of the Chicago River and can accommodate 70; and the 487-square-foot Tokyo Room is suited for smaller gatherings of as many as 30. The hotel’s 3,500-square-foot Belgian-inspired mussel and craft beer restaurant Fisk & Co. has private dining options that include the Parlor, a cozy space that can hold 14 seated or 40 standing. The Millinery can be divided into two spaces and seats 42 or holds 70 for cocktails. The semiprivate Brixton space seats 30 at banquettes. A complete buyout accommodates 200 guests for a reception or 100 for a seated dinner.

Twelve miles north of downtown Chicago is the newly renovated Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago North Shore. Located in Skokie, the Lakhani Hospitality-owned property saw a $10 million renovation this spring that included an overhaul of the 15,000-square-foot banquet and meeting space (which is the largest ballroom on the North Shore), as well as an upgrade to 250 guestrooms, public spaces, and a heated indoor pool. The ballroom holds as many as 1,000 guests and can be divided into a total of eight separate meeting spaces. Highlights include a cascading water wall and new state-of-the-art sound system.

Café Cancale is inspired by the sleepy seaside town off the coast of Brittany in France. The chic outpost opened in May and features French-ish fare and is the latest hot spot from One Off Hospitality (Publican Quality Meats, Avec, Blackbird) after the closing of Publican Anker in March. The new French-inspired spot―located in the Wicker Park neighborhood on a six-corner block―features oysters, a dedicated raw bar, and fresh seafood, alongside more than 60 European and domestic coastal wines and a cocktail menu inspired by 1920s and ‘30s items served in French cafés. Baguettes by the James Beard Foundation’s award-winning baker Greg Wade will be made fresh daily. The interior was overhauled with the help of Thomas Schlesser of Design Bureaux. A calming blue and cream palette are seen throughout the Terrazzo and inlay marble floors, bars, and tables with luxe white Carrara marble, swanky blue banquette seating, and bar stools accented with a red top to complete the seaside aesthetic. The open-concept restaurant is available for full and partial buyouts. The bar area can accommodate receptions of about 50 or seats 20 guests with a communal-style, high-top table. Large banquette seating by the kitchen area seats 18 or holds 30 for a reception.

Catering to extended-stay business travelers, Hyatt House Chicago/West Loop is the first for the brand in the Fulton Market area, opening in June. The 200-room, 14-story hotel is steps from the vibrant Restaurant Row in the West Loop. Amenities include a lobby bar, 24-hour fitness center, and many rooms with a full kitchen. There are two meeting spaces: the largest is 770 square feet and seats 100 for presentations, lectures, or conferences. The other space is 728 square feet and seats 90 people. The Sky Deck, which features a pool and overlooks downtown, is available for buyouts and holds 50 guests for a reception-style event.