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Grand Lux


WHT

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I wouldn't be a bit surprised if no one here had eaten at this restaurant. :rolleyes:

Here is how Chain Leader describes it:

Like The Cheesecake Factory, with its phonebook-size menu and oversized booths, Grand Lux Cafe is meant to wow. The menu lists 110 items and globe-hops from Italy to America to Vietnam. Cheesecake is the featured dessert, but servers tout chocolate chip cookies, molten chocolate cake and beignets as specialties, and advise that they must be ordered 30 minutes in advance.
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I wouldn't be a bit surprised if no one here had eaten at this restaurant. :rolleyes:

Here is how Chain Leader describes it:

Like The Cheesecake Factory, with its phonebook-size menu and oversized booths, Grand Lux Cafe is meant to wow. The menu lists 110 items and globe-hops from Italy to America to Vietnam. Cheesecake is the featured dessert, but servers tout chocolate chip cookies, molten chocolate cake and beignets as specialties, and advise that they must be ordered 30 minutes in advance.

Seems the same as what a few people Pmed me from Metromix and other local reviews. Part of the problem with meeting clients for meals is you seem to have them all want to go to the same sort of formula places. Magnum’s, The Cheese Cake Factory, Huston’s and like. With all the good places to go in the area it seems most people operate in a limited comfort zone.

Then again the purpose is business and not what I like in a restaurant.

Living hard will take its toll...
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:smile:

Well, maybe try a spot like Berghoff's or Miller's Pub or the mid-scale Italian Village restaurant: Chicago tourist destinations to be sure, but not chain-owned and sources of more than halfway decent, interesting food and wine.

:wink:

Me, I vote for the joyride every time.

-- 2/19/2004

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:smile:

Well, maybe try a spot like Berghoff's or Miller's Pub or the mid-scale Italian Village restaurant: Chicago tourist destinations to be sure, but not chain-owned and sources of more than halfway decent, interesting food and wine.

:wink:

All of those are great places and ones that I will pick if given the chance. The problem is I am not often the one doing the picking. For whatever reason people want to go to the places that they hear hyped. Having gone off on LEYE in another thread I will not digress here.

I guess some buy in to the “ If its on Michigan ave. (or near.) it has to be good. Some of the guide books may also be to blame. At least I don’t have to suffer through to many meals at The Rain Forest Café or The Hard Rock.

Living hard will take its toll...
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:wink:

Michigan Avenue, is it? Can you steer them gently to Bistro 110? Barely a block away from that stinkin' Cheesecake Factory below street level at the Hancock, if they just gotta have the cheesecake fix too.

:cool:

Me, I vote for the joyride every time.

-- 2/19/2004

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At least I don’t have to suffer through to many meals at The Rain Forest Café or The Hard Rock.

Went on a date with a friend's brother a few months ago. I asked him where he wanted to eat, and he said that The Rain Forest Cafe was his favorite restaurant in the city. I refuse to eat there, so I steared him to Cafe 28 instead. We shared a first course and each had our own main courses. He tried one bite of each and said that the food at The Rain Forest Cafe was much better.

We're still on friendly terms (he's a good friend's brother mind you), but I never went out with him again. The Rain Forest Cafe his favorite restaurant????

Cat in Chicago

cat lancaster

catchi@ix.netcom.com

Portland, OR

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Your date thought Rainforest Cafe was better than Cafe 28? Wow. My kids like Cafe 28 better than Rainforest Cafe. I think that might have done it for me, too.

As for the suggestions for the Michigan Aveue area client luncheon, I would add NoMi, Shanghai Terrace, and Spiaggia to the list.

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As for the suggestions for the Michigan Aveue area client luncheon, I would add NoMi, Shanghai Terrace, and Spiaggia to the list.

If only I where lucky enough to have lunch meetings. Too many times they want to spend time without interruptions. Most of them also want to be able to have an excuse to drink. Not always the most helpful thing when concepts are involved.

Living hard will take its toll...
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I have a friend who falls into traps of belief, regarding large chain restaurants as legitimately good restaurants and touts consistency and the size as determiners of quality. She recently talked of Grand Lux with glazed eyes, speaking of its menu and the staff of 100 servers. Sounds like a nightmare to me. It's very true that many people believe if a restaurant is on/near Michigan Ave, it's a sign of quality...very frustrating.

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I've been to Grand Luxe a couple of times. While it's not, of course, a paragon of fine dining, there is something to be said about the quality of the food (which is consistently very high, an admirable feat given its "chain restaurant" classification) and the beautiful views of North Michagan Avenue from the treetops that can be had from its window tables. At that price point, one could do a lot worse.

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The Rain Forest Cafe his favorite restaurant????

Cat in Chicago

Sacre Bleu!

One of my friends at school lives in a building that overlooks this establishment.

When we're out on his balcony drinking beers, we all spit on it.

Of course, we spit on a lot of things from there.

Noise is music. All else is food.

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The Rain Forest Cafe his favorite restaurant????

Cat in Chicago

Sacre Bleu!

One of my friends at school lives in a building that overlooks this establishment.

When we're out on his balcony drinking beers, we all spit on it.

Of course, we spit on a lot of things from there.

That's my girl.

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As for the suggestions for the Michigan Aveue area client luncheon, I would add NoMi, Shanghai Terrace, and Spiaggia to the list.

If only I where lucky enough to have lunch meetings. Too many times they want to spend time without interruptions. Most of them also want to be able to have an excuse to drink. Not always the most helpful thing when concepts are involved.

Sorry about that, WHT. It appears that client = lunch is buried deep in my psyche. With the exception of Spiaggia, a client dinner is a different matter for the places I have mentioned on Michigan Ave.

Perhaps Morton's or Capital Grill? Neither is on the Ave., but they are close.

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