Bottlefork

Last night I went to Bottlefork with my dear friend Camille, and this is now one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago! Anyone who lives here has to come to this place, and I would definitely recommend it for out of town visitors. Make reservations way in advance though because it's tough to get in here!

This place just opened by Rockit Ranch Productions and is in the heart of River North, so there are tons of options to go out afterward if you're making a night of it. You walk in and immediately fall in love with the atmosphere. It's relatively smaller and the decor is dark and the decorations are masculine. We sat at the chef's view bar and had such a blast, although our view was a pigs head and hoof, yuck. The service was amazing; literally the best waiter I have in a very long time. He was fun, made real recommendations and was actually interested in our questions, brought us out a taste of the wine before ordering a bottle, and even gave us a side of ice cream with our dessert (that was not supposed to come with it). And the food is great. You don't feel pressured to order a main entree, because there are also pastas, a snacks portion of the menu and sides. We order a bunch of smaller plates and shared, per usual.

Overall, this was such a good experience and I can see why this place is getting a ton of buzz and climbing up the lists of notable places in Chicago. Literally everyone has written about them: Chicago Eater, Zagat, Michigan Avenue Magazine, Chicago Social, Refinery 29, and the list goes on... I don't like to go to restaurants twice, because there are so many places to try, but I'll have a hard time not coming back here.