My wife and I love onesixtyblue, their food seems to be getting better and better. We’ve been 4 or 5 times and taken wine maybe 3 times. They’ve waived corkage a couple of times and charged us corkage once (i think it’s $25/bottle). I think the last Friday of every month is a free corkage day. I suspect with some negotiation they would probably waive free corkage on a Monday or Tuesday night offline (or at least go with a reduced rate).
Just a quick FYI- little Italian place in Lemont, La Dolce Vita will allow corkage- but not really encouraged. $25 a bottle- and stems are iffy. But food is always good.
Had dinner a couple weeks ago at Keefers. Always kinda forget about this place- they have a very good steak, sides were excellent, decent stems and $20 a bottle for corkage was quoted- but I do not think they charged for every bottle we had.
Jan and I had dinner last night at Triad Sushi Lounge in the South Loop. I was attracted to it because of a recent Groupon, and through that found that they are BYOB wine and beer, with no corkage fee. I found this pretty cool, since they have a full bar. The sushi was good, probably about average to above average. The pricing was about average for the city, which means a little higher than I usually pay in the western 'burbs. Stems were small tulips, so you might want to bring your own if you want decent aeration and swirling capabilities.
Triad Sushi Lounge
1933 S. Indiana Ave.
Chicago, IL 60616
312-225-8833
Fuel in Wilmette (located right near the train station) - went there a few weeks ago and very much enjoyed it - dinner only TH-SAT - stemware was good and corkage was only $14 - nice eclectic menu that we found very well executed - casual atmosphere with a menu more sophisticated than I would have otherwise expected. Brought an Aubert Chard and it worked very nicely. If I lived up north, I’d fit it into our normal rotation.
Fuel
1222 Washington Ct.
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-251-FUEL
Speaking of sushi after reading John’s post above, my go to sushi place is Macku - great fish and interesting creative alternatives - corkage friendly with good stemware - corkage of $15 if I recall correctly - I’ve brought Champagne and Rhone varietal whites - great place but particularly if you are looking for a more elaborate dinner.
Good one to mention as a lot of people may not realize that you can BYO…though, can’t say I’ve BYO’d much when I’ve gone, but they have always seemed very nice about it and only have ended up charging the corkage now and then.
There was an interesting exchange on the LTH Forum (great Chicago dining board) when the place closed in the summer. The chef/owner said something about his food not fitting for the neighborhood. I guess the heighborhood didn’t like crappy food. Who would have thunk it?
disappointed that Restaurant Michael in Wilmette only allows corkage on tuesdays. Their wine list doesn’t have much with some age. Other than the few $1,000+ bottles
I’m going there tonight and think I’m going to be meeting with Michael. I’ll ask if they make exceptions.
Ok – went there last night and had a tremendous meal. Though it may not seem like the most exciting thing on the menu, I think the smoked salmon is simply superb (they give a nice sized portion too).
Anyhow, they will allow “special” bottles, esp. for special occasions. The chef doesn’t want people to use this as an excuse to run to Jewel to pick up a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle, but 1970 Petrus is a-ok.
As an aside, our table chatted with Michael for probably an hour. He’s an incredibly charming man who takes great pride in his cooking.