Chicago Recommendations?

[Fungo Squiggly]

My mechanic’s from out there. He says Riccardo Trattoria will ruin Italian food for you forever.

 

[DaiMonMoore]

Have you had Italian beef?

Damn good. Make sure it's dipped in ju

For deep dish pizza, I'm partial to Lou Malnati's.

Have you been to Field Museum?

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Awesome!

Exactly the type of recs I’m looking for here, thanks!

We spent 4 days out there in December staying in the theatre district. The AIC and the Field are obviously amazing. The CSO is also a world class symphony and their space is amazing for hearing live music, if that’s your thing. We hit a handful of restaurants in the loop — they were all fine, but considering I can’t remember any of their names, they must not have knocked my socks off.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Good call on the CSO. I do enjoy seeing orchestral music. I'm no season ticket holder, but I enjoy going. Looks like they're doing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring while I'll be in town. I'll definitely have to see if I can fit that into the schedule.

One of my favorites - I try to never miss that when I have a chance! CSO doing the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony was a big part of why we even went out there last year. Incredible experience!

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

What are are you looking to do? What kind of restaurants? Shopping? Culture? Do you want to stick to the Loop/Mag Mile/Gold Coast or branch out into some of the neighborhoods?

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

TimeOut and Chicago Magazine are the best resource for what's going on. The Christmas market at Daley Plaza (dat's where dey got dee...uhh...Picasso) is an absolute must; it starts on the 17th.

Hyde Park is worth a trip. Aside from walking U of C's campus, there's the Oriental Institute (Indiana Jones was based off their faculty) and Robie House (Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece that offers tours).

Neighborhood shopping districts. In my opinion, the top three are: Armitage Ave in Lincoln Park, Clark Street in Andersonville and north and south of the Milwaukee/Damen/North intersection in Wicker Park.

Hotel Bars:
Luxury: The Peninsula
Old School Chicago: Coq D'Or at The Drake
Rooftop: London House

Neighborhood restaurants:
French Bistro: Le Bouchon (Bucktown)
Italian Piedmontese: Osteria Langhe (Logan Square)
Italian Tuscan: Trattoria Riccardo (Lincoln Park)
Italian Mobster: La Scarola (River West)
Steak: Boeufhaus (Ukrainian Village)
Moroccan: Shokran (Old Irving Park) this is BYOB
Polish: Staropolska (Avondale)
Ukrainian: Anelya (Avondale)

Chicago Classic Food
Pequod's Pizza (Lincoln Park)
Harold's Fried Chicken (multiple locations)
Jim's Original (UIC) skip the hot dog or burger. You're going to want a Maxwell Street Polish and a Pork Chop Sandwich

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Thanks @ORD_Buckeye !

Just so there's no confusion, The Oriental Institute is now The Institute For The Study Of Ancient Cultures. Same thing. I linked it in the original post. Also, Hyde Park will be one of the safer locations for Harold's Fried Chicken (there's also locations in The Loop and South Loop). Trust me on this. You're going to order a half dinner (either white, mixed or dark) with hot sauce on it.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Thanks @ORD_Buckeye !

Did you ever make it up here? Report back.

 

[Zippercat]

ORD, thanks for following up with me. I've meant to report back, but with the holidays and winter procrastination, just found the time/motivation to dig through my photo album.

I was only able to spend a day for leisure, and I was on my way around the time that you posted in this thread, so I was only able to check out one of the places you recommended this time (I will definitely use your references for my next trip there).

That was, I stopped for a late dinner at Jim's Original (UIC), and got the Pork Chop sandwich (great call there!)

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During the day that I was able to spend free time, I went to the Loop. Based, I planned to stop at the AIC during the day and see the CSO perform in the evening. Since those two venues were next to each other, I parked around the corner from the museum and walked around.


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There were several good exhibitions at the AIC.

One was the Caravaggio and his followers exhibit, which primarily featured paintings of those who were inspired by him, but this one I believe he painted:


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There also was a Picasso exhibition, which notably included numerous minotaur themed paintings and sketches:

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One non-minotaur themed sketch jumped out to me because it made think that this is what Picasso would have drawn had he attended an Aggy Yell Practice

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There were a few other interesting exhibitions, but the other highlight for me was the Camille Claudet. I am a fan of Rodin's work and she was probably his most notable protege.

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For lunch I took the Red line over to China town and got dim sum at the Phoenix Restaurant on Archer

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After that, I went back to see the CSO, which had a program that featured the works of late 19th and early 20th century Russian composers.



I wasn't familiar with the first two compositions, but I always enjoy Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps.

@Fungo Squiggly recommended that one, so here's the videos for the pieces so you could vicariously listen to it:







I have to say, the concert hall for the CSO is unlike any I've seen with the seating behind the orchestra. Maybe that's more common in Europe, but I don't recall seeing any seating arrangement in the US like that.

Nashville Symphony’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which opened in 2006, has such seating. In this pic that seating is used for the Chorus, but it’s usually used for public seating.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

@ORD_Buckeye any other recs for things to do or places to eat in the UChicago area? Will likely check out the Oriental Museum next time I’m in town.

Not sure if you're a hat guy or not, but the best hatmaker in the world isn't in London but in Chicago: Optimo Hatmakers. Their show room is on Dearborn Street in The Loop.

A couple of doors down from them is a small men's shoe shop that sells Alden (overpriced/average quality) and Edward Green from England (maybe the best shoes and boots in the world). I know, coming from the Southeast, any type of shoe is considered fancy, but the Edward Greens are worth a look.

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

I'll be visiting for a few days in a few weeks and was wondering if there were any recommendations from locals (@ORD_Buckeye or anyone else) on interesting things to do, and good restaurants to check out.

I've been a few times before, so I've done a good number of the typical tourist things before (Willis & Hancock Towers, Architecture Tour on the Chicago river, The Magnificent Mile, Lincoln Park Zoo, Goodman Theatre, Second City, etc ...never been to Navy Pier but don't have any interest in it). Wouldn't be opposed to experiencing some of those again, but just wanted to get some ideas for the type of experiences that locals would have. The main thing I have planned for now is seeing the Caravaggio exhibition at the AIC. Besides that, I have an open itinerary.


Will only be there a few days, and will probably return again soon, so just a spitball of different recommendations and ideas would be appreciated as I have enough familiarity with the City to not need a fully itinerary spelled out for me.

Any ideas (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

My mechanic’s from out there. He says Riccardo Trattoria will ruin Italian food for you forever.

Awesome!

Exactly the type of recs I’m looking for here, thanks!

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

Have you had Italian beef?

Damn good. Make sure it's dipped in ju

For deep dish pizza, I'm partial to Lou Malnati's.

Have you been to Field Museum?

I did try Al's once. Somewhere near the loop/Gold Coast. I enjoyed it, will probably have another one.

Haven't been to the Field, I've seen that one come up a few times recently as I've done some research on Chicago. Might have to check it out!

 

[Tomateaux Quinoa Gumbeaux]

We spent 4 days out there in December staying in the theatre district. The AIC and the Field are obviously amazing. The CSO is also a world class symphony and their space is amazing for hearing live music, if that’s your thing. We hit a handful of restaurants in the loop — they were all fine, but considering I can’t remember any of their names, they must not have knocked my socks off.

Good call on the CSO. I do enjoy seeing orchestral music. I'm no season ticket holder, but I enjoy going. Looks like they're doing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring while I'll be in town. I'll definitely have to see if I can fit that into the schedule.

 

[Thump]

I'll be visiting for a few days in a few weeks and was wondering if there were any recommendations from locals (@ORD_Buckeye or anyone else) on interesting things to do, and good restaurants to check out.

I've been a few times before, so I've done a good number of the typical tourist things before (Willis & Hancock Towers, Architecture Tour on the Chicago river, The Magnificent Mile, Lincoln Park Zoo, Goodman Theatre, Second City, etc ...never been to Navy Pier but don't have any interest in it). Wouldn't be opposed to experiencing some of those again, but just wanted to get some ideas for the type of experiences that locals would have. The main thing I have planned for now is seeing the Caravaggio exhibition at the AIC. Besides that, I have an open itinerary.


Will only be there a few days, and will probably return again soon, so just a spitball of different recommendations and ideas would be appreciated as I have enough familiarity with the City to not need a fully itinerary spelled out for me.

Any ideas (good or bad) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Abe Froman’s.