La Sardine is a bit removed from the Randolph & Green nexus of high end and tragically hip restaurants, and I'm glad for that. I used to go to Le Bouchon often when I lived in Wicker Park four years ago, and now that I've moved into the West Loop I frequent La Sardine quite a bit. Unlike Le Bouchon, most of the waiters aren't French (or at least they were when I went there), so while they don't pronounce everything correctly they make up for that with a bit less attitude. The food is excellent (seafood is especially well done), the portions good sized, and the service is always at least fair. They have a nice price fixe lunch special as well. One negative that I keep bringing up with the staff is the lack of wines by the glass--only two whites and two reds.
more