Communal tables in Chicago are huge right now. Get it? Because the tables are ...

1. avec (West Loop) - The place is always busy, no matter what time you arrive, so don't feel bad for asking those at a semi-full table if you can sit there. Just feel bad if they say no.
2. The Bristol (Bucktown/Wicker Park) - The main room is as intimate as the communal seating. Pass the salt and share your grilled prawns, would you?
3. Room 21 (South Loop) - Long tables and the long bar at this former Al Capone speakeasy make you feel like royalty upon arrival. The vintage leopard oil painting on the wall should provide a perfectly good conversation starter.

Pull out your card and make reservations now.

1. The Violet Hour (Bucktown/Wicker Park) - Reserve the third seating at this intimate hotspot. For $60 a person, you get unlimited sparkling wine and three cocktails (or beer or wine) from their NYE cocktail list. There will be an appetizer menu floating around, but food is not included in the price.
2. Province (West Loop) - Ring in an organic New Year. The early seating package (5:30 to 8 p.m.) inside this LEED-certified building includes three courses at $36 per person for food only; for the later seating, you get a glass of sparkling wine and your choice among five appetizers, five entrees, and three desserts for $65. There's a couple of wine packages to choose from, too.
3. Pops for Champagne (Near North Side) - If you're looking for an open-bar package with Piper-Heidsieck Champagne and passed hors d'oevres prepared by Chef Andre Brochu, then slap down $130 and indulge here. The Ava Logan Quartet will be bebopping downstairs in the intimate jazz lounge from 6 to 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.