Where to go in Chicago?

[Scantron08]

Stay in Wrigleyville, catch a Cubs game, hear some late-night blues, get a beer by the Lake, check out any of the museums in that area, eat at Giordano's, Pizzeria Uno / Duo, Lou Malnati's, or Gino's East. Music Stores - Chicago Music Exchange is amazing.

[jmaul]

(sorry for the second post)
How long are you going to be in Chicago? What kind of budget are you on?

You are going to a city with some of the best museums and food in the world, not to mention the music, parks, architecture, shopping, etc. You will easily have more to do than you can do.

For the food- Chicago has wonderful street foods and amazing fine dining and everything in between. Chicago deep dish pizza is a must-do. Chicago street food- chicago dogs, maxwell polish, italian beef with peppers- are all good budget options. If you don't come to the US much that opens up all the generally American food of which we have already discussed burgers and deli sandwiches. A top quality American burger should be in the cards too, just on principle. If you have money to burn on some of the best food in the world, go hit up Alinea.

The Art institute of Chicago is a world class art museum on par with anything in Europe. If you are at all down with art museums, it should be a must-do. It is massive and can easily take an entire day. The other museums all based around the lake shore are mostly good to amazing, and most are famous in their own right. Pick what interests you and hit them up.

[harmonicon]

Oh, man... where to start. I lived in Chicago for years, and it's my favourite US city. I'll second what most others have said here: the museums are great, you MUST get chicago-style stuffed pizza somewhere (others can argue about if eduardo's is better than giordano's is better than gino's, etc.), and chicago music exchange is a very cool shop, but I think often over-priced if you're looking to buy, though the volume makes up for it.

There's also other incredible food: bbq, Mexican, Polish, German.

I haven't lived there for ten years, so there may not be many specifics I could name, but if you want to check out guitars, have a look at rock n roll vintage: http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/ It's sort of what the music exchange was in the 90's; i.e., a smaller place with great instruments but not much bling. It's also in a great old German neighbourhood, but that may not be so impressive to you.

For live music, my favourite place was the empty bottle: http://www.emptybottle.com/ They really care about what they're doing, put on good shows, and at least used to have insanely cheap beer. It's a bit out of the way and hard to get to though. I think a lot of the "hip" nightlife has moved further north, around Andersonville.

[studio1087]

Check this out.....

http://www.citypass.com/chicago

You can buy a "City Pass" booklet and pay about 1/2 price for admission to.....


Shedd Aquarium

Skydeck Chicago

The Field Museum

John Hancock Observatory OR Museum of Science and Industry

Adler Planetarium OR Art Institute of Chicago

You have to use all the admission tickets within 9 days of when you begin using them. Most of the attractions have "City Pass" entrance gates where you don't have to wait in lines. It's a nice deal.

We have three children and we always stay in Chicago for a weekend before school starts. We like just 140km north near Milwaukee so we're being tourists in our own backyard but we love Chicago and we enjoy staying downtown.

The Art Institute is amazing.

Walking through Millennium Park near the Art Institute is great fun.

http://explorechicago.org/city/en/millennium.html

The outdoor concert area is designed remarkably well.....



You have to take some self portrait photos at the Cloud Gate with the city in the background......



Our kids love this art.........(we do too)......



I love Chicago. Have fun.

[KokoTele]

Originally Posted by Brother Rob

Ah!

It had been over ten years since I'd been to Chicago. When I was there a couple of weeks ago it seemed that Buddy's was in the same place I'd remembered it. Didn't even realize it had moved a couple of blocks!

That whole area is changing. Almost 20 years ago I was in college at IIT and Clapton came to town to support his From The Cradle album. He played a surprise gig at Buddy Guy's and a buddy and I tried to get in in. They wouldn't let us in so we stood outside the door behind the stage to listen for a while. By about 11 the scene was starting to get sketchy, and I remember this big mean looking guy pacing around the alley, weilding a golf club.

In the last 10 years Columbia College has expanded a lot and bought up a bunch of properties, and a ton of condos have been built for their well-heeled students, new wave hipsters, and anyone cool enough not to live in Wrigleyville.

The South Loop area has changed drastically. With so many condos it's become kind of a sleepy neighborhood. I used to be on high alert going through there late at night, but now there's nobody around. They're all asleep or watching their ginormous TVs.

[Maxwell Street]

Art Institute for Impressionists, Uno or Due for pizza at Wabash and Ontario. Buddy Guys...usually some carry over there after Blues Fest wraps at night. CME, Makin Music and Guitar Center on Halsted. Visit Wrigleyville for a Cub game or just hang around, The Cell for Sox... Touring acts at Charter One Pavillion on Northerly Island...

Oh yeah...and what's left of the Maxwell Street market, every Sunday 7am-3pm at DesPlaines Street and Roosevelt Rd

Blues jam Sundays 5-9 at Polk Street Pub...

http://www.polkstpub.com/

Sonny Landreth and Ronnie Brooks at Fitzgerald's...

http://www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com/

[scrapyardblue]

Pick up the Reader, a street paper, or get it on-line and you'll find more music options than you can imagine. They also have some off-the-wall restaurant reviews. I find Kingston Mines too large for my taste, but B.L.U.E.S. or Blue Chicago will put you in the music.

If you really want to splurge, or impress the lady, grab some bubbles and jazz at Pops for Champagne. Check out the Ravinia outdoor schedule also, with the Botanical Garden nearby. A little further North, but worth it. Like everybody else said, the museums are crazy good.

[PunkKitty]

Originally Posted by Telemach_1

I think it's called "Getaway Hostel". Not sure. A friend has made the booking and other than the flight we haven't talked too much about the place. I should ask later this day.

It looks like you're staying in Lincoln Park about 6 blocks from the Fullerton el stop (we call the subway, metro, etc the El).

You will be within walking distance from Blues on Halsted, Kingston Mines, and Lincoln Hall. Those are all nice music venues. Guitar Center is a few blocks north of Kingston Mines. The Lincoln Park Zoo is a few blocks east. And it's free. There are many good restaurants in that area. If you are into the LGBT scene, Boystown is a short bus ride away.

At the Fullerton el stop you can take either the brown line or the red line. The red line will take you to either of the baseball fields so you can see a Cubs or a Sox game. The brown line will take you to Chicago Music Exchange (Paulina stop) and Old Town School (Western Ave. stop). Both the brown line and the red line will take you to the Loop. Take the red line and get off at Chicago Ave. if you want to go shopping on the Magnificent Mile. While you are there, go to The 95th at the Hancock building. Have a few drinks there and enjoy a great view of the city.

You will like the north side very much. There is a lot to do there.

[scrapyardblue]

And Wrigley is nothing more than a museum itself. Cool to visit, but not much baseball played. Couldn't help myself.

[cbtd]

For somebody who is new to Chicago, you should definitely check out all of the museums mentioned above, and hit the tourist spots Like Millenium park, Navy Pier, Wrigleyville (not a huge fan of Wrigleyville myself though but worth seeing at least once). Then go and check out the neighborhoods which is where most of the fun stuff happens in Chicago.

When you go to Old Town School and Rock and Roll Vintage (Brown Line) you can check out Lincoln Square which has some great restaurants and shops. I would also check out Andersonville which is East of there (Red Line). Wicker Park and Bucktown, Lakeview are fun. Boystown is good even if you aren't into the LBGT scene.

I agree with PunkKitty that the North Side would be a good starting point, it is easier to navigate.

[CoachJM]

Telemach,

Lots of good suggestions in the previous posts.

I'll just add a couple more:

Los Lobos is performing a benefit concert at the Park West (which is practically within walking distance of where you're staying) on June 1.

For the best ribs in Chicago, check out Twin Anchors - on Sedgewick between North & Armitage - a true corner tavern/neighborhood bar with some of the best ribs you'll ever taste.

JM

[PunkKitty]

Twin Anchors has a big following for their ribs. I've never tried them. My favorite BBQ place is Smoque.

[earoach]

If the Q is the game, give http://honey1bbq.net/

These a try.

[Telemach_1]

Wow!! That's incredible. Food for a year. We try to eat it in 18 days though. Lot's of great great valuable information. Thank you so much everybody. I'm going to print out your recommendations and make it my calender.
As some asked, my budget is very moderate and I'm not planning on fancy restaurants. We'll mainly focus on musical events, trying to find some local non touristy music jams, clubs w. live music, then some museums, architecture...buildings. We will certainly try out those restaurants and diners you guys recommended,...if it won't take too much time to get there. Looks like some are quite close.
I'm into vintage cars and nostalgia drag racing too. It would sure be fun to spend a few hours or a day at the races too. Any custom motorcycle builder in town, I could go drool at? Bobber crafter preferred. This could be my chance to lift off from the mother ship for a day ;)

[Telemach_1]

Oooh, is there a rent a scooter you could recommend? That's probably the best transportation for the buck.

[mr natural]

Here's a secret that the tour books won't tell you:
D'Amato's Bakery 1124 West Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL
It's an old-school Italian bakery with a coal-fired oven and more kinds of cookies, bread, canolis, etc. than you can imagine. They sell assorted cookies by the pound. Try the pizza bread. You'll thank me.
-Mr. N.

[Geoff738]

Although I haven't been there in 12 years now, I'll still give a couple of opinions.

Go to the Art Institute.

Check out a baseball game - or if the Cubs aren't playing, they also do tours of Wrigley and you can go into the dugouts and out onto the field etc. Kinda fun.

Eat some Mexican food. Not many places outside of Mexico do this cuisine well. Chicago is one of the very few exceptions.

Somebody above mentioned the Maxwell St market not being what it once was.To get a flavor of the old location, check out the first Blues Bros flick and the John Lee Hooker (and maybe Aretha doing Respect?) portions. I bought a few cassette tapes there many moons ago. The new location was largely Mexican/hispanic when I last visited. different, but I had some good tacos (beef tongue as I recall) and an octopus ceviche kinda thing. Anyhow, that was a few years ago.

I'll hand it back over to the locals - some of my info may be outdated. But, I will say that Chicago is a fantastic city - fantastic architecture, food. Great town!

Cheers,
Geoff

[dwlb]

Lots of completely awesome suggestions. I've not got much to add, except to say that I know people who do cool walking tours of downtown, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright tours. I can put you in touch if you like. If you're into ghost stuff, the weird Chicago ghost tour is neat: http://weirdchicago.com/

Also: my brother is in this mob-themed dinner/show, which is fun: http://www.tommygunsgarage.com/

Also also: my band will be playing at Eddie's out in the suburbs (Arlington Heights to be exact) on Saturday the 9th! So there's that...

[dwlb]

Originally Posted by Telemach_1

I'm into vintage cars and nostalgia drag racing too. It would sure be fun to spend a few hours or a day at the races too.

http://www.volocars.com/

http://meadowdaleraceway.homestead.com/ --a long-abandoned race track from the 50s and 60s, that's now kind of a park district, but some of the original track and such is still there.

http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/ - in the nearby city of Joliet.

[Warm Gums]

Originally Posted by PunkKitty

It looks like you're staying in Lincoln Park about 6 blocks from the Fullerton el stop (we call the subway, metro, etc the El).

You will be within walking distance from Blues on Halsted, Kingston Mines, and Lincoln Hall. Those are all nice music venues. Guitar Center is a few blocks north of Kingston Mines. The Lincoln Park Zoo is a few blocks east. And it's free. There are many good restaurants in that area. If you are into the LGBT scene, Boystown is a short bus ride away.

At the Fullerton el stop you can take either the brown line or the red line. The red line will take you to either of the baseball fields so you can see a Cubs or a Sox game. The brown line will take you to Chicago Music Exchange (Paulina stop) and Old Town School (Western Ave. stop). Both the brown line and the red line will take you to the Loop. Take the red line and get off at Chicago Ave. if you want to go shopping on the Magnificent Mile. While you are there, go to The 95th at the Hancock building. Have a few drinks there and enjoy a great view of the city.

You will like the north side very much. There is a lot to do there.

Umm
I'm pretty sure I have stayed here, if it's the place I think it is you will want to do the following..
Check in.
Go buy a fan..
Chicago can get a little steamy in the summer, and unless they have upgraded things only the lobby area has AC.