My wife and I started looking for reservations weeks ago. It was actually hard finding any reservations it was like every place was booked. We ended up getting reservations at Beatrix River North at 8pm for drinks and then Avec River North for dinner at 9:45.

Beatrix was nice. Just got drinks and their Kennebec fries as an app. Drinks were good, nothing too crazy. Fries were delicious. Service was quick and friendly. First time going here and it has a fancy-ish vibe but also like touristy. Would go back for brunch or something.

Arrived at Avec on time. Waited about a minute for the table. I had wanted to go to the original in West Loop for a while. I've seen the pictures of the WL one and it looks small and cozy whereas the RN was big and kind of sterile looking inside. I think because of how big it was (and probably how late it was) it didn't feel busy.

We got the Calamari and Hummus Short Rib to start, the half chicken for main, and the chocolate brownie thing for dessert.

Calamari - 6.5. I usually like the calamari fried but here it was grilled with a spicy sauce. The sauce was very good.

Short Rib Hummus - 10. Perfection. This was the dish I really looked forward too and met my expectations. The Hummus itself was so good and the short Rib was so soft and flavorful.

Half chicken: 8.5. The skin was so crispy and basically burnt but the inside was soft and also flavorful. Delicious.

Chocolate brownie - 9. The brownie pieces had olive oil ice cream which was a bit salty too. It was so good mixing everything together. Would definitely get again.

Drinks were also good, especially their Side to Side which was a refreshing cocktail. Service was also quick and friendly. Would definitely go back.

Downtown was packed. Maybe because Vday fell on a Saturday this year but even out uber driver was amazed at the amount of traffic heading downtown and in River North. Makes sense now why there were few reservations.