Since this is a new forum, I couldn’t pass up the chance to start it off.
I no longer live in the Chicago area, but I went to high school in one of the suburbs. I went with a group (total of three couples) to The Pump Room for my high school prom.
Is it still around? At the time, it was the most expensive place I’d ever paid for.
ETA: Apparently, it is still around: The Pump Room.
Wow…haven’t been there for years…didn’t know it was still around. My husband and I were thinking about having a little Christmastime “date” without the kids…I think I’m going to see if he wants to go there.
Thanks for the reminder!
I remember for a while it was one of the Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, but they don’t mention that in the “history” page on their web site.
My grandparents used to go to the Pump Room, and I’m now 59! I believe I was taken there once, as a young girl.
Oh, hey, I think I went there before or after a Prom, too. Or maybe homecoming. We came all the way up from Tinley/Orland to do it up right, dontchaknow. Awwww…yeah!
My only memory of the Pump Room is that Wally Phillips would award certificates on WGN.
I went there with my first long-term girlfriend in highschool (circa 1992) on our one-year anniversary. Her father gave us a hundred bucks to enjoy a nice dinner, and we decided on the Pump Room. I can’t remember for the life of me what I ate except that it was the first (and only) time I’ve had a baked Alaska. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baked Alaska on a menu since then. I have very fond memories of that place, and I think dinner ended up lasting nearly three hours, with us soaking in the atmosphere (and enjoying the fact we got served wine even though we were 17 and 16 at the time. 
)
I haven’t been to the Pump Room but I hear it’s not as good as it’s glory days. It does have a bit of interesting music trivia attached to it though…