Unless you like FLW, in which case it is the ONLY place to go.
Unity Temple is pretty neat. And, it is a short hop to Fitzie’s which I plugged earlier.
For food, your ONE and only stop should be www.lthforum.com
Check out the Great Neighborhood Restaurants awards (GNR for searching) and you will get more info than you ever thought possible. I post there under the name Octarine.
Awesome. Thank you!
There is an express bus from downtown. Google Maps
There is also Metra which you can take to the 55th-56th-57th St. station. It’s on the above map, 2 streets west of where the express bus lets you off. Also http://metrarail.com/Sched/me/55th.shtml#
I’ve never used either of these, though.
Yep, don’t take the El to Hyde Park. The bus is the #6 Jackson Park Express, the Metra train is the Electric line from Millennium Station. Either is as good as the other, both beat the El for this particular route.
There is actually a Carribean place in Hyde Park worth recommending, look up Calypso Cafe.
There’s also a cajun place I like called Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop. Hyde Park is great for various styles of African-American down-home cooking!
Can’t help for the city, but let me know how far west your going. I have some great places in the Naperville/ Aurora area.
Yes! I love this place. (Last time we ate here we ran into Jesse Jackson during lunchtime.)
The Dixie Kitchen and Calypso are now both on my list of options.
Might be a bit too far. What are you thinking? I’ll file them away for future trips.
We’ll be going through Naperville/Aurora - what have you got, t-mobileguy?
I’ve never been to the Signature Room at the Hancock Tower but I’ve been told it’s a great view. Pricey, but go treat yourself to a really expensive martini and enjoy the view.
The Hancock Tower also has an observation level, which I hope to visit this time around. I’ve been up to the Sears Tower observation level, but I hear this one is better because you get a better view of the whole city plus the lake.
What time is the game you’re going to? I may have some recommendations for restaurants in Lakeview (the neighborhood directly south of Wrigleyville).
The advantage of the Signature Room as opposed to the observation deck is you have a place to sit and enjoy the view. At one time it was actually cheaper than the observation deck fee. I don’t know if that’s true now.
featherlou, if you’ve never been to Chicago before, the one thing you should see is the view of the Chicago skyline from the Planetarium. Public transportation is the best way to get there. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=485860116294004966,41.866255,-87.607354&saddr=S+State+St+%26+E+Madison+St,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois,+United+States&daddr=1300+S+Lake+Shore+Dr,+Chicago,+IL+60605+(Adler+Planetarium)&mra=cc&dirflg=r&sll=41.87351,-87.617585&sspn=0.030358,0.058365&ie=UTF8&ll=41.87985,-87.620687&spn=0.030355,0.058365&t=h&z=14&start=0
Check out Street View for previews.
Visiting one of the museums is up to you. Because of your limited time, you may want to skip them and take the next bus back.
If you want to take a ride along the lake, my sis and her boy rented a tandem bike at Navy Pier once. They had a blast. There is also a huge ferris wheel there, if you like that kind of thing. (Otherwise I don’t like Navy Pier.)
You really should try a Chicago style hot dog. Yes, get everything on it. Pancake House for breakfast or brunch. (If you like that kind of thing… )
A boat tour is a good way to see the architecture of downtown.
I’m going to be staying at the Belden-Stratford right by the Lincoln Park Zoo. Any recommendations on someplace nice and quiet to eat around there, so that when I’m asked…“Where would you like to go eat?” I can sound slightly knowledgeable?
Sounds good. We also want to try Chicago deep dish pizza, of course. Anyone have any recommendations on that?
Awesome food, I loved that place when I lived in Edgewater.
I like Uno’s and Lou Malnati’s. There are multiple locations in the city.
If you are interested in Chicago-only food, Luke’s Italian Beef (15 W Jackson Blvd) is the best in the city (imho.)
Insist upon eating at RJ Grunts. That will impress everyone!
We sure are. I think I’ll be printing this thread out and keeping it with us for reference.
Actually, if you’re going to do an architecture tour I have to plug the Architecture Foundation (not for profit) above the for profit guys: The Chicago Architecture Foundation
And if you took the suggestion above about reading Devil in the White City the CAF has a new tour based on the book. And along with the boat and walking tours there are also tours by Segway and bus. The “Highlights by Bus” is what the name suggests, it hits the important bits including IIT campus (Mies van der Rohe) and the Robey House (FLW).
For fun brunch places there is the Bongo Room in Wicker Park and the South Loop and Orange in Lakeview and Printers Row.
The original is Pizzeria Uno (corner of Wabash and Ohio); they have another, fundamentally identical, restaurant, Pizzeria Due, a block away (corner of Wabash and Ontario). Uno Chicago Grill (which you can find in a number of places outside of Chicago) has the pizza, and adds other stuff to the menu, though I’m not sure if they’re owned by the same people, or just licensing.
Lou Malnati’s was founded by a guy who used to work in the kitchen at Pizzeria Uno. They’re pretty good, too, and there’s several in the city. Gino’s East and Giordano’s also are pretty good, but I still like Uno the best.