Chicago Visitor's Guide

TB#1 · Post #101 » by **TB#1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:30 pm

Awesome recommendations, NoSkyy.

I'm going to reference your list on the original post.

TB#1 · Post #102 » by **TB#1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:53 pm

miltpalaciofanclub's Indian recommendations:

I am not a fan of Mount Everest, for instance, because I find their vegetable dishes soggy, muddled, and low quality. Their meat dishes are too greasy for my tastes, but I guess I prefer Southern Indian cuisine (particularly vegetarian) to the hearty Northern cuisine.

My two surefire hits are Udupi Palace http://www.yelp.com/biz/udupi-palace-restaurant-chicago#hrid:V6uYRhewxlGpwRXCPwj2jw

and Viceroy http://www.yelp.com/biz/viceroy-of-india-chicago-2

This is in response to a recommendation of Mount Everest. musiquesoulchild swears by their restaurant in Evanston.

http://www.mteverestrestaurant.com/

TB#1 · Post #103 » by **TB#1** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:29 pm

In anticipation of girlygirl's trip to Park Ridge:

Park Ridge restaurants
Another Guide

Guides to nearby Niles, Skokie and Evanston:

http://nilesil.areaconnect.com/restaurants/
http://dinesite.com/city/city-313/?&t=5
http://dinesite.com/city/city-482/

If I were you and didn't want to come into the city, I'd at least go for a bit of a drive East to Evanston. Some great restaurants like Pete Miller's and Davis Street Fish Market. Neither is trendy or wild, but both are a smidge pricey. Tommy Nevin's is a more of a bar, but it is classy and has good eats.

If you want to stick closer to Park Ridge, you might want to try Rosemont, near the airport. Lots of restaurants geared for the business traveler and many of the restaurants are branches of some of the big name places downtown.

Harry Carays Rosemont
The Black Ram
Rosewood
Mortons
Gibsons
Nicks

TB#1 · Post #104 » by **TB#1** » Tue Nov 4, 2008 8:31 pm

Bump.

I'd like to keep this thread up to date. Anyone have some fresh recommendations? Been anywhere good lately?

Post #105 » by **Ben** » Tue Nov 4, 2008 9:08 pm

Thanks for the bump, TB.

Has anyone mentioned Kiddieland in this thread? I loved going there as a child, and we took our little ones there 2 years ago and also this past summer. I'd been told that it'd been sold and that it'd soon be converted into a shopping center, which saddened me greatly. Yet it was still open this past summer, and I thought that maybe the poor economy had put the deal on hold.

A real gem for little kids, say 7 and under. For parents the beauty is that you can cover the entire park easily in an afternoon. I remember loving the tiny boat ride when I was 3 or 4, and my 2 1/2 year old loved it this past summer. They let him stay on for 3 rides in a row. Good times.

http://www.kiddieland.com/

TB#1 · Post #106 » by **TB#1** » Tue Nov 4, 2008 9:19 pm

Ben B. wrote:Thanks for the bump, TB.

Has anyone mentioned Kiddieland in this thread? I loved going there as a child, and we took our little ones there 2 years ago and also this past summer. I'd been told that it'd been sold and that it'd soon be converted into a shopping center, which saddened me greatly. Yet it was still open this past summer, and I thought that maybe the poor economy had put the deal on hold.

A real gem for little kids, say 7 and under. For parents the beauty is that you can cover the entire park easily in an afternoon. I remember loving the tiny boat ride when I was 3 or 4, and my 2 1/2 year old loved it this past summer. They let him stay on for 3 rides in a row. Good times.

http://www.kiddieland.com/

A Kiddieland reference is buried in the middle of the thread somewhere, but highlighting it with a mini review is even better. Thanks, Ben.

On the same subject, I don't recall anyone mentioning Great America which I suppose deserves a mention as the area's local theme park.

Post #107 » by **Ben** » Tue Nov 4, 2008 9:26 pm

Great America, definitely. That plus Kiddieland = Chicago's amusement parks.

Does anyone remember Old Chicago?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&clie ... tnG=Search
http://www.negative-g.com/OldChicago/OCIndex.html

To complete the triumvirate, I never went to Riverview-- it was before my time-- but my uncles still rave about it.
http://riverviewparkchicago.com/

DFolks · Post #108 » by **DFolks** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:44 pm

Has anybody tried the hamburgers at Moody's Pub near Broadway and Granville on the north side??

They are awesome trust me!!!

lol

Dionysus2k · Post #109 » by **Dionysus2k** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:07 pm

Wow, I read the whole thread and no one mentioned MacArthur's (http://www.yelp.com/biz/macarthurs-chicago) on Madison for soul food. So good, Dwayne Wade tweets about it and Tyrus Thomas regularly stops by...

One quick shout out for Mexican...Cafe El Tapatio (http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-tapatio-cafe-chicago)on Ashland and Roscoe...on the pricey side for Mexican, but its totally worth it.

The Get Me High Lounge brings back so many good memories for me...In my 20's, the Club Lucky/Get Me High combo worked magic on dates...I am sorry to report the Get Me High has been closed for several years.

deputy · Post #110 » by **deputy** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:36 pm

Wow, this is a great thread guys - I was JUST about to post something here.

My wife and I are planning a weekend getaway to Chicago (the first time either of us have ever gone to Chicago) from 12/17-12/20. All we know so far is that we want to go to the 12/17 Knicks/Bulls game (we live in NY but I'm a die-hard Bulls fan/she's indifferent and just bears with me).

Any hotel recommendations? We'd like to stay somewhere in the city near the UC and other things downtown - but don't want to surrender our firstborn.

Thanks!

Grand Champ · Post #111 » by **Grand Champ** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:48 pm

Don't stay in any hotels "near" the UC. (surrounding area is for the most part awful)

You will pay and arm and a leg no matter what thanks to the rediculous hotel taxes here. $200 a night minimum in a best western from what I remember. **** I should start undercutting and rent out my 2nd bedroom for $150 a night!

Neusch23 · Post #112 » by **Neusch23** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:54 pm

Grand.Champ wrote:Don't stay in any hotels "near" the UC. (surrounding area is for the most part awful)

You will pay and arm and a leg no matter what thanks to the rediculous hotel taxes here. $200 a night minimum in a best western from what I remember. **** I should start undercutting and rent out my 2nd bedroom for $150 a night!

Why are they more there? I stayed at the Congress Plaza Hotel on Michigan ave for $210.00 a month ago. Took the Bus to the UC. Not far at all.

TB#1 · Post #113 » by **TB#1** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:59 pm

deputy wrote:Wow, this is a great thread guys - I was JUST about to post something here.

My wife and I are planning a weekend getaway to Chicago (the first time either of us have ever gone to Chicago) from 12/17-12/20. All we know so far is that we want to go to the 12/17 Knicks/Bulls game (we live in NY but I'm a die-hard Bulls fan/she's indifferent and just bears with me).

Any hotel recommendations? We'd like to stay somewhere in the city near the UC and other things downtown - but don't want to surrender our firstborn.

Thanks!

As a New Yorker, you know staying in a full service hotel near the heart of the business and shopping areas is going to cost.

If you don't mind no-frills, I've read some good reviews of this place, which is older, no-frills, but still reasonably close to the action, clean and well-run (again, by report).

http://www.heartochicago.com/

Might be worth looking in to. Its pretty far north of the UC and most things tourists would want to visit but its not at all unreasonably far away. 20 minutes tops unless there is a traffic tangle.

Again, you are familiar with NYC so I don't have to tell you that given the dates of travel, getting things secured post haste is important at this point.

blumeany · Post #114 » by **blumeany** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:11 pm

Use http://www.hotwire.com to find some hotel deals. Go to http://www.betterbidding.com/ and look up hotwire hotels for Chicago. It provides you with descriptions so you can make a pretty solid guess on which hotels are which. You wont find any better deals.

organix85 · Post #115 » by **organix85** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:17 pm

I'm a food guy so I'll have a couple recommendations for that...

Burgers:
Epic Burger - http://www.epicburger.com/
Five Guy's Burgers and Fries (not Chicago originial) - http://www.fiveguys.com/home.aspx

Pizza:
Art of Pizza should probably be included in the deep dish section too.

Mexican:
Lalo's - http://www.lalos.com/
Zacatacos - some of the best steak tacos you can find - http://taqueriaszacatacos.galeon.com/
Los Comales - any of em...there are like15 to 20 of them around here - http://www.loscomales.com/
La Palapita - same owners as La Pasadita

Chinese:
Chi Cafe - http://chicafeonline.com/

Stir Fry:
Flat Top Grill - http://www.flattopgrill.com/

Dieselbound&Down · Post #116 » by **Dieselbound&Down** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:23 pm

Dionysus2k wrote:The Get Me High Lounge brings back so many good memories for me...In my 20's, the Club Lucky/Get Me High combo worked magic on dates...I am sorry to report the Get Me High has been closed for several years.

For a great post on RealGM on the Get Me High Lounge working magic on a first date, go to this thread - http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=983964&start=15 - on the general board and look at the 7th post down.

Grand Champ · Post #117 » by **Grand Champ** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:11 pm

Anyone know of any good Pho restaurants? I used to go to this place called Hing Kee in chinatown but that sucks now under the new ownership.

and don't say Tank Noodle... that place sucks.

Dieselbound&Down · Post #118 » by **Dieselbound&Down** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:45 pm

We usually go to Pho 777 on Argyle St. Not fancy but usually the broth is very good, similar to how my mother-in-law makes it.

Grand Champ · Post #119 » by **Grand Champ** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:24 pm

Dieselbound&Down wrote:We usually go to Pho 777 on Argyle St. Not fancy but usually the broth is very good, similar to how my mother-in-law makes it.

Thats where I go when I go in Uptown, but HingKee was so much better, their broth was the best. I recently went to Cafe Hoang on Cermack st. that was pretty good.

And while we're on the subject of asian cuisine, Lao Sze Chuan (in chinatown) is frickin great, get the "Tony's Chicken" best, chicken dish... EVER!

Dieselbound&Down · Post #120 » by **Dieselbound&Down** » Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:22 pm

Moved up to Evanston a few years ago and so hardly ever get down to Chinatown unless already in the city. With my wife's family in town so much recently (for my kids) I have been stuffed with all sorts of homemade dishes. Food for staying at our place is a tradeoff that works out well. Going to dim sum on Saturday with my family and some friends for New Years which I am definitely looking forward to. Dim sum is dangerous as I order 1 of everything and then find I am the only one eating at the end polishing off all the scraps. I do more eating than at Thanksgiving.

Let me know if you find another Hingkee.