Avoid the planetarium. BORING. Which is a shame because we are family of space lovers.

Must see the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. We stayed outside of Chicago and took the train in every day. It was really one of the highlights of our trip.

I can't wait to go back. Chicago ranks as one of my kids favorite vacations that we've ever taken.

Any last mintue tips?

Yes, read the following post again:

I suggest you tour the Englewood/W. Englewood, Calumet Heights, South Deering, West Garfield Park and North Lawndale.

This is a great thread!
My youngest got accepted to the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and we'll be there next week for a campus visit and some sightseeing.
We have the City Pass that will get us into the Aquarium, Planetarium, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry and either Hancock or Sears Tower. From the comments on here we will definitely be doing the aquarium, Field Museum and probably Hancock. If we have time which would you choose betweeen the planetarium and the science and industry museum?.
One question I have concerns the Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo vs Garfield Park Conservatory. They are both free but which is the "better" of the 2? Really need to see some greenery after the 3" of snow that has already fallen so one is on the to do list for sure just not sure which is best.
Thanks for the input.

Definitely the Science and Industry museum.

Went there today. Excellent, must see.

Don't let Geraldo talk you into opening any vaults.

That's my favorite. Glad you enjoyed it.

But that's how we got free tickets...he seemed sincere.

We enjoyed the Lincoln Park Zoo and gardens, but it was June

I would definitely avoid frazod. He could very well mistake you for a fridge, curse you and shoot you.

Giordanos Pizza for sure.

I see you didn't take my suggestions.

avoid it all go to iceland

Transportation:
Definitely take the trains and bus’s if you are planning to spend a lot of time downtown. We saved a fortune in cabs. Get the CTA pass and you can get on how ever many buses, trains, transfers etc that you want for how many days you purchase. http://faremedia.chicago-card.com/store/main.aspx?DepartmentId=34 Check the schedule and plan your route out:
http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/maps/default.aspxhttp://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/populardestinations.aspx

We arrived at 8:00 at the O’Hara airport and not taking the train would have been a disaster. They highways are parking lots that time of the day. We flew out of Midway on the way out and took a cab out there to the airport.
We really enjoyed riding the bus’s and talking to the locals. They gave us great tips on where to eat etc.

You don’t need a car. If you are driving, there is no where to park and where there is parking is very expensive and driving downtown is dangerous trying to navigate all those cabs and buses? Not for the weak of heart.

Attractions:<O:p</O:p
Get the Go Chicago card: Saved us a ton of money on admission fees but more importantly we avoided the lines at the attractions to get tickets. It was snowing and the line to get into the Field museum was over an hour and a half to just get tickets to get into the museum. The lines to get tickets are long. Get your tickets in advance.
http://www.smartdestinations.com/chicago-attractions-and-tours/_d_Chi-p1.html?pass=Chi_Prod_Go

Sears Tower: Was cool but if you have to wait an hour or two? Question the value. The ledge is really cool. Nothing between you and the street 103 stories up but some Plexiglas. It’s an experience you can’t get anywhere else in the world.

John Hancock observatory: We actually liked it better than the Sears tower because of the better ocean and beach views. They have something cool there, a skywalk 93 stories up that you can walk along that is exposed to the wind, temperatures etc 93 floors up. Just some mesh screen between you and the sky.

Science and Industry museum: We all felt that this was the best of all the museums. You have to see the U-Boat. It’s another one of those you can only experience in Chicago things.

Millennium Park: The silver bean was really cool. Seems like a real simple thing but once you get there and see it up close you understand the draw the bean has for people. Make sure you go underneath the bean and check it out. Looks like a wonderful place to watch a concert.

Shedd Aquarium: We were disappointed in this one. Maybe we are just spoiled but we thought the Aquarium in Omaha was much better.

The Field museum: Another disappointment. Sue the T-Rex was really cool but the rest of the museum left us flat. Seemed really educational for kids but for us adults we would like to have seen more exhibits than some pottery.

Chicago Bulls game: We decided to take the bus out there. Straight shot to and from downtown. Not really a bad seat in the house. The mascot seems to be pretty athletic and entertaining. Highly recommend getting one of the monster dogs.

Navy Pier: We went there and it was cold. Looks like a great place to visit in the warm weather.

Second City: We saw “Rush Limbaugh, the musical”. Barney Frank, Hillary, Dancing Ronald Reagan’s…Very funny stuff. Had a bit in there when Rush with the Royals and George Brett on a toilet with hemorrhoids. Highly recommend checking out a show there.

The Art Institute: A wonderful place to see art. So many Picasso’s, Monet’s and Van Gough’s you can’t really appreciate them fully like if some were here in KC just because of the sheer volume of masterpieces in one place. Very impressive collection. We also enjoyed seeing the American Gothic and some American art.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/

Eats:<O:p</O:p
Ginos East: Great pizza. Love the crust. We went to the one on Shapiro and it has all the walls filled with customer graffiti. Not living off its past reputation. My son thought it was the best pizza ever.

Giordanos: on Shapiro, Excellent deep dish pizza here also. Better than anything you can get in KC. Try sprinkling a little Italian herb seasoning on the pizza here.
http://www.giordanos.com/locations.html

West Egg: Breakfast by the doubletree. Reasonable prices and great food. Everything we had was good.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/west-egg-cafe-chicago-2

Yokes: Breakfast on Lake Shore drive. Best crepes we have ever had. Very good food.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/yolk-chicago-2

Quaritinos: Best meal in Chicago. Very trendy and hip place but don’t let that push you away. You order 5-6 things and share them. Ravioli, Brusheta and the Bananas foster desert were our favorites but everything we had was real flavorful and well prepared. http://www.quartinochicago.com/
<O:p</O:p

Lodging: <O:p</O:p
We stayed at the Allerton hotel downtown. I would highly recommend if you are coming to Chicago and you are going to do these things listed above to stay downtown. This was a great hotel. If you can’t afford the downtown rates just take the train into the city and go from there.

Science and Industry museum is a must see.

Yeah I met up with Frazod and man do I hate myself for that. The dude turned me on to the german beer Hacker-Pschorr. I'm hooked on that liquid gold now. :doh!:

I warned you! :p

Maybe next time you go you can not ignore the advice that I gave you and have yourselves an even better time.

we didn't have time to do everything dude. We had to check out 2nd city.

We never made it to the Morton Grove area.

We heard from several people about Hot doug's. just didn't get a chance to get there.

That's where my friend and I stayed this weekend. It's a great deal -- $49 for each of us. The valet parking is $48, so we just parked our car near the hospital in the Ukrainian village near Chicago Street and took the bus downtown.

Giordano's Pizza was good, but I remember Gino's being better. I think they have a larger bottom crust.

We also went to Andy's Live Jazz. Pretty nice, if you can get a seat. $15 is a bit steep, but what the heck, not often you see live jazz in Chicago. Also Field Museum is fine, especially with the student rate ($12). There's a lot to see there, but too much of it is stuffed animals. You can see many of the same things live at a zoo.

In the Ukrainian village are two cool churches that are worth seeing: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic and the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church.

Hancock building is a cool if you do the lounge. You can get a drink for less than the price of the observatory ticket and still walk around the dining center and see the views.

Also went to Eleven City Diner. Had the Blankey-Blank Special (or something like that). Eh, nothing to write home about. However, the potato knish was a first time for me, and that was a nice surprise.

Good weekend.

West Egg rocks, I stayed near there earlier this month and had breakfast there twice. Really good way to start the day. I was disappointed by Gino's East, doesn't live up to the hype.

FYP

I thought Gino's East rocked. Best crust evah.

Things to avoid:

1. Leaving the Grateful Dead concert at Soldier Field so ripped up on hallucinogens that you get lost.

2. Being so lost that you pull off the interstate and resort to getting directions from one of those guys that tries to clean your windshield with newspaper and god-knows-what at a stoplight.

3. Actually following that guy's directions into a part of town that is so bad you get pulled over by the police for being "a bunch of white kids from Iowa that are about to get murdered for being in the wrong place in too nice of a car".



Also...

4. Not really knowing where the museum of science and industry is other than "south I think" so taking the El so deep into southern Chicago that a place like Cabrini Green looks like a nice place to wait for a cab that may never arrive.

Certainly not.

I think the only person who is wrong on here more often than you is CoMoChief. :shake:

I will cut a ho who tries the crusts at Burt's Place or Pequod's and doesn't think that they both make a better crust than does Gino's East. But I suspect that I won't have to cut anyone.

ROFL sound like you guys had a lot of fun in the big city.

Gino's is overrated.

I rest my case.

Frazod -- you ever been to Pequod's or Burt's Place?

Which Ocean was that you saw from the Hancock Bldg? ;)

Or he might knit you a doily, you just never know.....

I haven't been to Burt's - I'm pretty sure I've been to Pequod's. I've been to dozens of these neighborhood pizza joints. Some live up to the hype, some don't. Most are pretty damned good, simply because they have to be to survive in this environment. But I've grown accustomed to it - keep in mind, the Chicago deep dish pizza you eat once every year or two and rave about and describe to others in glowing, impressive terms is just regular old pizza to me, so forgive me if I don't pop a woody over it. I have lived up here for over 20 years, you know.

Have I tried them all? No. But Gino's is the most memorable and best of the ones I have tried, and that's a fairly widely held opinion.

The only time LC's is a quality pie is if you're at Comerica Park. The Pizza Man can't have any concessions better than his pies. Therefore eat before you go. Maybe try Pizza Papalis is Greektown, now that is some quality pizza.

That statement is alien to my experience with food. I could never say "yeah, that Kansas City barbecue that everyone raves about is just regular old barbecue to me, so excuse my lack of boner for it." I could NEVER say that. My woody for it is everlasting; the barbecue around here is an intrinsic part of my being.

If Chicago's great stuffed/deep dish places don't give you a woody then you've become jaded.

Looked like ocean to us land locked midwesterners. ROFL

LOL.

The first time I went down to meet my friend in Hyde Park, I was staying up in Lakeview. I looked up CTA directions and it said "Take red line south to X, get out and walk to blah blah." I'm like ah, this will be fun. Get to see a lot of the neighborhood walking to his place.

Finally get off on my stop, and walk out to this bombed out blighted place with no ****ing clue where I was. I'm walking around aimlessly asking anyone I see how to get to UoC.

Everyone I stopped and asked was nice as hell, though. One guy finally walked me to the bus stop I needed and got me on the right one. I wouldn't try that at night though. Needless to say, all my friends had a good time about me trying to take the red line to their house.

This evening I had to get some work done on my car, and while waiting my wife and I went to get food. We were walking to a nearby BBQ place when I smelled the distinctive scent of Indian food on the air. I didn't know of any Indian places in the area, but I was sure of the smell. So I followed it, and sure enough, a couple of hundred yards downwind I found a little hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant in the back of a mostly-empty strip mall that I'd never noticed before. We went in to check it out and it was FANTASTIC. Blew the place we'd went to for years out of the water (which is excellent) and was cheaper on top of it. I'm still in awe of how good my dinner was. That damn near gave me a woody. **** pizza.

I'm with you, man. I love stories like this. Discovering amazing, hidden food gems is one of life's richest pleasures. This post is really coo...

... wait, what? That is a false ****ing dichotomy. Can't you love both?

Bump for those thinking of going to Chicago for a vacation.

Heading back to Chicago tomorrow for the weekend. Going to the Royals/Sox game Friday night and the rest of the weekend is pretty much open. We will be going to Giardano's this time for pizza. We've eaten at Gino's on previous visits, so gotta try another place this time.

One thing I do want to do is get a good Chicago dog while in town. I usually plan on it and then have to settle for one at the airport on the way home. Can anyone recommend a good hot dog stand or restaurant downtown?

I like Portillo's (who also has one of THE best beef sammich's you'll ever taste) when I'm sober, and The Wieners Circle after a late night drunk.:)

Can't really help you with the hot dogs - about the only place I eat a hot dog is at a game. Not a big deal to me.

However, there was a show on the Travel Channel last week that had a segment on Chicago hot dog places. Maybe you could investigate their website and find a list of the places they talked about, none of which I remember by name unfortunately. There's one (apparently) world famous place on the north side, but I don't know the name.

At Clark and Ontario? That looks doable. Thanks! :thumb:

Woofy's is the best Chicago Hot Dog place I've been to, it's been around for about 40 yrs or so. Off of California and Peterson IIRC.

Hot Doug's. If you don't go there then you are depriving yourself of one of the best meals of your life. Seriously.

yep portillo's is ****ing awesome.


try the combo and a hot dog.

It's Wolfy's and it's not downtown.

FAIL!

Not downtown.

FAIL!


Seriously, thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to give Portillo's a try.

I never found a good hot dog place downtown. Lots of great pizza. Went to the Bulls game and had a great hot dog.

Yeah, a fail on your part for not catching a bus.

Portillos is great, but it is a chain. There's one a couple of miles from my house. Never get the hot dog, but they have an excellent beef and cheddar croissant sandwich.

One thing you should try if you haven't that's unique to this area is the Italian beef sandwich (Portillos has them). Thin sliced beef on a bun, generally dipped in broth. You can get it with mozerella cheese. One of my best friends is from here but now lives in New York, and whenever he visits the first thing he wants is an Italian beef from the nasty little hole in the wall diner he's eaten at since childhood.

what area are you in fraz? im pretty sure i ate at the one close to you for some reason. cant for the life of me recall the name of the area....
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I'm in Naperville. Portillos are all over the area, though.

hey dartgod you could hit up an outlaws clubhouse. just walk up and knock. :)



just kiddin, hell you cant even enter the pisser if you arent an outlaw, all others use the porta poddy outside lol
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nope thats the spot. we were there for my bros funeral and back for the benefit.
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I keep hearing that. I'll have to check one out.

bump

Avoid the Clap/Jimmy Dugan

I'm heading up there for the first time, aside from connections, in August. A friendly bump.

Nice bump. I'm thinking of heading up in August for Cards-Cubs.

Have our hotel choices narrowed down to Hotel 71 and Hotel Monaco. Both are right on the river and are close to the red line that will take us straight to Wrigley. Probably going to be up there Thurs-Sun, going to the game on both Friday and Saturday afternoon.

We've already done most if not all of the touristy stuff on other trips - the only things I absolutely want to do this time around is hit Portillo's, and do one of the Chicago River Architecture Tours.

And of course, we'll be hitting Yolk every morning - best breakfast place ever.

We loved Yolk's too.

Allerton is nice. Robert Allerton's family founded the Chicago Stockyards. Trivia for the bar. Allerton Park is now owned by the Univ of Illinois. Huge arts benefactor.

Ginos East for Pizza.
MOSI a must.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but try to avoid going to a White Sox game. Unless you like to get stabbed and/or robbed.

Trip is set, and we're going Thursday-Monday.

Tickets for the Friday afternoon Cards-Cubs game came in the mail this week. Scored seats 6 rows behind the Cards dugout for $70 under FV. Still looking for Saturday tickets. May skip Saturday and go Sunday and hope it becomes the ESPN Sunday Night Game.

Decided to stay at Hotel Palomar on State, just north of the river. We enjoy the hell out of that River North/Streeterville area. Definitely hitting Portillo's for lunch one day, since it's just a few blocks away.

Also going to have dinner one night at Benny's Chop house. We had an outstanding meal last time we were there.

Any other suggestions for lunches/dinners?

Definitely up for pizza, but neither of us are fans of the deep dish variety. If we wanted a ****ing casserole, we'd order one. Anyone up there have good pizza with a regular thickness, hand-tossed crust?

I used to live in Little Italy in Chicago and really liked Pompei's pizza. Back then it was just a neighborhood place that sold terrific pizza by the slice, but they've added locations recently and I see that there is now a location that isn't too far from Wrigley Field:

http://www.pompeipizza.com/restaurant/lakeview/

Pizano's has a fan****ingtastic thin crust pizza.

Awesome. Just a half-mile north of our hotel on State Street.

Thanks.

Might have to look into this place as well. Half-mile east of the hotel.

Thanks.

Funny this got bumped...

I leave for Chicago tomorrow for an interview on Tuesday.

If all goes well I may be a new Illinois resident

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yep, good choice for the thin crust variety pizza.

Isn't that up by Second City? Loved seeing a comedy play there.

Question for you guys that live in Chicago, or for those of you that know the city really well.

We thought about flying up for our trip next month, but it seems like a waste for such a short flight.

So, we're going to drive, but we're not going to need the car at all. The hotel we're staying at wants $50 a night for parking.

Is there anywhere we can leave the car for say half that per night? Somewhere safe? We could just dump the car in a garage and cab it to the hotel.

Also willing to park somewhere safe outside of the loop and taking the train in.

Any help appreciated.

WTF goes to Chicago for thin crust pizza? Are you ****ing kidding me????

Not me. I can get thin crust here. Guess it depends on your definition of thin crust.

I would like a good hand-tossed crust while I'm up there.

Don't get the fascination with deep dish. If I wanted a casserole, I'd order one.

But to each their own.

I like deep dish (particularly Gino's East), but only occasionally - not something you want to eat all the time.

There's a bar we go to on Fridays that has St. Louis-style thin crust and fried a ravioli appetizer. Works for me. :thumb:

Thoughts on my parking question? Almost avoided posting completely and just PM'ing you.

Make sure to tour the historic southside using the El & act as timid as possible.