PRICE:
Frommer's Recommended

A venerable old restaurant in a venerable old hotel, the Cape Cod Room is the kind of place where waiters debone the Dover sole tableside while businessmen work out their next deal. There's nothing nouvelle about the Cape Cod Room, which is part of the draw for old-timers; the restaurant, located on the lower level of The Drake Hotel, is dimly lit and hasn't changed much since it opened in the 1930s. Although the food is fine, I think the prices are far too steep for what you get. But that doesn't stop Cape Cod loyalists -- many of whom have been coming here for decades -- from filling up the place. For starters, the hearty Bookbinder red snapper soup is a signature dish. It's flavored to taste with dry sherry brought to the table. Or, you might order a mixed seafood appetizer of shrimp, crab fingers, clams, and oysters. Main-course offerings include Chilean sea bass served with truffle mashed potatoes, red snapper, or bouillabaisse. (If seafood's not your thing, you can order steaks and chops off the menu of Drake Bros., the hotel's steakhouse.) I wouldn't call the Cape Cod Room a good value, but the people-watching can be priceless.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Chicago 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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