Revel While You Can

Walk inside and it feels like you've just been invited to a huge Latin gala and now you're eating dinner in an open restaurant on a Caribbean island. This colorful space is absolutely breathtaking with its mustard yellow walls, bright blue bar, and jester-like lamp shades. The food is cooked with a lot of passion (especially the ceviches), which are all extremely tempting. Opt for the tasting, which includes all five. Other flavorsome dishes include the rum-glazed pork shoulder and the seared Ahi Tuna. Carnivale also accommodates those who either can't or don't drink by providing several non-alcoholic drink options including a virgin pomegranate mojito. Yum!

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Restaurants • River North / Fulton Market District

No More Three-Eyed Lake Erie Fish

If you find yourself in need of some fresh soft shell crabs, or just a piece of salmon that isn’t loaded with food dyes and three days worth of freezer burn, try doing your seafood hunt at L. Isaacson and Stein’s Fish Market. The super fresh and expansive catch of the day draws everyone from professional chefs picking up wholesale monkfish liver to the crazy old lady who saves a buck by making her own fish stock. Quick-handed workers will filet your pick for free and wrap it up, lickety split. Before you leave, take a whiff of the surprisingly fresh air. It’s not so bad for a warehouse brimming with fish carcasses.

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Shopping • River North / Fulton Market District

Iguana Cafe

Iguana Cafe makes me feel like I’m all growed up. It’s something of a classed up (i.e., European) coffee house you can retreat to nearly anytime of day or night, a far cry away from the crusty, granola-y coffee shops of my misspent college youth. Your latte is brought to you by a waiter, you can order a full plate of pasta al forno, the interior is a sophisticated black and red, and people even conduct business meetings here. Heck, you can even pass on coffee and order a glass of wine instead. It doesn’t get more grown up than that. Of course, there was a time my illusion of maturity was shattered when two youngins sat next to me and started talking professors, thesis papers and frat houses. Drats, foiled again! But one bite of my mozzarella, tomato and basil dish later, accompanied by the sweet sounds of world beat techno, I was back in la-la-adultland again.

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Restaurants • River North / Fulton Market District

La Scarola

Tequila shots were the perfect ending to an absolutely delicious meal at one of Chicago’s best Italian restaurants. Confused? Well let me explain. The restaurant in question is La Scarola and it is a study in contrasts. It is in the middle of nowhere, yet it is so popular that even with a reservation you may be waiting up to an hour for a table. The delicious food is a testament to Italian home cooking, but the restaurant is owned by Chef Armando Vasquez, a Mexican. After honing his chops at Italian restaurants in New York and Chicago Armando finally broke out on his own, and thank god, because he is a born restaurateur. Constantly working the front of house, schmoozing tables, and escorting guests through the packed rooms, he seemed to pay extra special attention to our table of four. Whether it was due to my celebrity status as an NFT web contributor or because our dates are total knockouts no one knows, but we spent the good part of 15 minutes swapping jokes and stories. At the end of the night he swung around and ordered a round of tequila shots for the five of us proclaiming, “I hate to drink alone.” Mi tambien, gracias Armando.

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Restaurants • River North / Fulton Market District