Need Ideas for Hubby's 40Th Birthday Party.

Dave and Buster's in Addison is a fun place and VERY accomadating for parties. We had my bro-in-law's 30th there. The manager was very flexible and open to ideas. They have standard packages you can choose from but we just had them set aside some tables and ordered a bunch of appetizers. We also had an "open bar" for 1 hour and just picked up that tab. But you could also ask them to take coupons (that you supply) that each guest gets for one drink on your tab. unfortunately, if you do put together a party you are expected to pay for the food provided. But if you're on a tight budget, just do what we did with the appetizers. If the guest wants more to eat, they can always order it for themselves. Hope this helps! Good luck and happy birthday to him.

C.,
Every year for the last 6 years I have given my husband a bday party(I dont think he's thrilled that I am always surprising him, but I love it). Anyway-there are 2 parties that EVERYONE still talks about....one is that we all went to a horse track(balmoral park out here-which is kind of far from where your at). Many of them have rooms and packages-everyone paid for their own bets and then appetizers and drinks were included in the package-we even got to go on the track and take a picture!!! The second party was just this past march-we went to Pheasant Run resort in St. Charles-my hubby and I went there on friday so we can spend a night by ourselves(he actually thought we were going to be there the whole weekend together-just us....and then all of his friends surprised him by showing up on saturday). I called Zanies Comedy club and got group rates for tickets, everyone paid for their own tickets and hotel rooms if they chose to stay. I talked to our waitress and ran a tab to $200(there were at least 20 of us)and then they paid for their own drinks....after that we went to Jambalaya(sp)right there in the resort....our guests continued to buy their own drinks and food if they wanted to eat. Honestly, no one cared that they were spending their own money-it was great to get out and have a good time. After trying to pay for EVERYTHING the first couple of years everyone kept telling me not to do that...I finally listened. My advice would be to state what your intentions are though. If you are going to provided an open bar for x amount of hours state that, or whatever cost you plan on incurring....just dont go broke over it :) Best of luck....keep us posted on where you decide to have it!!!!

C.
Maybe you should check out Lucky Strike in Lombard. They are an upscale bowling, restaurant,lounge. Or maybe Maggiano's in Oak Brook. Good luck. There are numerous places in downtown Naperville as well.

Don't have a good location suggestion but as for paying for everyone the answer is yes. If you are hosting the party you really, really should foot the bill. You can limit the alcohol however. You could do no alcohol and only soft drinks or just beer and wine. Whatever you do, do not and I repeat do not buy a liquor/beer/wine package (i.e. $10.00 per person unlimited well drinks etc.). You are better off running a tab on a per drink basis. I have thrown quite a few parties over the years and know what I am talking about. You could rent a hall like the Foreign Legion hall or the Elk hall or Amvets hall, they are really reasonable and usually have a bar available. Good luck, I will be doing the same thing in a few months for my hubby too!

You pay if you're hosting. If you're looking for a casual restaurant, I recommend Pompei Bakery on Taylor St in Chicago. The party room holds about 80-100 but you only need 25 to reserve the room and it's casual-elegance. The menu is pretty flexible (everything from pizza to chicken dishes). I also like the Grotto in Oakbrook if you are thinking of staying suburban. Another suggestion is to maybe pick 4-6 good friends and get tickets for a sporting event for him and his buddies. Perhaps you could add a gift card for the venue (all the sports teams have them) and the guys could use it to buy beer, etc.

Maybe shoot for something near a train station??? downtown Naperville, Downers Grove

Or the Lombard area has a lot of restaurants too.