# How to: Visit Chicago Like a Chicagoan **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448 "2013-02-06T03:13:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/21 "2013-02-09T15:24:34Z")
Yeah, Piece is nice…when you can get a seat. Place has been filled to the gills every time I’ve been there, but it’s been at least a year since I’ve been, so maybe things have settled, but I doubt it. The beers they brew are _fantastic_, too. I would go there far more often if the parking were more convenient and I could find seating. The bacon & clam pizza is the best. When I’m not in the mood for Chicago style thin, my favorite pizza is still Coalfire. They do an East Coast-meets-Neapolitan coal-fired kind of thing. It’s awesome. I know that Spillane (the co-founder of Coalfire) recently opened up a new place called Armitage Pizzeria which is supposed to be more a straight East Coast take on pizza. I haven’t been there yet, but I’ve heard good things about it. And, of course, there is Great Lake that pops up on these “best pizza in the US” lists, but I haven’t managed to get myself there, either. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/22 "2013-02-09T16:22:15Z")
Jumping in to say that the Drake Hotel’s Cape Cod Room is still a favorite (as of 2010, last time I visited there) and their cocktails are OUTSTANDING. Chicago Vienna Hot Dogs are still the best … Chicago-style, from a local (not chain / sorry, Petrillo’s) vendor. I vote for any Italian Beef-Sausage Combo, WET, with hot giardiniera, as one of the best messy meals EVER. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/23 "2013-02-09T16:25:01Z")
Nah, Patrillo’s hot dogs are awesome. At least they can be reliably depended on to have natural casing dogs. In my neighborhood, most mom and pops use skinless. I can’t believe how difficult it is to get a proper dog around here (and I’m not talking condiments, as I don’t go for that “fully dressed” stuff, usually. That wasn’t the Chicago dog I grew up with. Gene and Jude’s–that’s the type of hot dog I was raised on.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/24 "2013-02-09T16:57:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > …I know that Spillane (the co-founder of Coalfire) recently opened up a new place called Armitage Pizzeria which is supposed to be more a straight East Coast take on pizza. I haven’t been there yet, but I’ve heard good things about it… I’ve been to Armitage Pizzeria, as it’s a couple blocks from my house. I’ll give them credit for authentic ambiance - like most NYC pizzerias, it has all the charm of a dry cleaners. The pizza itself is so-so. My transplanted-NYCer girlfriend and I recently finished a hard target search for the best NYC style pizza in Chicago, and she declared the winner to be Luigi’s on Clark Street. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/25 "2013-02-09T17:10:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Who? I haven’t found any one who does a decent NY pie here. Pizzaco in Lakeview. I order it in. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/26 "2013-02-09T17:42:57Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Pizzaco in Lakeview. I order it in. I’ll have to check some of these out. To be honest, I’m not big on the regular New York style pizza (and think Jersey does a better job of it), but Totonno’s, Grimaldi’s, and Patsy’s are among my favorite pizzas in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/27 "2013-02-09T19:43:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, Piece is nice…when you can get a seat. Place has been filled to the gills every time I’ve been there, but it’s been at least a year since I’ve been, so maybe things have settled, but I doubt it. The beers they brew are _fantastic_, too. I would go there far more often if the parking were more convenient and I could find seating. The bacon & clam pizza is the best. Nah, they’re still full. Tried 5 pm on a Sunday a few weeks ago and there was an hour wait already. We usually end up going for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/28 "2013-02-11T03:16:50Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > A hop + skip + jump away from the toll road. Which toll road? All of them! 🆒 And people wonder why I live in this town. You can get pretty much anywhere fairly fast. Dropmom tried to get me to follow her and my brothers to Seattle, but just the corridor between Oak Brook and Naperville is a larger job market. And completely lacks my brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Cheryl44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@Cheryl44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheryl44)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/29 "2013-02-25T00:08:58Z")
If this guy knew what he was talking about he’d call it the L. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/30 "2013-02-27T18:24:24Z")
And, just to gloat a little on the pizza front, [Chicago was named best city for pizza](http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-cities-for-pizza) again by a survey of Travel & Leisure readers. Yeah, I know it’s just one random survey of readers, but I had to throw it out there. ---
**Author:** ![melsaxing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@melsaxing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melsaxing)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448/31 "2013-02-28T06:38:09Z")
As an expat Chicagoan, I will follow the link! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visit-chicago-like-a-chicagoan/649448.md?page=1)