I was here for a friend's party so my view is from a guest, not a party organizer. They have a…read moreparking lot so that is convenient. The place is big and well decorated: love the color! Even the bathrooms were nice. I noticed there was a coat check, too, which we didnt need for the summer. My friend did not have a formal sit down dinner so small tables with chairs and sofas were spread around the dancefloor. She had a long table on which she placed an assortment of food she had brought. There's a huge stage in front and a bar in the back. Overall it's a cute venue.

I've been there one for a fundraiser, and will be attending a holiday party at this event space in…read morea few weeks. My experience was pleasant. I'm not sure if the other reviewer was a bridezilla or if her complaints were legitimate, but will say it seems unlikely a cake collapses due to an event space being too warm. I've been to a lot of rural church weddings on hot days with no air conditioning. I have seen people collapse due to heat, but never a wedding cake. In any event, I'm giving five stars because I don't think a business should be punished based on what could be one difficult reviewer's opinion. I could be wrong, and I hope others review the space and provide honest feedback so the average experience is better reflected in the reviews.

Centennial Park is part of the larger Park District compound (Centennial Fitness Center, Centennial…read moreActivity Center, and a swimming pool). The park is a nice one with soft rubber flooring. There are swings, which is about as far as we got since my daughter is a fan, but they also had some big playground equipment for older kids. Not sure if there's anything for the smaller children besides the swings. If I had a suggestion to make, it would be that there be a fence around the playground as there is in Chicago parks. Just an added level of safety for the little ones, since the road isn't super far away and of course there's a parking lot and if you have a runner, they can get away from you quickly.

Today it rained and lightning so unless you have a season pass you are asked to leave and once you…read morepass a certain point you can't make re entry if the weather clears up. Nice pool usually always get a seat poolside

I've been coming to Gillson Park since I was a kid, and it's been great to see it evolve and get…read morebetter over the years. The Lake Michigan views, beach, and open spaces make it a great place to spend the day, and the lake is a great temperature for swimming toward the end of summer. On this visit, I saw these two dogs wearing sunglasses and had to get a picture!

I love this beach so much! It's beautiful and clean, but just recently, they fenced up a few parts…read moreof the beach and now require payment for residents and non-residents AND when you leave one part of the paid beach to move to another part, you have to pay again! Which is absurd. I was also thinking about renting out a shelter for a party, but the park doesn't allow you to bring your own grill, doesn't allow alcohol, only provides you with two tables, and you have to still pay for parking and access to the beach. It all just seems like a money grab, which sucks because the beach was free to the public for so long! I know a lot of people are upset about the new rules. Aside from that, there is a park, tennis courts, and Fat Shallot, where they serve food and drinks. There is also a patio area to eat and drink, and outdoor showers. PARK ON MICHIGAN AVE and just walk down to avoid some fees!

DO NOT consider a winter wedding here, and absolutely DO NOT expect transparency or flexibility…read morewith any hiccups in their formula. Also, they apparently blocked my account on Zola -- I can't find them in a search when I'm logged in anymore. Thankfully I was able to leave a review without being logged in, and am also sharing here. TLDR: they can't accommodate winter weddings, despite including those months as available on their website, and they aren't transparent about their inability to do so. They can only provide half a venue, with 40% decreased capacity, but still expect you to pay full price. I was appalled by their poor communication and business practices throughout our experience trying to book them for our January wedding. -- -- The issues started when booking a tour -- their availability is challenging if you work a day job, and we were also limited with my partner's 24/48 shifts for the city. But I rearranged my work to accommodate their schedule. The day of the tour we received a vague cancellation with 3 hours notice, saying they would work with our schedules to get a new tour on the calendar. They very much did NOT work with our schedules, declined several options I requested that would work without us making major concessions on our end, and only offered a small window later than their once-a-week evening slots. We were once again rearranging our schedule to work for theirs after their cancellation. When we finally had the tour, I'll admit it's a gorgeous venue. We were excited about booking there, but concerned about how they'd handle January events. Since their website includes Jan in their off-peak season rates, I figured they had a plan for accommodating cold weather (they have a tent for the yard, but it's insufficient for temps under 30 degrees and that's a heavy gamble for evenings in January). They didn't seem to have any ideas outside using that tent. They do have an upstairs to the venue that reflects the ground floor footprint, so I asked if they would include these in the base rate (they're usually an add-on expense) because we were losing space in the yard. They said they would "compromise" by including just one of the rooms, but would reduce capacity to only 70. We had been straightforward that our guest list was 80-90, and their website advertises up to 120 guests for a buffet or cocktail reception, which was our plan. I understand they don't do a ton of events in the winter, so I thought maybe they just didn't have a well-designed plan for colder months and we could find a way to work one out. But they refused to work with us to expand capacity beyond 70 guests AND made no concessions on price. I have no idea what they would have done had we moved forward and temperatures were too cold for a tent (leave our guests shivering? cut our guest list week-of? at the door?) -- I asked and and they couldn't answer. On top of it all, they made me feel like I was a problem for having these concerns. At the end of the day, I can't believe that a venue would expect clients to pay full price for half a venue and 40% decreased capacity, especially in a season they admit having little to no bookings. They clearly do not want business in their winter months, but will jerk you around for a month pretending they do.

Exceeded our (extremely high) expectations at every step, turn, and touchpoint!…read more We worked with the AMAZING Teddy and Sarah and from the start knew we were in the right place, space and best of hands. First of all, Firehouse is charming as all HECK. This isn't your drab hotel ballroom where partition walls, lighting rigs and bunches and bunches of flowers can barely start to cover the lack of character. This space has personality and soul, every last inch. Classic Chicago neighborhood setting, we didn't want to leave the beautiful courtyard space. Everything about the venue is built to make your guests feel at home, comfortable and intimate to the party. Did we mention the firepole?! Best entry ever for a groom to make. We can't recommend enough - Teddy and Sarah listened to all our thoughts/concerns/ideas and custom built a space and flow that complimented the night in every possible way.

This is a peaceful area close to the Morton Grove Metra Station. I've come here during lunch and…read moreI've seen deer here sometimes, but mostly it's just people in their cars. It's beautiful in the fall with the colorful leaves, but I've never ventured out into the woods. Stop here for a little forest bathing, there's plenty of room, and its so green.

Came here for a birthday party for my friends' son last summer. It's a great area, and they had…read morereserved a pavilion so we had a lot of space. The pavilions also seem to be spaced out enough that you're not right on top of another group. My one complaint was parking: there was a verrrrrry large group a few pavilions down, and because there was so many people their parking spilled into the space for our pavilion, so we had to park a ways down. I get that it's all open parking, so not really anyone's fault, but it was pretty hard to find parking. The pavilions are good size, and had plenty of table space and seating (plus room for some games). There was also plenty of 'lawn space' around for people that wanted to be out in the sun. Porta potties were the only bathrooms I saw, and depending on which pavilion you were at it could be bit of a hike to them. Overall, not a bad place to have a larger gathering.

We had our wedding here and it went off perfectly. The food was amazing and we got so many…read morecompliments on it. (I was too stuffed from all the amazing appetizers to even eat my dinner!). The prices were fair, especially for the quality of food. Drink packages were great too, although we spent more than half our budget on the alcohol, but the open bar is the the most important part of the wedding for the guests, right? The events coordinator (Margaret) was amazing and so helpful. She worked with us on so many things to bring our vision to light. I cannot say enough wonderful things about her. The venue itself is beautiful, of course. Note: you have to have a member sponsor you to have your wedding here. 5/5 would recommend for any private event.

There is no place I could talk more highly of then Evanston Golf Club. From the staff, design,…read moreevents, food, etc--the list goes on and on. Last night my family and I spent nearly three hours recalling all our impactful, amazing memories we have had because of EGC. Gingerbread house making, haunted houses, swim team, mother's day brunch....It's a pretty spectacular place. I've grown up here, no doubt about it. The people who belong there are kind and have truly curated a community like no other. I'm so grateful this place was apart of my growing up.

I'm a CA native now living in the Midwest so miss the beach. I've been to Chicago many times but…read morenever thought about going to the beach. Last summer we finally went to Lake Michigan and was surprised that it looked just like the Pacific Ocean. The water was blue and clear (not like the muddy brown lakes of NE and IA). This year we decided to stay in Evanston instead of doing downtown Chiacago again. We went to Lighthouse Beach with our 6 year old and 3 year old. It was a great beach. There is a play ground by the beach, a parking lot, bathrooms, life guards, and lots of areas for shade if you want to stay out of the sun. It was beautiful and convenient. The only downside is that it costs $12 per person if you are a visitor. So for a family of 4...it gets pricey. But I guess that helps to keep the beaches nice. Def a beach to visit if you are in the Chicago area!

Grew up not far from there. Take the family there on occasion. Small, nice, and quiet. There is a…read moretucked away fire pit that can rented out and you can go there at night (no life guards then of course). You can take a cool stroll around the old light house as well.

Had a pretty great time walking around this small park that people don't know enough about. It…read moreactually has quite a few things around if you're looking to hang and chill. Lawson Park is one of the hidden spots in Evanston. A thing that really isn't bad. There's a playground and some cool spots. Coming here isn't exactly convenient if not having a car. It's located along the lake. This is also in a residential area so there's not much going on. More like this is a place for those who live around it. The great thing about it is it's usually pretty quiet. Among the amenities is a playground with modern equipment. There's also an opening to the lake to go hang out and relax. Getting here is probably the worst thing about it. It's located by the lake on Sheridan. There's not much else that's around but it's still pretty chill so whatever.

Insider tip: If you follow the faint path down the little hill behind the park, it leads you to the…read morepirate's entrance for Lighthouse Beach. I call it 'pirate's entrance' because technically, you are trespassing a tad when you use it, but if you just want to dip your feet in the water for a second and not pay the $8 per person entry fee at the main beach entrance, this is how you get there. Enter at your own risk though... I can't be held responsible for any possible charges brought upon you, should you get caught. Other than the bootleg beach entrance, this park is pretty rockin'. There's a solid roofed area with picnic benches that you can rent out for parties, also a large field to just lay in, picnic, or set up a soccer game or whatever kind of sport that the kids are into these days and can be played on grassy turf. There's also a bike rack, and some nice, quiet benches just off a bit from this really swank playground that you should totally take your kids to. They'll love it. You know how I know that? Because I loved it and the thing that would have made me love it more would be if I were smaller and actually fit better going through the equipment, which includes a tire swing, kiddie swings, multiple safety slides right next to each other so you can race, a really nice and spacious jungle gym, a cute tented area that kids can put there heads through and look like they have the body of a knight or princess, a little faux stage to put on a puppet show, a red convertable race car, a motorcycle, a little yellow plane and it's all on that squishy, rubber safety ground so it's cushy, no splinters and probably a lot less skinned knees and bruises.