Chicago Visitor's Guide

[Grand Champ]

Yeah, Grand.Champ is apparently Pequod's #1 fan. Kuma's is new to the list and here is a link.

Kumas

Don't knock it till you've tried it! You'll be their #1 fan too once you've had it

Oh I went to an awesome german bar in Lincoln Park the other night... Octoberfest style place, great time, its at Lincoln and Wrightwood and its named 'Prost!' Definitely a cool hangout if you're in the neighborhood after a cubs game or something and want to drink some authentic German beers.

[Art Vandelay]

I always walk by that Prost place since I live right down the street- I'll have to go check it out. With Red Lion closing, good bars around here are few and far between.

[Dieselbound&Down]

I had avoided this thread because I figured it would be more of the usual stuff but there are some great suggestions in here.

It was great to see Milt P (not pappas - palacio) throw Chipp Inn in the mix. You have to look hard to find that place.

I hope to throw in some of my favorites but no time at the present.

[TB#1]

The Chip Inn

[Sonny_D1]

I'm late to the party and sorry if these have been mentioned, but if you're looking for authentic Italian food, then look no further than La Scarola (721 W. Grand in Chicago). Damn my mouth just waters thinking about their dishes. The food is so good you'd think Grandma was back there whipping it up.

http://www.lascarola.com/photos.html
http://www.lascarola.com/index.html

Sticking with the Italian theme, and a food that is hotly contested in Chicago, pizza, I would strongly recommend Caponies Trattoria (3350 N Harlem in Chicago). If you like brick oven pizza, this is some of the best pizza you'll ever have. And even if you don't, it's still some of the best pizza you'll ever have. Their other dishes are very good as well, although not quite as good as La Scarola.

http://www.caponiespizza.com/

[Sonny_D1]

Oh and BTW, there's no way you can say you've had an Italian Beef without trying Johnnie's Beef (7500 W. North Ave). And I also think the location at 1935 S Arlington Heights Rd in AH is part of the same ownership.

Anyway, the absolute best you'll ever have, by far. The portions aren't that big, but the food will melt in your mouth. And you can't have the beef without having the Italian Ice afterwards. Also the best in town.

http://www.centerstagechicago.com/resta ... -beef.html
http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/3 ... _beef.html

[The300thSpartan]

TB,

104 edits to the opening post and counting. This was a great thread idea, great job!

One suggestion - we need to have a category for Gyros places (which was introduced to the US in Chicago). No doubt these places are staples in nearly every Chicago neighborhood, north side and south. I saw that you have a "Greek Restaurant" category, but I'd be a bit averse to putting it there, since alot of the places that sell Gyros usually have Italian Beef, hotdogs, hamburgers composing the rest of the menu - not exactly authentic Greek food (neither is Gyros, by the way). Perhaps the Italian Beef and Hot Dog category can be expanded to include Gyros, or create a "Greek Fast Food" category", or expand the Greek Restaurant to include authentic and fast food, discerning between the two.


Some places I'd put on there:

Hubs (of SNL fame, near Lincoln and Bryn Mawr)
Greektown Gyros(Halsted, Greektown)
Bubs (not the same as Hubs, but nearly as good)
Charcoal Delights (Foster and Kedzie)

By the way, as a fellow Chicagoan in Florida, I often suffer the "I miss Chicago" blues too, although a bit less frequently this time of year.

EDIT: Not sure if you knew this, but there are a few Giordano's restaurants near your area, the only ones outside of the midwest. There's one in Brandon I believe, and a few outside of the Disney area. When I moved to West Palm, someone had told me there was a Carson's Ribs in Boca Raton, half hour south of me. I checked out the web site and lo and behold, it was listed on there. I called the number on the web site, but no answer. Icalled one of the Chicago locations, and they told me the Boca location had been closed for at least a year. My reaction: FAAARRRRKKKK!!!!!!!!!

Good call on the Gyros. I'm adding it to the master list. TB#1

[TB#1]

Hello,

Since you seem to be the keeper of the Chicago visitor thread, I thought I'd mention a couple update suggestions. In the "Concert Venues" links, the Tweeter Center is listed, but that Tinley Park "landmark" was renamed the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater a couple years back. Here's the actual link:

http://www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/785

Also, you might want to add the Charter One Pavilion, which was built on the old Meigs Field

http://www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/2889

Both are good sources of has-beens during the outdoor concert season.

Also, I feel traitorous even suggesting this but I would add Philly's Best to the Recommended Sandwich Shops--they have authentic Philadelphia style cheesesteaks there, but it's at least mitigated by a big wall of autographed photos of Chicago celebrities singing its praises.

http://www.phillysbest.com/

personal info deleted (though I didn't grow up here, I'm a resident since '85.)

[AAU Teammate]

has anyone ever had Poutine in chicago?

[TB#1]

I can't personally vouch for it, but my good friends at the Google search engine suggest that it is available at:

Pizzeria Aroma

I vaguely believe I've had food there before and it was pretty good, but I'm not 100% positive I'm thinking of the same place.

[Posey H8er]

Fellow Bulls poster BULL even PAX posted a humorous story when he went to this hot dog place, which I thought was worth mentioning. "The Weiner's Circle" on Clark. Basically it's good fun when you go there hammered at 3 AM.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1LPf9m ... re=related
*Edit- The link contains some inappropriate material.

[moevillini]

-= original quote snipped =-



Actually, Elmurst is a West suburb. South-East of the city, you are either in Armpit, Indiana or swimming.


There are places to go in Elmhurst and the surrounding suburbs, but nothing I can think of that is particualrly awesome for visitors. You'll have reasonable access to drive to the city from there.


http://www.elmhurst.org/visitor/

If you're in the western suburbs with a car and enjoy live music, FITZGERALD'S NIGHTCLUB in Berwyn is quite well known -
http://www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com/

also, if you have kids with you - or just like looking at animals, there's the Brookfield Zoo - - http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home
and there's a great authentic Irish pub/restuarant not too far from the zoo - Irish Times - http://www.irishtimespubchicago.com/

I think I've covered a few bases with this post!

[NoSkyy]

I'm going to destroy the Asian food section on this when I have more time(ACTs in two days!) but I'm posting in here just to remind myself that this needs some fixing.

[TB#1]

I'm going to destroy the Asian food section on this when I have more time(ACTs in two days!) but I'm posting in here just to remind myself that this needs some fixing.

Awesome. I'd appreciate the input.

[TB#1]

I'm bumping this because I've received PM requests for the link, with more than one person saying that it used to be stickied but now they can't find it.

For future reference, this thread is linked in the sticky thread

Forum Rules | Cap Info | Thread Links| Seach | Tourism

which, unfortunately, is a thread to often ignored. There is a lot of great info to be found.

[TB#1]

bump, per request.

[the_future420]

Not sure if its' been mentioned and after 9 pages I think it would have had to, but if you are talking wings in Chicago, the only place you need to go is Harold's.

[TB#1]

Quite honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Harold's Chicken Shack. I like the touch of simple southern, with the white bread. I like the sides. But the chicken, while tasty enough, is so drenched in salt it turns my face red and I can feel my blood pressure rising.

[NoSkyy]

Here's some Chinese(asian places in general) that should be added to the list and in my opinion far better than anything you already have on the list.

"Joy Yee's" http://www.joyyee.com/
Great place. It's really kind of Americanized, but you can get a good mix of Asian cuisine and if you don't get one of the tapioca freezes from here you're obviously just cheating yourself.

"Happy Cafe" (Chinatown Square, http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/3 ... house.html)
This is where I go for dim sum. Take it for what it's worth.

"Saint Alp's Teahouse"
http://www.yelp.com/biz/saints-alp-teahouse-chicago
It's right across the street from Chinatown square, right next to Phoneix. It's a type of modernized Asian, the kind you probably would see a lot of teenagers in Taipei/Hong Kong going to. Its a nice place, with good drinks too.

"House of Sushi and Noodles"
http://www.houseofsushiandnoodles.com/
Personally, I'm not going to lie I hate this place but it's one of Chicago's most popular sushi places. It has a sushi buffet which is like 14 dollars per a person and trust me, you won't ever want to sushi again after you had to go through five plates. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. If you plan on going here on nights or weekend be prepared to WAIT.

"Triple Crown"
http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants ... 43/content
This place is opened late and a personal favorite. It's has quite authentic plates and the service is welcoming. If you have craving for Chinese food at like, 2 AM, go here.

"Three Happiness"
http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants ... 69/content
Uh...not much to say about this place besides it's probably better than almost all those restaurants listed on that "Top Chinese Restaurants" in Chicago thing.

"Gourmet" http://www.yelp.com/biz/gourmet-food-chicago
Lunch box heaven. If you're a bit short on cash and just want a good filling carry out. GO HERE. It's really popular and I know a lot of people in Chinatown grow up eating this food. Perfect for the on the go, short on cash, in for good food type of person.

"Shiroi Hana (White Flower)" http://www.shiroihanachicago.com/
My absolute favorite sushi restaurant ever. It's a typical sushi bar, sit down restaurant and they have a great combination of great tasting food and cheap prices(don't let the mexican sushi chefs scare you away). I recommend this place if you want to eat some quality Japanese food and are in the Wrigley area.

"Seven Treasures" http://www.seventreasures.com/english/english.htm
This is a popular Depaul (the college) place. It's really simple (and kind of shady if you ask me) but if you're looking for simplicity and some good BBQ. Come here. This place doesn't get a lot of points for being ethnic and a lot of their customers are well...white.

"Happy Cafe" http://www.yelp.com/biz/happy-cafe-chicago
This is a very popular Chinese place and incredibly incredibly shady. I brought a friend there once and he was scared immediately. It has really great food but I suggest you come with someone who knows how to speak Chinese or has previously visited the place because the majority of their really good items are in Chinese. Also great for take out.

Alright, I think I gave a kind of good mix of places to go. If I figure out anything else I'll put it up...I really wish I had more Korean places to give you guys but I don't eat Korean enough(really expensive). I'll ask around. Also, I'll try to add some Vietnamese places.

[Posey H8er]

Adding onto your Asian list ^, I recommend New Star on North Avenue in Elmwood Park.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe ... tnG=Search

I have been going there for years.