My wife and I will be celebrating our anniversary this weekend. I would like to take her to Chicago on Saturday on the South Shore Line (we usually get off on Randolph St) but what to do after that?
I am thinking about taking her to Maggiano’s or one of the Italian Village restaurants to eat but I don’t know what to do then.
We come downtown 3-4 times a year so we’ve walked the Mag Mile. So what next? Are there any little clubs/bars that have live entertainment? Not too loud or country; no head banging or twanging, just nice place to be for the around 40 crowd.
I wanted to take her to Wicked but there are no weekend tickets available for less the $400/seat.
My girlfriend wanted to see Wicked this weekend too, but we ran into the same problem as you. So her next choice is Girl 20. Don’t know if it’s gonna be any good. But there’s an option for you. If that’s not your bag, that’s a link to the Reader’s theater listings, so maybe you can find something else there.
Metromix has a handy entertainment search engine that you can restrict by neighborhood (in your case, downtown, or maybe River North) or by distance from
a restaurant. So you could search for clubs within 1 mile of your restaurant.
I saw Late Nite Catechism at the Royal George Theater last summer. It was truly excellent. If you have any kind of Catholic upbringing (and my experience with Catholicism is pretty limited) you will love it. It’s very personal and I believe it’s still ongoing. Royal George’s site also says it’s running “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” about which I’ve heard many good things.
It never hurts to check Second City’s lineup, either. Apparently you’re there much more often than I, so I doubt I need to recommend any restaurants.
If you can get in, since they’re not taking reservations, eat at the Berghoff. It’ll be the last chance you’ll ever get.
If not…
Restaurants…Bistro 110 (good french provencal), Rosebud (italians italian), Reza’s (superlative mediterranean) Opera (classic chinese) Rhapsody (american fare) Gibsons or Hugo’s Frog Bar (standard but VERY good) and Smith and Wollensky (for steak), oh, and Nacional 27 is an awesome latin flavored supper club, not to forget Frontera for Mexican either, but Nacional has entertainment…
All within cabbing distance.
Clubs…None cooler that the Green Mill in Uptown (at Broadway and Lawrence it’s it’s a big trip from down town). Andy’s Jazz Club is nice, as is Celtic Crossings (best Guiness pour in the city) Dick’s Last Resort on North Pier is fun but loud and touristy…
Quickie response, they always do same-day ticketing for Wicked, basically selling any tickets for people who have cancelled or for held tickets that are released at the last minute.
I don’t know the precise details, but essentially you have to show up when the doors open (or another prescribed time) on the same day the show is playing…usually about noon. From what I’ve been told it’s really not that unlikely or hard since most people want to plan in advance. Anyways, I recommend calling the theater and asking about it. Assuming you’ll be in town shopping that morning anyways, you could try and get them. If there’s no luck, go ahead with whatever alternate plans you make.
The Art Institute is wonderful! Right now, they have the Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (1767–1824) exhibition going on. It’s called the ‘Romantic Rebel.’
Maybe your wife would enjoy this.
The Field Museum currently has a Pompeii exhibit, IIRC. I was just at the Shedd Aquarium last weekend, and their relatively new Wild Reef exhibit is neat - a new, large area with lots of sharks and other cool stuff.
We like coming to Chicago. My sister asked if we were ever worried about going there, we’re originally from a small town in NW Ohio, I laughed. Downtown seems to be very clean and very safe. I have yet to feel even a little worried.
Ok maybe a little worried about getting lost, but even then, people are pretty helpful. Even the drunk guy who pointed us in the wrong direction was nice :).
And thanks Omniscient, I will try that. I’m sure she would like to go.
They also, or at one point did, have a lottery for seats close to the stage at a greatly reduced priced (on the order of $20). You go to the box office, or theater, I am not really sure, a few hours before the performance and drop your name in the box. They pick out of the box, and those picked get the cheap tickets. It might be worth a call to the theater to see if they still have this program. My mother and brother were able to see Wicked cheaply through this during the summer.
Bundle up, it’s going to be cold! Last forecast I saw said it wouldn’t get above 15 degrees (without the windchill).
You can always check out the Cultural Center (78 E. Washington Street) they usually have free exhibits and music, and there is a tourist information center based there. If you happen in there go to the top floor and check out the amazing marble inlay and the Tiffany dome of Preston Bradley Hall.
