Best Restaurants for Special Occasions in Near North

We had a great dinner. Our waiter (Chad) was great. Our steak was delicious as well as the seafood tower. Great special occasion restaurant. We were celebrating a birthday.

Great food and service. Recommend the Dorade and peanut butter pie.

This was our second time going to il Porcellino for a date night and it somehow was even better than the first! All of the food is fantastic. Delicious wine and cocktails, awesome apps and great portions for the entrees. The cheesy bread, meatballs? burrata lasagna, and tiramisu were simply amazing. The service was also top notch. Would highly recommend!

ANOTHER amazing dinner at RPM Italian- this has become our go to place to take anyone visiting from out of town because they do not miss!!!! amazing and delightful food, service and drinks that provide a “wow” factor like very few places can. It is truly an experience you can’t miss out on in River North. The menu is well-curated with show stopping options that are always executed to a T. This evening we started with the crispy Roman artichokes and the stracciatella bruschetta -the artichokes were tender yet crispy with the perfect amount of pecorino Romano and caper vinaigrette served with a lemon on the side. They were dynamic in flavor and an absolutely delightful starter. The bruschetta was on a whole new level of delicious, fresh ciabatta bread paired with a finely chopped mound of heirloom tomatoes that will send your taste buds to heaven. We were a party of 4 & each of us got our own entree; the rigatoni alla vodka with an added meat ball, the lemon burrata cappelletti, the eggplant Parmesan & the special (which I can’t remember the name of but can still taste the delicious flavors) The rigatoni was delicious and well made - but the show stopper of this dish was the MEATBALL - it was phenomal, and large. Bursting with Italian herbs and tender as could be. The eggplant Parmesan may have been tied with the special for dish of the evening- the eggplant was perfectly tender with out being soggy, the sauce was perfectly distributed and packed with mouth watering flavor that complimented the mozzarella and eggplant so well. I highly recommend this!!! The lemon burrata cappelletti was perfection, Light and decadent/zesty and creamy. Cooked to a perfect Al dente, with a little basil leaf on each piece- it was filling and so satisfying but still refreshingly light. To end the night we ordered the carrot cake- A MUST HAVE. it was moist and layered with the best cream cheese frosting. Our server sent out 4 mini choc dipped ice cream cones which was so kind

First time there but I work down the street and will definitely be back. Everything was delicious and the ambience was great. We were there to celebrate my daughter’s birthday so we wanted a nice restaurant in this area that wouldn’t break the bank. We thought it was reasonably priced for the Gold Coast.