Toque, 816 West Randolph, (312) 666-1100, is casual, with a light-wood bar and white tablecloths.
At three, the place shuts down for a few casual changes (tables get flowers and tablecloths, the bar gets chip baskets) and returns at six as a fine-dining option for a largely local crowd.
With its Jack Daniels posters and red-and-white checkered tablecloths, the bar has lured students from places like the inter-university program for Chinese language studies at nearby Tsinghua University.
Marinas like Captain Mike's, on Cross Bay Boulevard, are filled in the summer, and restaurants like Lenny's Clam Bar, with its magenta tablecloths and autographed celebrity photos, overlook the action, serving dishes like calamari marinara ($14.95).
A deferential, soft-spoken serving staff (a bit too much so, I had trouble hearing our waiter) glided quietly through the tiny carpeted dining room with its mirrors, red carnations and napkins on white tablecloths and bar bathed in blue light.
Gallagher's, with its red-checked tablecloths, horseshoe-shaped bar and refrigerated wall of aging steaks at the entrance, has long been a hangout for colorful show-business and sports figures, many of whose pictures are on the walls.
We ate scallops, veal and pork chops prepared simply and deliciously with grits, bourbon and other regional delicacies at Jack Fry's, 1007 Bardstown Road, (502) 452-9244, with its black booths, white tablecloths and lavish bar.
The look is familiar: a long, narrow storefront with bare wood floors, white butcher paper over tablecloths, a service bar up front and butter-yellow walls punctuated with brightly colored, framed posters (Cinzano and others).
Face-down on a bloody white tablecloth at the Palace Bar and Grill in Newark, New Jersey, where he was gunned down, Dutch Schultz is nobody's uncle.
The restaurant's greenery-lined patio, with a slate floor and multicolored market umbrellas, beckon all who pass by, and its sophisticated candle-lit white tablecloth dining room and bar are equally appealing.
