CHIGuide
Where To Have A Private Dinner In Chicago
photo credit: Dusek's Tavern And Dining Room
Have you been tasked with planning your best friend’s birthday? Did you realize that your sister’s bridal shower is a month away and you haven’t made a reservation? Sounds like a Private Dining Problem. Whether you’re looking for an intimate room for a group of 10, or an underground beer cellar that can fit 45, check out these Chicago restaurants that currently offer private dining rooms.
THE SPOTS
Capacity: Up to 16-47 depending on room
If you have a fancy restaurant bucket list, Alinea is probably on it. Of course, fame and a Chef’s Table feature doesn’t necessarily mean a place is worth your time (or in this case, thousands of dollars)—but Alinea definitely is. There are three dining room sizes to choose from, and that’s where your decision-making will end, thanks to a 10 to 14-course chef’s tasting menu and a curated wine pairing. Consider their private dining options when you have a real need to impress the future in-laws.
photo credit: Susie Lacocque
Capacity: Up to 24
At some point during a meal here, everyone experiences what we call “The Galit Moment” a.k.a the inevitable realization that this place is ridiculously good. The smoky cinnamon-braised brisket hummus could make it happen. Or it could be the falafel with mango and pickled turnips. So if you want to go down in history as hosting the most transformative of dinners, arrange a private meal at this Middle Eastern spot. The four-course tasting menu focuses on seasonal and local produce and provides enough options to rival a Choose Your Own Adventure, but with more shawarma.
Capacity: 8-28, more if you combine rooms
Avec is one of our favorite restaurants in the city—the West Loop location has been around for 20 years, but the food is still interesting enough to keep us coming back. They do seasonal Mediterranean small plates with Midwestern twists (like roasted pork shoulder with smoked yogurt and collard greens) and keep long-time staples (like the chorizo-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates) on the menu. You can choose to have these dishes served family-style or as a buffet in one of three bookable rooms in the private dining space on the second floor of the restaurant.
Capacity: Up to 44
For $150 per person, you can host a private dinner for up to 44 of your favorite people at Rose Mary, one of our go-to spots in the West Loop. If you no longer talk to every single person you graduated high school with, you can book the private dining space for 16 people instead. There’s a set three-course menu (plus dessert) of excellent Italian and Croatian dishes chosen ahead of time, which means more wine and less debate about what to order.
Capacity: 18-84
Chicago is known for steakhouses, and there’s a 99% chance that someone you know will want to celebrate at one. RPM Steak is a solid choice. The food is great, and it’s moderately celebrity-adjacent since it’s owned by a former reality show star. The semi-private spaces are on the upper-level mezzanine and overlook the main dining room below—a perfect backdrop to toast your friend’s accomplishment of getting cast in the Real Housewives of Lincoln Park. Pricing starts at $95-$115 per person and will get you things like oysters, broiled black cod, and some very expensive cuts of steak like wagyu tomahawk or a dry-aged porterhouse.
photo credit: Sandy Noto
Capacity: Up to 18
Lao Peng You is a small BYOB Chinese spot with some of the best dumplings in Chicago, and it feels like a party. Bring a six-pack (or a few) for your next private dinner, and get ready for all those delicious-looking cong you bing, handmade noodles, and dumplings you saw on season 2 of The Bear to be yours.
Capacity: 10-300
We told you Chicago was known for its steakhouses. Out of all 2,094,734 of them, Gibsons is the most iconic. It’s perfect for experiencing all the things people love about this city. Not only does it have fantastic steaks with traditional sides, but the atmosphere is relaxed and the private dining rooms have sweeping views of the Gold Coast. There are six different spaces to choose from, and you can start celebrating as early as brunch—because everyone in Chicago knows a well-balanced breakfast includes a 19-ounce New York strip.
Capacity: 10
On the surface, Sushi-san in River North seems like a spot that’s trying very hard to be cool—hip hop music plays at a volume that’s club-level-loud and the bathroom sign is a poop emoji. Underneath the over-the-top exterior though, this Japanese restaurant is making seriously great sushi, and you can experience it with fewer distractions in their private dining space. The Omakase Room seats 10, and it will only get as rowdy as the number of drinks your group puts away during dinner. It’s a good option when you want to ease into having a celebratory night, and maybe go bar hopping on Hubbard St. afterward.
Capacity: 8-100+
Yes, this is another River North restaurant, and yes, this is another RPM spot too. We can’t help that those two attributes make for a great private dinner option. Even more so when you add a riverfront view to the mix. RPM Seafood has a bunch of spaces that can be configured in different ways, including a few rooms with terraces that overlook the river. The seafood is great, and you can customize the menu (along with the wine pairings and the decor) for your event.
Capacity: Up to 70
Tanta is the fourth of six River North restaurants included in this guide. But love it or hate it, River North has some great restaurants. Tanta is always a fun spot (helped by clubby lighting and a pop playlist), with great pisco-based drinks and Peruvian food like cebiches, empanadas, and lomo saltado. It’s even better when you’re eating that food on a lovely rooftop terrace with 70 of your closest friends, or 70 not-so-close colleagues. If you hate sunlight, warm weather, or other nice things in life, there’s an indoor private room that seats 55 people as well.
Capacity: Up to 20-25 depending on experience
Historically, our favorite way to eat at The Loyalist is for a casual solo dinner that involves the best burger in Chicago. But having a meal in their private dining room with up to 25 of our friends sounds pretty good too. There are two options available—three courses of French dishes served family-style for $85 per person, or a “luxe” four-course experience that includes a cocktail hour with canapés for $150 per person. And if four courses isn’t fancy enough for your 40th birthday, there’s always the 10-course ($250-$320 per person) private dining option for 15 available through The Loyalist’s sister restaurant, Smyth.
Capacity: Varies, contact restaurant for accommodations
Sunda is a very high-key, Asian-fusion spot in River North that’s been around since 2009, and you probably only remember that it exists when you’re here for someone’s office holiday party. In fact, maybe this year it’ll be the annual Arbor Day celebration that you’re in charge of for some reason. Sunda has multiple options for private dining whatever the size and event. You can decide on a seated dinner, passed plates, buffets, or chef stations with things like hamachi tartare, Hainanese salmon, oxtail pot stickers, and pork adobo fried rice.
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Capacity: Up to 35
Like everything in the goat empire (for example Girl & The Goat and Cabra), Duck Duck Goat is a fun spot with solid food. You’ll find Chinese dishes with twists—like moo shu with shrimp and bacon—plus options incorporating goat, like the Xi'an goat slap noodles. The Jade Lounge is available for private dinners up to 18, and The Tearoom for up to 35, but you’ll probably want to invite fewer people because that means more soup dumplings left for you.
Capacity: 36-60 depending on room
Swift & Sons is everything we like about a traditional steakhouse combined with everything we like about Fulton Market. That means great food (including wonderfully cooked steaks and seafood, a wedge salad, and lots of potatoes), friendly service, and a buzzy atmosphere. You can host a seated dinner or cocktail reception in one of their two private dining rooms, or have a private party for up to 60 people in the Wellington Room, which comes with a private entrance and bar.
Capacity: 35-60
For a place that’s popular and busy but not full of chaotic energy, check out Andros Taverna. This Greek restaurant in Logan Square is spacious and has great food, like the must-order kataifi cheese pie, mezze spreads, and the best spanakopita we’ve ever had. Besides the food, a big draw is their Kipos Greenhouse—a glass-enclosed dining area that can be booked for 35-60 people.
Capacity: 10-150
If the “dining room” in your apartment only fits four in a pinch, chances are you’re going to need a private space for any celebration you host. Lucky for you, Rooh has four options to choose from across two floors. Each has a different personality—you can pick something a little more quiet upstairs, or a busier space downstairs near the bar. The food has personality too—Rooh offers twists on Indian staples like chili cheese kulcha with shishito peppers, avocado and apple bhel, and pork belly topped with a sesame curry leaf crumble. A dinner in a place that's jewel-toned, swanky, and filled with velvet booths sure beats sitting cross-legged around your coffee table.
Capacity: 14-50 depending on room
Siena Tavern has all the traits of a typical River North spot: it’s loud, crowded, and has giant booths. But it’s also a really good Italian restaurant with great pizzas, pastas, and softball-sized meatballs. Book one of their secluded rooms, like the wine cellar, for a family-style meal with 14-16 people. Or try their semi-private elevated dining room (seats 20) that looks over the main dining area—you’ll be able to escape more easily when your least favorite cousin Bobby traps you in a conversation about his 14 rescue cats.
Capacity: 25-80 or more if you combine rooms
Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! has been around since 1985, and it’s a Lincoln Park staple for a reason. This Spanish spot does it up big—a big space, a big menu full of tapas like chorizo-wrapped dates, and big noise from lots of large groups having celebratory dinners. Their seven private and semi-private spaces are great options for birthday dinners, bridal and baby showers, rehearsals, or any event that might involve pitchers of sangria.
photo credit: Christina Slaton
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Capacity: 25-100 depending on room
Dusek’s in Pilsen is in a huge, refurbished, very possibly haunted building from the turn of the century. In the basement is the Beer Cellar, a private room you access through a revolving bookcase (you read that right)—and next door is the Tack Room, constructed over an old stable. Wherever you choose to eat, an event at Dusek’s will get you a lot of history, as well as dishes like marinated brussels cavatelli, beef tartare, and cast-iron mussels. And ghosts, we’re pretty sure.
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Capacity: Varies depending on room
Carnivale is a Latin restaurant in Fulton Market with a wide range of influences. You’ll find dishes like ropa vieja, empanadas, and paella—plus lots of people celebrating birthdays, retirements, and eighth-grade graduations (though probably not at the same table). While the colorful space is huge and ideal for groups in general, there are a variety of spaces available for events of all sizes.
