In season, the pretty birds may preen on the rooftop lounge enjoying sunshine and balmy breezes, but in the boutique hotel's dark, pubby ground-floor restaurant, State and Lake, it might as well be winter year-round. It's not just the padded leather walls and poor air circulation—it's also the menu, which is dominated by heavy steak-house standards suitable for hibernatory preparation. I can see how an outfit like corporate parent Doubletree might not be as nimble in adapting to the seasons as your average indie farm-to-table partisans, but chili mac and sticky toffee pudding are about as appropriate to summer as Italian ice on Valentine's Day. Still, for a hotel restaurant there are a few decent deals: a heaping plate of house-made "tavern chips" and a ramekin of caramelized onion dip is just $7, and a $13 prime cheeseburger came with a value-added mountain of crispy fries. But State and Lake hasn't managed to transcend a certain institutional quality. Here's hoping that with time the kitchen will catch up to the rotation of the earth.
Price: $$$$
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