Best Restaurants for Birthdays in Skokie

This was our 5th time attending a “Fabio Live “ event. Always fun and entertaining. Cooking demo is informative. The food is delicious. A good value for the price. Can’t wait for the next one.

My wife and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner. Our server was very helpful and knowledgeable of the preparation of every item on the menu on which we had questions. Even with a packed dining room, he kept checking in with us to make sure that all was good and made sure that we had a lovely evening. The food, as usual, was excellent. I had prime rib and my wife had branzino. Both were excellent as well as the salad, bisque, mushrooms and au gratin potatoes.

We had an excellent late lunch before going to the theater next door. Our waiter was very professional: courteous, knowledgeable, and attentive. Our bacon-wrapped shrimp appetizer was exceptional and our entrees (chicken marsala and the fish special) were delicious. My wife is strictly gluten free and was accommodated perfectly.

We were one of a handful of diners since it was a Tuesday night and cold out. Asked to be seated in a booth which turned out to be below the speaker. We asked to lower the music since we heard it more than our ability to hear one another. Not sure they were allowed to change it but again no one was there so who would be upset. They offered to move us to a table near the window but that did not sound appealing based on the weather. Then the real kicker was that 3 of us wanted to order the tuna poke bowl because we all liked the ingredients but my two friends don’t eat tuna so wanted a swap. One wanted chicken and the other shrimp. You are not allowed to substitute so their $24.95 dinner became $7.95 (chicken) and $14.95 (shrimp) additional for dinner. Chicken definitely costs less than tuna and shrimp is probably a wash. Highway robbery and will make us think twice about dining there or what we choose to eat. And then we were asked to use the QR code to pay for dinner. Nice feature to split between the 6 of us but there was a charge for the use of it along with a surcharge already added to the bill. Are you sure you want to welcome people when our dinner cost each of us about $10-15 additional over what it should have been. Sorely disappointed.

I've been to 501 before and have never been disappointed. The food was terrific. The waitstaff is great. We were seated at a table that was off to the side so it was quiet and my friends and I could catch up with ease. Highly recommend 501!