Instead of writing some advice for Valentine’s Day in February (I think it is more important to stay warm first in Chicago anyways), I think I would write a thought on planning your Valentine’s Day dining out experience. I know that it is probably too late for planning advice for this year’s Valentine’s Day, but remember always that Valentine’s can be very busy (especially this year as it is on a Saturday) and if you have any proficiency at cooking, then that is a very good option as well.

For some reason, when I started booking places last Wednesday, many were already completely booked. So lesson number 1 is you can never call in too early for a reservation at a restaurant. Most places don’t charge you if you cancel up to a day in advance, so really you are not losing much (as long as you remember to cancel it if you are not going! I think the place that I reserve will charge $24 if we don’t cancel a day in advance…ouch!).

If you are thinking of going to some popular, trendy restaurant, then Valentine’s is probably not the day to go. Knowing the ambiance of the restaurant is important, so either avoid the restaurant that is really loud altogether or go at some early time like 5pm and get out by the time the place gets boisterous.

Finally, if you were looking for some place new to go to for Valentine’s day, then you will have inevitably stumbled upon a couple of other restaurants that you chose not to go because of full bookings or ambiance or whatever. Remember them and go there when they are less busy (like a Monday or Tuesday night) and get really good service and avoid the crowds. Now that is more like a romantic dinner than the hectic-ness that is Valentine’s Day.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2004 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Kevin and Shareena. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.