...you had me at duck nachos

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The rehearsal dinner has been the source of some strife in the Stiletto household these past few months. We haven't been able to find any places to host it!

I know you're thinking to yourself, "Stiletto, what's the deal? You live in Chicago and are surrounded by so many fabulous restaurants." That may be true, but the wedding events are taking place just west of the city in Oak Park, and I've been bending over backwards to keep everything in Oak Park, within walking distance of the church!

While Oak Park has some fabulous restaurants, the ones that could actually accomodate our group just didn't grab our interests. Or if they did, we'd have to empty our wallets and then some to host our nearest and dearest.

So, we opened up our search to Chicago's West Loop, which is about 10 miles straight east of Oak Park. The West Loop has some fabulous restaurants to choose from - almost too many! Fortunately, a friend suggested de cero, a self-described modern taqueria.

The restaurant just happens to have a room the perfect size for our little group (20-25), availability on our date, and no room rental fees if we keep it to 2 hours or less.

Don't you just love this long table that's in one of their private rooms:

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And their list of drinks sounds absolutely scrumptious, including a raspberry basil daiqueri, a peach and chamomile cholada and a strawberry mint marguerita - only a taste of what's on their fabulous drink menu.

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They sent us a few sample menus to look at - all would be served family style - and after including tax and gratuity, their price per person is actually less than the places in Oak Park that I had on my list that I had considered reasonable. Score!

Of course, the true deal maker? The duck nachos - just try and tell me your mouth isn't watering right now when you read this:

five house-made tortilla chips served with
duck, queso, pico de gallo, mashed pinto beans and crema

Yummmmy! Now, of course, we haven't made a trip there to see the space and stuff our faces. That's next on the list and assuming all goes as planned, we'll be signing on the dotted line.

I was sad to step away from my perfect plan to keep the rehearsal dinner in Oak Park, but at the end of it all we both wanted a tasty place to take our friends and family.

How did you decide where to host your rehearsal dinner?