Avenues or Schwa or Tru

[dagordon]

Friends,

We have a wedding in Chicago this weekend, and we only today realized that dinner on Friday is unaccounted for.

We're going to Alinea on Thursday; for Friday dinner, we're trying to choose among Avenues and Schwa and Tru. (If there's somewhere else that should be in the mix let me know.)

I'm a bit worried that it may be too late to snag a reservation at one of these places, but dinner on Friday would have to be obscenely early -- 5 or 5:30 -- as we have a wedding-related event that evening. I'm hoping that no one else would want to eat dinner at such an obscene hour.

So, where should we go?

[jesteinf]

Well, I think your best chance at any of the 3 would be to snag a cancellation (particularly at Schwa where your chances of getting a reservation right now for Friday night is 0.00000001%). I say go to whichever one you can get in to. All are very good.

[dagordon]

Well, I think your best chance at any of the 3 would be to snag a cancellation (particularly at Schwa where your chances of getting a reservation right now for Friday night is 0.00000001%).  I say go to whichever one you can get in to.

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Is there some kind of early-bird special that I'm unaware of?

[little ms foodie]

at least tru and schwa are soooo different- since you have alinea already I would absolutly try to go to schwa- casual, byob and small- the opposite of schwa with wonderful food!

[jesteinf]

Well, I think your best chance at any of the 3 would be to snag a cancellation (particularly at Schwa where your chances of getting a reservation right now for Friday night is 0.00000001%).  I say go to whichever one you can get in to.

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Is there some kind of early-bird special that I'm unaware of?

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Schwa is extremely small (only seats about 30 people), and extremely popular. It is to the point where weekend nights are booked 2 months in advance. On a few days notice, your chances of getting a reservation just aren't that good.

[nsxtasy]

Well, I think your best chance at any of the 3 would be to snag a cancellation

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That won't be necessary. Avenues and Tru both accept reservations on OpenTable. For this Friday, right now it shows openings at Avenues at 5:30 and 6:00, and at Tru at 5:15 and 6:00.

I would take Avenues over Tru, but you really can't go wrong either way.

Enjoy!

[dagordon]

Well, I think your best chance at any of the 3 would be to snag a cancellation

←

That won't be necessary. Avenues and Tru both accept reservations on OpenTable. For this Friday, right now it shows openings at Avenues at 5:30 and 6:00, and at Tru at 5:15 and 6:00.

I would take Avenues over Tru, but you really can't go wrong either way.

Enjoy!

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Thank you!

As predicted, Schwa is extremely booked. (I'm on the wait list, with 9 people ahead of me.) So the estimate of a 0.00000001% chance of eating there seems about right.

I snagged a reservation at Avenues and one at Tru. (I will decide within the next day which to keep and cancel the other.) I requested the counter/"chef's bar" or whatever it's called at Avenues.

I've got one vote for Avenues over Tru; any others wish to chime in? Again, we're going to Alinea the night before, in case that's relevant; my impression is that Tru is substantially more conservative than Avenues, so perhaps Tru would provide a nice contrast with the previous night's meal?

[jesteinf]

I snagged a reservation at Avenues and one at Tru. (I will decide within the next day which to keep and cancel the other.) I requested the counter/"chef's bar" or whatever it's called at Avenues.

If you're going to do Avenues, the chef's bar is a lot of fun. If you're worried about Avenues being too "similar" to Alinea, don't worry because it's not. A lot of media liked to lump Avenues and Alinea together in the whole "Chicago molecular gastronomy" thing. They're really two very different experiences, and it should be interesting for you to eat at one right after the other.

[Elrushbo]

Avenues is stunning, a memorable experience! Chef Bowles is as personable as people get. You can tell he loves what he does. Avenues is like fine art, you're really seeing a top chef at the top of his game.

[dagordon]

Well, lo and behold, I got a phone call from Schwa this afternoon saying that a table had opened up at 5:30! I don't quite understand how this happened (I thought I was way down on the waiting list), but I'm very excited.

I'm cancelling Avenues -- I really want to eat there, but I figure the next time I'm in Chicago I'll go; Schwa seems like a much tougher table.

I'll report back after.

[LindsayAnn]

Please give us details on all of your Chicago eating experiences...

Hopefully, pictures will be included in the mix....we love us some pictures!