Best Spots for Biz Dinners Don't Come Cheap

(Photo: Shanghai Terrace)

If you're still lucky enough to have a corporate card and one of your job descriptions is "entertaining clients," then this list is for you.

Esquire just released a list of best business restaurants across the country, and of course Chicago made it.

Writer John Mariani included Spiaggia because it "functions well as a place for a special client who appreciates good Italian food and wine, with a beautiful view of Magnificent Mile."

Sixteen made it because of its "fine bar for cocktails and a tall-ceilinged dining room with tables at perfect distances from each other."

David Burke Primehouse for the "first-rate beef" and because "its atmosphere is good for a casual business breakfast or lunch."

Mariani's favorite place in Chicago for a quiet business lunch or dinner is Shanghai Terrace. He calls it "an exquisite Chinese dining room downstairs at the Peninsula Hotel."

While these restaurants are all very good choices, this list is predictable and safe as hell. And if your client is a savvy businessman/woman likely they've been before. Surprised he didn't include at least one new spot or something with a bit of an edge . . .