I had the pleasure of hitting up some of my favorites over the last 3 or 4 weeks and the list is Sunda twice, Zed451 brunch twice, Hub51 twice and a awesome dinner at Mia Francesca’s one night.   I love Chicago dining and I have about 100 more places I want to get to ASAP

33 Club Chicago
1419 North Wells Street, Chicago 312-664-1419
http://www.33clubchicago.com/

This was actually my second time here,  the 1st time was just a couple appetizers and this time was a full meal and some great wine.  I really like the look and feel of this place and the food is really good and the outdoor seating is awesome for people watching and checking out Old Town.   My one small complaint is the service is just average and I am surprised since I know Jerry Kleiner does an awesome job with all his places and both times I was there I was not in hurry so it didn’t bother me but I did hear from a friend they left after 20 minutes of waiting for service.   The food for the dinner I just had was good and we started with some Oysters that were good and the bacon wrapped dates.  Shared to fishes for the mains,  the Halibut which was really great and the Tuna was good also but Tuna is always pretty much Tuna.  All in all the food was good and it was a nice night out

Benny’s Chop House
444 North Wabash Avenue, Chicago 312-626-2444
www.bennyschophouse.com/

Ok now this is my kinda steak house, I loved every aspect about this place from the decor to the menu to the staff that was a little older but very experienced and made it the perfect Steak House.  We got some extra special treatment since I recently became friendly with the sommelier and he brought out us out some special wines and special appetizers to pair up with some cool beers.  We dined on some amazing steak TarTar and some perfectly done Foie Gras for apps and entrees were awesome.  They did something I had never heard of in all my years of dining,  they only offer Line Caught fresh fish and I thought that was really cool.  All the fish were caught by fisherman on single lines all over and flown in fresh.  I enjoyed the Bone In New York strip that was cooked perfect and tasted incredible, my dining partner enjoyed the Dover Sole that was very good also.  Everything on the menu looked amazing and I can’t wait to go back soon. After dinner Justin the sommelier brought us some delicious after dinner drinks and all in all the place was perfect.

Perennial Chicago
1800 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago 312-981-7070
www.perennialchicago.com/

I had heard about Perennial and BOKA and Landmark but for some reason I have not had the pleasure of dining at any of them in the past.  I finally made it to Perennial and fought the worst rain storm to get there but it actually worked out very nice since only a couple other people made it out that night.  Perennial is in the perfect spot right on the corner of Lincoln and Clark with a great Lincoln Park feel.  I started with some wine at the bar followed by being seated right by the window where the fun started.   Started with the fish tacos and they were nothing like you would have expected,  they had no shell and were fresh Crudo and some mango papaya salsa and was shaped like a little taco.  We had another appetizer and split two delicious entrees and everything was very very good.  I look forward to trying BOKA and Landmark very soon.

Blue 13
416 West Ontario Street, Chicago 773-787-1400
http://www.blue13chicago.com/

When hearing about Blue 13 and then reading about the owners and the food and inspiration,  I was really excited and my expectations were pretty high.  The place was nice and the menu was great but the food was not as good as I expected but I am going to just put it at a off night and give them another chance since the couple people I heard about this place from never steer me wrong.  The decor and the menu and the waitstaff were all perfect and I loved the menu and will head back soon for another try.

Elate at the Felix Hotel
111 West Huron Street, Chicago 312-202-9900
http://www.elatechicago.com/

I am a big fan of Elate and loved that it was not to big loved that it was on the corner of the hotel and high ceilings and just had a very good feel.   We started at the bar and the staff was great and friendly and we had a few drinks before we sat down for dinner.  We actually orders all the items off the Raw Menu starting with TarTar which was really good and reminded me of My favorite back place back in the day (Spago) them we had the Tuna Civiche which was good but not great and then we had the Oysters which were outstanding.    For the main we actually split 2 small plates and a trout entree and they were all great and the mussels were perfect.  I look forward to going back and trying a few other things and enjoying this place and really like the feel and relaxed atmosphere.

Charleston Crab House
www.charlestoncrabhouse.com
41 South Market Street, Charleston 843-853-2900

Very very cool local crab house,  we were very pleased with everything we order and especially the Mussels.  The Mussels were some of the best I have ever had and everything else for lunch was good but the Mussels really stood out.  We enjoyed some King crab and some flounder plus a decent seared Tuna appetizer.  If you are looking for some Charleston seafood and good cool place I would recommend this place….

Peninsula Grill
http://www.peninsulagrill.com/
112 North Market Street, Charleston, SC 843-723-0700

Holy almost perfect meal!!!! This place was out of this world and words can’t express when a meal comes together perfect. We had two great Willamette Pinot Noir’s that were great with this meal that started out with Steak Tar Tar that was good but not great but the Seared Foie Gras was beyond amazing. I enjoyed the Duck which came sliced and juicy and as good as the best Duck I have ever had, PJ had the NY Strip that was perfect and pepper seared and super tasty and cooked perfect. I usually don’t do big desserts but we heard the Coconut Cake here is suppose to be the best in the world so we decided to try it and holy cow was it out of this world. order coconut cake

Aromas Charleston
www.aromascharleston.com/
50 North Market Street Charleston, SC 843-723-9588

Great little bar serving Thai food on the Market Street in the heart of Charleston.   The couple appetizers we had were ok but not great and I would have liked to try some of the Thai entrees but the place was comfortable and the service was good and friendly and they put the Hawks Game on for us

Ratcliffe on the Green
http://www.ratcliffeonthegreen.com/
425 South Tryon Street Charlotte NC 704-358-9898
Very cool small quaint place with amazing food,  most or everything is locally grown and we enjoyed every single thing we ate.  We did a 5 course tasting that was as good as you can get from the Scallop with fennel and leaks to the Day Boat catch which I think was shark to the really juicy yummy Quail followed by Pan Seared Foie Gras and the final course was really perfect short rib.  I liked everything about this place from its Southern Charm to the service to simple but nice decor.  Wine list was very good also with a wide range of choices.