Best Date Night Restaurants in Chicago

Top 5 Date Night Restaurants in Chicago

Maude’s Liquor Bar – Anything Brendan Sodikoff touches turns to gold but Maude’s is quite possibly the perfect spot for a date night in Chicago.  With French cuisine and a dimly lit space, the ambience is as sexy as you can get.  The decor is spot on with oversized leather booths and chandeliers everywhere.  Must-eats:  chilled seafood tower, cassoulet, steak tartare and the gnocchi.  To drink: St. Germain Fizz

Riccardo Enoteca – An off-the-beaten path, hole in the wall Italian restaurant that throws you back to an era from yesteryear.  Seriously, it looks like a restaurant straight out of Litte Italy in the 1940s.  The tables are tiny, the portions sizeable and the wine list robust.  Must eats: burrata, ANY pasta.

Roister – Ok, here’s a disclaimer: it’s not a romantic atmosphere.  In fact, it’s super loud and they play the most random assortment of music I’ve ever heard (I personally enjoyed it – lots of 90s).  But, if you’re like Eric and me, you want to have a great meal on date night and Roister is one of the best places I’ve eaten in awhile.  To me, date night is all about catching up, laughing, al while enjoying great food and drinks–that’s what I remember about Roister.  Must eats: whole chicken (…the fried!!), smoked oysters.

avec – The true test of a relationship?  Wait for a table while you’re starving.  Avec doesn’t take reservations, so intimacy is forced upon you before you even sit down.  The atmosphere is loud and friendly but the tight quarters mean you’re sitting really close to one another–basically on top of each other.  But again, it’s about the food here.  Avec has been a Chicago staple for years and if you’re going to make a night out of it, you won’t be disappointed. Must-eats: chorizo stuffed dates, charcuterie board, paella.

Craft Pizza – You don’t have to spend a pretty penny on date night.  Sometimes you just need a bottle of wine, twinkling lights, and a delicious pizza to have a perfect date night.  Craft is my neighborhood staple and in the summer, there’s some patio seating along with a few strung up lights.  It’s not fancy, but it is deliicous and you can sit back, drink a reasonable bottle of wine that you picked up from Joe’s Cellar (around the corner), and eat some delicious, wood-fired ‘za.  Must eats: Devil in the White City pizza.

Check out my favorite restaurants from a few years back (I still stand behind them! except Hot Doug’s is no more..) and a more recent list of favorite Chicago eats here.