Yep, another tourist wanting to know about parking

Factual Questions
21

Yep, SMW, I’ve gotten a lot of great beer suggestions. This thread has been great. I am very glad I opened it. Thank you all!

Binny’s looks like a shopping extravaganza, and regional favorites that aren’t shipped out are what I’m looking for. With a 109 Illinois beers listed on the website ( including Lone Star :confused: ), It’s probably where I’ll fill the trunk. I have to drive in/out of Chicago. So, I’ll try to make it to the Three Floyds’ pub on my way in or out. Because this sounds like a good suggestion:

I don’t know that I am going to eat one, but this is a menu item that I will recall reading for a long time: Blood Sausage Corndog. I think I would be cheating myself if I didn’t go. It sounds more appealing each time I read it. I don’t know if we’re going to make it that far in from KY by lunchtime, we might try to stop in Indianapolis for lunch on the way in. It may be where we stop for dinner while we are rolling into to town the first night.

Thank you for the info, but I think that’s a bit far from where we’ve decided to stay. My wife has fears of me being lost on the transit system alone that aren’t unfounded, so I’ll probably be parking in walking distance.

Because of your location, I gotta ask what seems like a very dumb question: Are you commuting from Dallas to Chi?

Ok, now pizza seems a completely complex subject, especially in Chicago. I’ve heard that Uno is the original. I’ve had it, at chain locations here in Texas. I’ve heard from several people that you can never get in at Uno’s, and Due is across the street and is just as good. Does anyone have any corroboration of this?

Geno’s East seems like one that I have to have as well. It’s the one that Scabpickerina wants to try the most.

Bert’s seems like an amazing pizza from the description and the photos. It may be one I have to visit, because it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to be shipped out, and any pizza you have to order a day in advance is worth trying. It having been on Anthony Bourdain’s show will be a selling point when I start suggesting lunch at a place that isn’t down-town.

Well, I think that the modern American brews tend to go hop-heavy in general. I personally prefer malty beers myself. As long as they are using mostly aroma hops, going crazy with the hops usually isn’t too bad. My brother’s a beer blogger, though. Goose Island is the one place that he’s requested I bring beer back from. I’m sure I can handle their beers, but they may not be my favorite. It looks like Binny’s carries Two Brothers, so I’ll be sure to grab some of that, too.

At this point, I think it’d be hard not to have a good time. I’ve been told the hot dog stand outside the Field Museum is the hot dog to have. Any other contenders for king of the hot dogs? (I plan to contract gout on vacation.)

I have 11 meals worth of time in Chicago. I’ve always heard it was an eating town. I don’t want to see the inside of a McDonald’s or Denny’s while I’m there. If I can obviate the continental breakfast, it should be a complete success. If anyone has any suggestions on places that are serving lunch early down-town, that would be wonderful. If not, good breakfast places (or really, just any eating) would work, too.

22

First thing to know: the Uno’s that you get anywhere outside of Chicago is NOTHING like the Uno’s that you get at the original downtown Chicago location. Nothing at all. I think it is a different company just licensing the name. So don’t go by your experiences with that.

If you can get into the real Uno’s, it will be great. If you can’t, go to Due’s. Or go to Due’s to start with if you like. It’s exactly the same stuff. Gino’s East is slightly different, but every bit as good. Giordano’s is also slightly different, but just as good. Or sign up for a “pizza tour” with one of the local companies and you’ll get to taste a bunch of them on a nice interesting walking tour.

As for other food, I would strongly recommend you try an Italian Beef sandwich. Ask for it “slightly dipped” (that is, not too wet and not too dry) and it will be perfect. Be prepared to tell them if you want sweet or hot peppers. Everyone has their favorites, but you can’t go wrong with Al’s, Mr. Beef, Buono Beef, or Portillo’s. Hot dogs are pretty much good anywhere that isn’t a chain store. Be prepared for a chef’s salad worth of toppings on it if you get the authentic “Chicago style” dog.

Hope you have a great time, and don’t forget to file a “trip report” when you get back!

23

How much do you want to spend?
What do you want to eat?
How far are you willing to travel?

24

Just a quick thought;

I case of emergency, Pizano’s at Dearborn and Chicago is close to you and they deliver untill 4 AM on the weekends.
It’s typical pizzeria food but it’s pretty good and if you need a late night feast after boozing it’s good to keep in mind.
http://www.pizanoschicago.com/dearborn-and-chicago.php

25

Oops. Looks like I haven’t updated my profile since I moved here a year and a half ago. Thanks for the reminder. I live in the west suburbs(Bloomingdale). I work graveyards downtown so I don’t get to see as much as the city as I would like because when I get off at 830AM I ready to get out and go to bed.

To nitpick myself the Uno’s is in River North, not Near North. They tell you when you walk in that the pizzas take 45 minutes to cook, which is supposedly different than the chains, which I am not familiar with. Btw, America’s Test Kitchen had an episode on Chicago style pizza if you cook and want one at home. Those guys are awesome.

I was watching a review on PBS of Burt’s once and the guests wanted to order an extra appetizer that they didn’t order the day before. The waitress said she’d have to check with Burt first, came back and said “He’ll do it but he says your pushing it!” That’s my kink of place. This guy has his vision damned if he’s going to change it for anyone.

As far as diners go look no further than Lou Mitchell’s. It’s been around since 1923. They serve their omelets in the skittle. Cash only if I remember correctly.

26

I imagined that might be the case. That’s why I wanted to know if Due’s really was identical. I wanted to get in and see what the difference was, and a spare never hurts. We’ve had the chains on/off here in DFW for awhile now. I’ve heard that I’ve been lied to. Now, it’s time to find out to what degree :).

Hmm, that does sound interesting, I’ll look for one.

Oh, I absolutely am going to have Italian Beef. Since they seem to be everywhere, Al’s will probably be my introduction to it. I am intrigued by the sausage/beef combo.

Ok, I’ll take notes and everything. I’m wondering if I should keep a calorie count?

Well, anywhere that public transit can get, I probably have the patience to ride there. If there are other attractions in the area, that’d be a plus when deciding to go out to the suburbs. I’m not above spending about $50 a plate, but that’s probably about my limit before I start thinking “dinner had better change my life”. I’m willing to try most things once, but there are limits. While I am not really willing to eat a mother-in-law, for instance, I have more of a fat/umami tooth than a sweet tooth.

And I’m going to be there during the week, but Pizano’s is open late then as well. They’ll probably win for a late dinner one night.

Ok, I figured that was what was going on. I work graveyards myself. But there’s not much to see between Dallas and Fort Worth at any time of day.

Perfect, the pizzas look amazing. We have to go.

MMMM, That’ll have to be a breakfast trip. It seems a great deal of Chicago’s food is cash only. That’s often a good sign. The best barbecue place around here is cash only.

27

Second City Pizza Tour is the one I was on. It was pretty good. But there are lots of other similar tours in town. A tiny bit of Google-Fu should find you lots of options. If you search Groupon or YouSwoop you can probably get a half-off deal.

Al’s is my favorite Italian beef, so that’s where I’d steer you. They have the most flavor, IMHO.

Calorie count? At the risk of sounding New York, FUGGEDABOUDIT!!!

28

Places you should eat would include:

Al’s Beef (of all the Italian beef joints this is the best by far)

Hot Doug’s

The Wiener Circle (go late for the full experience)

For more upscale meals but not super fancy,

The Gage

Davanti Enoteca

The Publican

The Purple Pig

Slurping Turtle

Urbanbelly

I could go on but these are the first that came to mind out of a slew of great restaurants.

As for beer, of the local or area brewers you should pay special attention to beers from Revolution, Half Acre and Three Floyds above all others. Goose Island makes some very good beers but they have much wider distribution nationally.

If you want to go bar hopping and check out places with a wide selection of great beers from all over I would recommend you stop in Hopleaf. The Revolution brewpub is also worth a visit.

29

Good luck getting into Hot Doug’s. In all my years, I’ve never had the patience to wait in that stupid line.

30

I stopped by the brewpub yesterday, and didn’t see the blood sausage on the menu; the food rotates relatively often depending on what’s in season. Although, they seem to always have the Scotch egg around.

I don’t think Goose Island is nearly as crazy with the hops as a lot of other places. If you can squeeze in a visit to their Clybourn brewpub, I think it would be well worth the time (bonus - a Binny’s is right across the street, so you can get your shopping trip in). The brewpub always has a mix of hoppy beers, malty beers, middle-of-the-road beers, Belgian styles, and often an odd-ball one. There’s generally something for every palate on tap there.

31

It’s not part of your OP, but if you’re planning on using the CTA while here, if you have a smartphone, you can use ctabustracker.com to get arrival times for buses, and Train Tracker - CTA for train arrival times. Both of these websites work really well with mobile, and provide a little more information than an app. I just load the sites and bookmark the phone’s web browser. If you need to figure out how to get from there to there, your Google Maps app will be better at local transit than the CTA Trip Planner.

If you don’t have a smartphone, you can print system guides and maps at Maps - CTA. Schedules, too, but those aren’t very useful.

32

All of those places look great, Kolak I will try to make as many of them as I can. I’ll try to get in line early at Hot Doug’s. Since I’m going to be in on a weekday, do you think that I’ll have any better luck, Tim?

Well, I was planning on going to both Goose Island’s and Three Floyd’s brewpub, Carlb. If I can only make one, I’ll make it the Clybourn Goose Island location, since it’s across from the Binny’s closest to my hotel. I didn’t realize they were across from each other, thanks.

And, SeaDragonTattoo, thanks a hell of a lot. I wasn’t aware of either of those sites. I am sure they will come in very useful. I use mass transit about once every 3-4 years here in DFW, so I am probably gonna need help with Chicago’s.

33

An interesting Loop bar is Stocks and Blondes at 40 N Wells. The tap beer selection is quite good. It is located next to the Washington and Wells train stop. As an added bonus, the nearby parking garage is the one that was used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off!

Stocks and Blondes

34

Hmmmm, I’ll be taking public transit to it.

35

If you feel like getting away from the city for a couple hours, there’s another brewpub I like called Flossmoor Station in Flossmoor, IL. good food, great beer. Because it is right at a Metra stop, it is easier to get to than three floyds (although others would say floyds is the preferable destination). This brewpub is located in an old, Illinois Central train station that was remodeled 10 years ago. they brew on-site.
to get there without a car you get on the Metra Electric train line at the Millenium Park Station (the train station is underneath the park) then take a 45 minute train ride to the line’s Flossmoor stop. That stop deposits you right next to the brew pub. Downtown Flossmoor is also a charming place to walk around for an hour or so, although there is not much to do other than the brewpub.

36

If you don’t feel like waiting in line at Hot Doug’s, but really want a “different” type of hot dog, you can check out Chicago’s Dog House near DePaul. No line, and they are open on Sundays…

37

How can any of you talk of hot dogs and not mention SuperDawg?

38

Ok, as requested up-thread, here’s a (rather long) trip report. It’s been a few weeks since we got back, but I’ve been busy catching up from vacation, sorry. Hopefully it’ll have the benefit of not being colored by recent nipple-hardening excitement:

First, thank all of you for your suggestions, they helped make my stay very enjoyable.

The parking advice was a great help, if nothing else it showed me that parking in Chicago wasn’t the trial that it can be in NYC, or even in the downtown areas of DFW. I ended up parking in the Hancock Center, since it allowed self-park. It was a bit more than I was hoping to pay, but it was too convenient to the hotel (right across the street) for me to even begin to shop around.

It’s a gorgeous city. If I had read Frank Lloyd Wright’s quote about Chicago being the last beautiful great city before visiting it, I would have raised my eyebrows. Since I read it after walking about the city for a couple of days, I could only nod in agreement. Even the El train is beautiful. We took the architecture cruise on our last day there. I highly recommend it for anyone visiting the city. I have 98% of an art degree, and did well in the architectural sections of art history, and I learned new things about buildings I was already familiar with. Get me drunk, and you could make me wax for hours about how much I liked the look of the city, really.

In regard to the museums, I didn’t even get to half of the ones I wanted to see. The Art Institute was a giant string of “Jesus, I didn’t know they had that, I’ve only seen it in books!”. Walking around the corner and being surprised by Nighthawks will be a sensation I want to remember forever. Even though their print/paper collection was closed, it was incredible. I will have to return to the AI just to see the Great Wave off Kanagawa in person some day. The MSI was a great treat as well. Standing on the U-505 was quite an experience for someone who’s played the same WWII submarine simulator for more than 20 years. We didn’t even get to the MCA or the Field Museum, there wasn’t time.

And the city tastes good, too! The first thing we had in town was Flaco’s Tacos. Even if cheese is an unusual topping on a non tex-mex taco, they were good. Certainly spicy enough to satisfy, even for a Texan. We had Al’s for breakfast (yes, breakfast) the next day. It was delicious, but I will order them hot+dry in the future. That bread is good, but it doesn’t need to be soggy (ok, I have texture issues). We met an old friend with his wife and tater at Owen+Engine that night. Their Burger, Beer + Bourbon special was great, and it got Scabpickerina to realize that she liked Kentucky Bourbon. She’s from Kentucky, so it’s appropriate. Afterward, we went to Pops for Champagne, and had…beer. I was too involved in catching up to really note what I drank that night, but it was good. However, the best beer I had in Chicago was the Green Line from Goose Island. The pizza I had with it at Giordano’s was just as good. I actually sulked for about 20 minutes when I realized the next day that we had no good way to re-heat the leftovers (the microwave is no place for a pizza). Giordano’s calamari was the best I’ve ever had, too. I had no idea I’d like a battered, deep fried lemon with my squid. I’m going to miss it when I have it without it now. We used Portillo’s for our Chicago hot dog experience. I don’t think you should dress dogs any other way now. I am going to have to find a purveyor of char dogs when I return, though. Lou Malnati’s was our last Chicago meal. The pizza was closer to the Chicago-style that we get at Uno’s franchises here, but it was not as heavy, and still delicious.

I did get to Binny’s on my way out of town, and stocked the trunk. I picked mostly lagers/pilsners/kolschs since I figured those would be the styles that the area would traditionally excel at. I was not disappointed. Baderbräu is everything a pils should be (I’ve got two bottles left, until I can get more), Metropolitan’s Krankshaft Kolsch is amazing, and Matlida from Goose Island was a special surprise. I didn’t have high hopes for a Belgian style brewed in a cold place, but it’s one of my favorite Belgian’s now. Even the IPAs I had from Chicago showed restraint in the hop areas, or at least had enough malt to soothe the sharpness. That’s very unlike the breweries out west. Even the “Hop Juice” from Two Brothers that I’m drinking right now is less bite-y than your average western IPA.

Frankly, I want to move to Chicago after visiting there. I mentioned that to my boss, and he said, “Be careful what you wish for.” We’re going to have to have a visit in February before any plans of that type are made, though. Tales of ropes tied around buildings so you can pull your way around has us a little frightened of your winters. Here, winter shows up for a weekend and leaves. A real winter might take some adjusting. Either way, there’s too much that we missed (I’m looking at you, SuperDawg), to not make a repeat visit.
You guys have a great town, thank you for having me.

39

As an expat Chicagoan who lived there for 40+ years I can tell you, yes, the Chicago winters aren’t for pussies but the rope thing I’ve only seen sporadically and that was on Michigan Ave. going from the Tribune Tower to the IBM building so it’s not like it’s everywhere. And if you work downtown and commute out to the suburbs you’ll learn how to cut through buildings and underground tunnels to get around. The worst part of Chicago winters is just that they never seem to end. I’ve seen snow as late as early June then go right into 90+ temperatures.

Now I live in the Tampa area and when the temps run lower than 75 I have to put on long sleeves and my winter shorts. Also, I used to have a Giordono’s just a couple miles from my house down here but it closed down and now I haz a sad for combo sandwiches (au jus and hot on the side).

40

Pretty recent transplant from Dallas. I remember seeing a dump truck full of snow being hauled out from downtown and thinking, “Why are they trucking away snow? That stuff melts you know?” Here it hangs around for a long time, taking up precious already scarce parking spaces and driving lanes.