I know this is definitely not strictly wine related, but restaurants have wine, and therefore it belongs here, so here is goes.

The wife and I are planning a 4-day trip to Chicago last next month and figured I would check with people on here to see if they had any recommendations on hotels, restaurants and general things to do. I know you all travel way more than I do, so I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

We are probably going to be staying downtown, leavings on a Thursday morning and coming back later in the day on Monday. The only thing I have planned for sure is to catch both a Cubs and White Sox game, probably Saturday and Sunday.

Any suggests at all are welcome!

North316 wrote:I know this is definitely not strictly wine related, but restaurants have wine, and therefore it belongs here, so here is goes.

The wife and I are planning a 4-day trip to Chicago last next month and figured I would check with people on here to see if they had any recommendations on hotels, restaurants and general things to do. I know you all travel way more than I do, so I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

We are probably going to be staying downtown, leavings on a Thursday morning and coming back later in the day on Monday. The only thing I have planned for sure is to catch both a Cubs and White Sox game, probably Saturday and Sunday.

Any suggests at all are welcome!

Go to Food Network and hit up some of ht Diners Drive ins and Dives places for lunches. I have no specific recs since I haven't been there in 20 years, but that's a good start.

Bump

Hey North-

If you could give me some idea of where you'll be staying and what types of cuisine you'll be seeking, I may be able to come up with some suggetions.

karenhynes wrote:Hey North-

If you could give me some idea of where you'll be staying and what types of cuisine you'll be seeking, I may be able to come up with some suggetions.

We will be staying downtown, not sure where exactly yet. We are pretty much open to any cuisine, not set on anything in particular.

Well...Chicago has tons of restautants to choose from. Here's a start....let me know wat direction you want to go from here....



I suppose Chicago is probably best known as a PIZZA town. Most people love Gino's East http://ginoseast.com/. Personally, I hate their pizza. I much prefer either Giordano's http://www.giordanos.com/ or Lou Malnati's, though I haven't been to Lou''s for a few years [urlhttp://www.loumalnatis.com/[/url].



Chicago is also great for STEAK!!
My 2 top choices for steak would probably be:

Gene and Georgetti's http://www.geneandgeorgetti.com/

The Saloon http://www.saloonsteakhouse.com/


There's an ITALIAN place just next door to The Saloon (Francesca's, I think)...their food is good...BUT, in the basement ofthe same location, there's a very cute little WINE BAR http://www.disottoenoteca.com/ which my friends and I like a lot.

Coco Pazzo and Coco Pazzo Cafe are also very good for Italian (excellent gnocchi) http://www.cocopazzochicago.com/


TAPAS

For tapas, I usually end up at Cafe Iberico http://www.cafeiberico.com/. I'd recommend the queso de cabra if you like baked goat cheese, almejas en salsa verde if you like clams...ooooh and the jamon iberico, if you eat pork products.

Cafe Ba-ba-reeba http://www.cafebabareeba.com/ is great too.


More to come...I'm hungry now!!!

North

i have a daughter that lives in Chicago, so over the past 4-5 years we leave Cleveland and head to Chicago for a long weekend.
I usually watch for hotel deals on Travelzoo, looks like there is a deal that might fit into your travel plans depending on your travel dates at the Drake, great location on Mag. Mile. I usually shop for a hotel based on price and location; you can look on other hotel websites and look for properties in River North, Loop, or Magnificant Mile.

Previous comments on pizza are accurate, as are the comments on Gene and Georgetti's for steak.

I asked my daughter her ideas for you to consider. Her thoughts:

Best Upscale: Girl and the Goat, Sprout, Balena.

Best BYOB: (take in your own bottle(s) of vino!!!):

Smoque and Chilapan

Best quick/casual:
Xoco= hot dogs.

I suggest you go to Yelp to get an idea about the food/service etc before you try any recomendations, either from me or anyone else.

For other ideas on accomodations and things to do, go to the forums in Trip Advisor. Trip Advisor forums are my bible when I travel. Putting together my own tours is so easy when you have other travelers experiences to guide you.

If you need any additional info, PM me.

May I also recommend The Purple Pig and The Publican. Food is excellent at both places, and the wine/beer selections are wonderful. Also, a Rick Bayless place - Topolobampo or Frontera Grill (he also owns XOCO, but we missed that one last time). Agree on Gene and Georgetti's for steak. I use Chowhound for food recs, although Yelp is also good.

Last time, we stayed at the Guest Quarters on E Wacker. It has a fridge and microwave, which helped.

I highly recommend any tour by the Architecture Foundation, especially the boat tour if the weather is nice.

Good choice on the baseball!

Have fun.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. We have still been super busy and haven't planned anything yet, so these will all be very helpful.

Any recommendations on Seafood?

North316 wrote:Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. We have still been super busy and haven't planned anything yet, so these will all be very helpful.

Any recommendations on Seafood?

Yeah, come out to Long Island, NY.

Midwest seafood sucks, you should know that.

One more rec for you. It's a BYOB place, French - wait let me check to make sure they're currently open. Crap. Well, they reopen Sept 1st, but put it on your list anyway for the NEXT time.

Cotes du Rhone is where a number of Chicago gatherings have happened. Food is awesome, it's BYOB with no corkage. I've been known to randomly drive the 5 hours to Chicago just to go there for dinner. Technically for the escargot. But dinner happened. Don't judge me, it's fantastic.

There's also Fogo de Chao if you're looking for something unique - it's a churrascaria (Brazilian steak house).

At the Westin North Shore is Osteria di Tramonto (Italian), and Tramonto's steak house, both fabulous.

The pizza anywhere in Chicago sucks. Sorry, but it does. I'm a New York pizza kind of gal.

There's also a Medieval Times in Schaumberg just outside the city if you want to make a fun night of it.

Now I want to go to Chicago.