Liquor laws are pretty wide open here but it may be tricky to find a good retailer in the Loop. It looks like there are, at least, a Walgreens, a CVS and a 7-11 within a couple blocks of your hotel. They may not all sell alcohol but you should be able to at least get some macrobrew at one of them
Looking at the hotel’s website, it doesn’t list a bar among the amenities – which doesn’t surprise me, for a more budget-level hotel chain like La Quinta.
Both my Chicago-living kids told us to have breakfast at Ann Sather’s (you should be able to get to the one on Belmont using the EL). The cinnamon rolls are great. They seem to be more of an eggs Benedict place than a chicken-fried steaks place, though.
https://www.mannysdeli.com/ A south Loop institution.
Yeah, while you can get biscuits and gravy, or chicken-fried steak, at a lot of breakfast places in Chicago, those aren’t really traditional Chicago dishes. Iconic Chicago breakfast places would be Ann Sather’s, as noted, or maybe the Original Pancake House.
Surprisingly, we have Original Pancake House here in western WA as well.
Well then the name sounds misleading and impossible. Like when the band in Airheads called themselves The Lone Rangers.
It’s the same chain, but the Original Pancake Houses in the Chicago area are far superior to the ones out in the Pacific NW. My family has always preferred the franchisees with the “Walker Bros” Original Pancake House name in the north shore suburbs to the Chicago non-“Walker Bros” branch, but they’re all better than the ones in the PNW. A scene from the movie Ordinary People was filmed in the one in Wilmette. But there’s nothing really unique to Chicago there, just better quality.
Lou Mitchell’s at 565 W. Jackson near Union Station is a great greasy-spoon type of diner for breakfast. It will be 100 years old next year.
Manny’s and Lou Mitchell’s sound like the kind of breakfast places I’d enjoy. I think I’m also gonna have to work in a visit to J.P. Graziano’s - the “Mr. G” sub sounds amazing.
While not a native I’ve lived in Chicago for over 30 years and in my opinion you should listen to everything @pulykamell has suggested. There are a lot of other good suggestions but given your time frame, those suggestions are spot on.
A lot of other great ideas in the thread as well.
- Another reco for the the architectural boat tour.
- Lou Mitchell’s is close to where you are staying so hella yeah to that.
- Unless you rent a car I would avoid anything in the burbs or not easily accessed with public transportation.
- I find Kuma’s food a bit overrated but it is a unique place.
- Personally, Malnati’s over Giordano’s but my main advice would be to avoid Pizzeria Uno/Due at all cost. Total garbage in my opinion.
- Manny’s Deli for lunch is a big yes. The pastrami. The corned beef. I’m drooling now.
- Museum of Science and Industry is cool but seriously south south south of downtown. No trains go near there so it would be bus or cab/Uber. Keep that in mind.
- Art Institute unless you just don’t care for art museums. I have a membership there and to the Museum of Contemporary Art. MCA can be quite variable depending on what the special exhibits are unless you are REALLY into contemporary art. Some of their stuff just leaves me cold.
- For something off the beaten path I would heartily recommend the Chicago Magic Lounge. It is a bit to the north of Wrigley in the Andersonville neighborhood but a lot of fun if you enjoy magic. And the legendary jazz club The Green Mill is nearby if you have an interest.
ETA: Weather can be more variable than someone indicated upthread. There can be warm days yes but I’ve experienced heavy snow flurries as late as mid-May. Most likely it will be cool and possibly rainy. And because of its orientation, it can get chilly at Wrigley that early in the season with wind off the lake. Just something to keep in mind when packing.
We used to have Uno in southern CA when they got big into franchising in the '90s and I agree their pizza was nothing special. I’ve made deep dish at home that was better than the stuff they had. That’s why Giordano’s interests me - I’ve had deep dish, but I’ve never had stuffed deep dish.
Looking on Google Maps the number 6 bus goes straight from the Loop to MSI, so unless the buses in Chicago aren’t literal crack dens on wheels I think I should be able to handle it. I’ve been lucky to spend my whole life in areas where public transit was robust and reliable enough that I can handle finding my own way around the bus.
I’ve never taken the line, but it does look like the Metra Electric line has a stop (55th/56th/57th Street) that’s just a couple of blocks away from MSI.
We took that very same bus the last time we were visiting. It is indeed a straight shot down a few streets you probably would not get to see otherwise. The bus was pretty empty when we boarded in the loop, but filled up as workers got on on their way to their jobs at the museum. I thought it was a fine way to get there, and an interesting big-city experience if you don’t normally take busses.
To get back to our hotel, we took a cab from the cabstand at the museum. It was actually easier than using a ride share service.
Yes, you can get there by either bus or Metra. Metra in general is much faster but runs less frequently, so that you really have to check the schedule if you want to use it. I should also mention that bus service appears to have totally gone to shit at some point during the two years when I wasn’t taking buses. But if you are lucky enough to have a bus come by it will be perfectly safe though you may see and smell some of the underserved mentally ill population. Honestly though MSI is cool but unless you are really into that sort of thing I don’t think I would fit it into a 4 day itinerary.
As far as serious Italian dining, Riccardo Trattoria, 2119 N. Clark, thank me later. Tangentially they are almost next door to the Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Company, where I have never eaten but which apparently has a following; their gimmick is that they have crust on top of the deep dish pizza, making it basically a pot pie.
Also, I think you like loud music, right? Has anyone mentioned Delilah’s? Classic punk bar on Lincoln.
You’re clearly not vegetarian, but don’t let that deter you from ordering “The Lou” at Lou Malnati’s. It is deliciousness incarnate.
You should definitely go to Wrigley Field, and you will be going at just the right time of year to get affordable tickets. Just dress warmly; for some reason it always feels about fifteen degrees colder inside than outside.
They’re one of the options on the Citypass, and a chance to see a U-boat and an Apollo capsule is worth it, IMO.
I meant to ask about them, because I’ve heard about them online and even tried making a copycat of their pizza pot pie once before. (It’s not really a pot pie in the conventional sense; they layer the cheese in the bottom of a bowl, fill it with mushrooms and sausage and tomato sauce, put a crust on top, bake it so the crust forms a dome, then invert it and remove the bowl, so the end result is kind of an upside-down deep dish.) I’ve heard there’s a long wait to get in, but apparently they take reservations now. Has anyone eaten there who can tell me if they’re worth it?
The Italian Village restaurant is a classic from 1927 and only about 5 blocks from your hotel.
Thanks for asking about the Pizza and Oven Grinder company. I saw a post on Facebook about their food years back and it’s on my to eat list since then. The pies looked amazing. I’m headed back to Chicago in January, so your thread is timely.
In all my years here, I’ve never been there, nor have any of my close friends whom I would expect to mention it somewhere in conversation. Let me know how it is. I only know it from food videos.