Things to do in Chicago

[PleaseBlitz]

I always get really great travel advice from this site (too bad the old threads are all gone now).  So, I am planning a trip to Chicago for my wife's 30th bday.  I've only been to Chicago once, for a work awards thing, needless to say, I was very very drunk the entire time.  

 

We will be there for a long weekend Friday through Sunday.  Friday during the day is already spoken for and dinner reservation for Friday night is taken care of.  Saturday is wide open, all day.  I need to fill it.    

 

We are staying in the "River North" area.

 

What are some fun things to do and good places to eat in Chicago?  (Please keep in mind that this is for the wife's bday, so, as cool as my wife is, "Cubs game" and "strip club" are not going to be helpful. ).  

[Elessar78]

I stay in River North when I travel for work. 

 

Comedy Club? Second City is there, that's where most of the SNL people get their start. 

 

Lots of good places to eat in that area. Steak is, generally, steak to me. Harry Caray's is where I ate last time I was there. It was good. But you'd really have to narrow down by cuisine. 

[daveakl]

White sox game and gentleman's club.

[Stugein]

Find Portillo's. Purchase an italian beef sandwich.

You're welcome.

[Predicto]

Chicago is a great city with a ton to do.   I haven't lived there for a couple of decades, so my recommendations for food and entertainment would be out of date.   When I lived there, the best steakhouse was Gene and Georgetti's.  

 

Are you looking for culture?  Chicago has America's second greatest art museum - the Art Institute..  It has a fabulous musty old dinosaur and woolly mammoth kind of natural museum - the Field museum.  It has a very big and pretty good Museum of Science and Industry.   Nearby is a small but terrific archaeological museum on the U Chicago campus.   It has an excellent aquarium.  (the zoo is nothing special)  It has the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the view from on top will make you nauseous.   It has a beautiful skyline and boat cruises down the river and out on to Lake Michigan to learn about the architecture.    

 

There is a lakeside amusement area called Navy Pier, great blues and jazz clubs, America's best symphony orchestra, two baseball teams (one that plays in Wrigley Field!), shopping, the real Chicago stuffed pizza, and so on.   

[Chew]

Our friends on the north side took us to this place called "The Pump Room."  Its kind of on "upscale" lounge feel, but has great food.  it was a little pricey, but one of the best places I ate while there, and Chicago has got some eats.  My steak was dee-lish and the wife's lamb chops were yummy.

 

If you and the wife are feeling adventerous, wander around Riverdale on the south side in black t-shirts, and ask the locals about a guy named Chief keef

[PleaseBlitz]

Chicago is a great city with a ton to do.   I haven't lived there for a couple of decades, so my recommendations for food and entertainment would be out of date.   When I lived there, the best steakhouse was Gene and Georgetti's.  

 

Are you looking for culture?  Chicago has America's second greatest art museum - the Art Institute..  It has a fabulous musty old dinosaur and woolly mammoth kind of natural museum - the Field museum.  It has a very big and pretty good Museum of Science and Industry.   Nearby is a small but terrific archaeological museum on the U Chicago campus.   It has an excellent aquarium.  (the zoo is nothing special)  It has the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the view from on top will make you nauseous.   It has a beautiful skyline and boat cruises down the river and out on to Lake Michigan to learn about the architecture.    

 

There is a lakeside amusement area called Navy Pier, great blues and jazz clubs, America's best symphony orchestra, two baseball teams (one that plays in Wrigley Field!), shopping, the real Chicago stuffed pizza, and so on.   

 

I think we are going to do the general tourist thing for at least part of the time.  Going to the top of the Sears Tower (or whatever it's called now) might be on the list.  I would love to do a boat cruise.  

Our friends on the north side took us to this place called "The Pump Room."  Its kind of on "upscale" lounge feel, but has great food.  it was a little pricey, but one of the best places I ate while there, and Chicago has got some eats.  My steak was dee-lish and the wife's lamb chops were yummy.

 

If you and the wife are feeling adventerous, wander around Riverdale on the south side in black t-shirts, and ask the locals about a guy named Chief keef

 

 

The Pump Room looks pretty interesting.  If for no other reason than, according to Wikipedia, An incident at the restaurant inspired Phil Collins to name his multi-platinum 1985 album "No Jacket Required."     

[balki1867]

I live in the city (Bucktown, off the tourist's beaten path).  Depending on your tastes, I'd suggest the following:

 

Museums: 

- Chicago History Museum

- Field Museum

- Museum of Science and Technlogoy

- Shedd Aquarium

 

To Visit:

- Soldier Field Tour

- Segway tour of the Grant Park area

- Cubs or Sox game

 

To eat:

- If you're into the foodie scene Fulton Street has a ton of really highly-rated restaurants (I've been to Next, but honestly this isn't my scene)

- Eat a Chicago dog

- (Maybe) eat a Chicago style pizza at Giordanos or Lou Malnatis (you probably already have a strong opinion of whether or not you should do this)

 

In your hood:

- Navy Pier

- Michigan Avenue

- Howl at the Moon

- Rock Bottom Brewery

- Bars on Hubbard St (lots of non-chain trendy places to eat/drink)

 

In my hood (i feel obligated-- and its less touristy; just about every cab driver should know these places):

- Damen St food tour (starts literally around the corner from me)

- Piece pizza (New Haven style pizza that brews their own beer)

- Mindy's Hot Chocolate (highly regarded restaurant)

 

Other:

- Half Acre brewery in Lincoln Square / North Center (cool tasting room)

- (If you have a car) Penrose Brewery in Geneva, IL (its an hour outside the city, but the brewmaster is one of my best friends)

[daveakl]

You could go Asian Carp fishing.  I hear that's trendy now.

[balki1867]

I think we are going to do the general tourist thing for at least part of the time.  Going to the top of the Sears Tower (or whatever it's called now) might be on the list.  I would love to do a boat cruise.  

 

Skip the Willis Tower and go to the John Han**** building instead.  It's free to go to the top and there's a bar up there, so you can use the money to buy yourselves a drink instead.

One more thing: If the Blackhawks are still playing hockey, find a good fun place to watch the game.  That's what everyone goes crazy for these days.

 

EDIT: Haha, apparently one of our founding fathers had an inappropriate last name.  I didn't do that.

[Predicto]

You could go Asian Carp fishing.  I hear that's trendy now.

 

Do it like this

 

http://www.snotr.com/video/5553/The_Attack_of_the_Jumping_Asian_Carp

[PleaseBlitz]

I live in the city (Bucktown, off the tourist's beaten path).  Depending on your tastes, I'd suggest the following:

 

Museums: 

- Chicago History Museum

- Field Museum

- Museum of Science and Technlogoy

- Shedd Aquarium

 

To Visit:

- Soldier Field Tour

- Segway tour of the Grant Park area

- Cubs or Sox game

 

To eat:

- If you're into the foodie scene Fulton Street has a ton of really highly-rated restaurants (I've been to Next, but honestly this isn't my scene)

- Eat a Chicago dog

- (Maybe) eat a Chicago style pizza at Giordanos or Lou Malnatis (you probably already have a strong opinion of whether or not you should do this)

 

In your hood:

- Navy Pier

- Michigan Avenue

- Howl at the Moon

- Rock Bottom Brewery

- Bars on Hubbard St (lots of non-chain trendy places to eat/drink)

 

In my hood (i feel obligated-- and its less touristy; just about every cab driver should know these places):

- Damen St food tour (starts literally around the corner from me)

- Piece pizza (New Haven style pizza that brews their own beer)

- Mindy's Hot Chocolate (highly regarded restaurant)

 

Other:

- Half Acre brewery in Lincoln Square / North Center (cool tasting room)

- (If you have a car) Penrose Brewery in Geneva, IL (its an hour outside the city, but the brewmaster is one of my best friends)

 

Awesome.  Thank you for this.  A couple of thoughts:

 

What is in the Grant Park area?

 

Friday we are going to the other restaurant owned by the guy that does Next.  One of the main reasons I decided on Chicago (wife doesn't know we are going yet).

 

I definitely want to try the pizza.  I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other though. 

 

What is on Michigan Avenue?  The only other time i was in Chicago, after i got really drunk out our company awards thing, we went to "Rush and Division" and got way more drunk.

 

We won't have a car and, unfortunately, wife is not a big beer person.  

 

Thanks again!

Skip the Willis Tower and go to the John Han**** building instead.  It's free to go to the top and there's a bar up there, so you can use the money to buy yourselves a drink instead.

One more thing: If the Blackhawks are still playing hockey, find a good fun place to watch the game.  That's what everyone goes crazy for these days.

 

EDIT: Haha, apparently one of our founding fathers had an inappropriate last name.  I didn't do that.

 

Will i need advance tickets for the John Han[penis] building?  When we went to NYC to do the Empire State we got advance tickets which saved us like 7 hours of line-standing (I HATE HATE HATE standing in lines and will not do it).

[Sticksboi05]

The question isn't what is there to do, it's what isn't there to do.

 

[balki1867]

Awesome.  Thank you for this.  A couple of thoughts:

 

What is in the Grant Park area?

 

Friday we are going to the other restaurant owned by the guy that does Next.  One of the main reasons I decided on Chicago (wife doesn't know we are going yet).

 

I definitely want to try the pizza.  I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other though. 

 

What is on Michigan Avenue?  The only other time i was in Chicago, after i got really drunk out our company awards thing, we went to "Rush and Division" and got way more drunk.

 

We won't have a car and, unfortunately, wife is not a big beer person.  

 

Thanks again!

 

On the south end of grant park, you have Soldier Field, the Field Museum, the aquarium and the observatory.  Within the park you have Buckingham fountain and on the north end you have Millenium park, the bean and the concert venue at Millenium park.

If you do the segway your, you'll get to see all of this stuff.  Beyond that, if you're there during a summer weekend (I assume you're coming here either Memorial Day or 4th of July), there will almost definitely be something going on there.

 

Michigan Ave (in the river north area), is a huge shopping area with tons of department stores.  Near the southern end of it, you're only a couple of blocks from Navy Pier.

 

One of my frustrations with people who visit Chicago is they never get out to the neighborhoods, which, IMO, is one of the most awesome things about the city.  Obviously, you should do what was you think would be most fun, but if you really are looking for suggestions that are a little off the beaten path, I wouldn't mind sharing them with you.

[PleaseBlitz]

Usually when we go to a city for the first time we do the stereo-typical tourist stuff.  THEN we go back and to the off-the-beaten path stuff.  At some point we are heading out to Deer Park to visit some friends.  

[balki1867]

Will i need advance tickets for the John Han[penis] building?  When we went to NYC to do the Empire State we got advance tickets which saved us like 7 hours of line-standing (I HATE HATE HATE standing in lines and will not do it).

 

The one time I went up there, we didn't need advance tickets, but I'd check.  I can't really speak to how long the lines get.

 

Honestly, I've still never been to the top of the (whatchoo talkin' 'bout) Willis building.

 

The one cool thing about the Willis building is that they added these glass enclosures that overhang the street so you can get pictures literally standing over the city.  The pictures look pretty cool, but I imagine it's not every fun if you're afraid of heights (random internet picture below):

 

Usually when we go to a city for the first time we do the stereo-typical tourist stuff.  THEN we go back and to the off-the-beaten path stuff.  At some point we are heading out to Deer Park to visit some friends.  

 

You can't go wrong with the touristy stuff either.

 

This sounds incredibly silly in hindsight, but one that initially surprised me here ~10 years ago was that you had to pay to go to museums.  I was so used to hopping in an out of different Smithsonian museums that I was actually taken aback at having to pay ~$35 for the aquarium.  Obviously, there are a lot more new museums in DC that require payment (Newseum, Spy Museum), but that still seems so ridiculous in hindsight that I was actually surprised about that.

[PleaseBlitz]

The one time I went up there, we didn't need advance tickets, but I'd check.  I can't really speak to how long the lines get.

 

Honestly, I've still never been to the top of the (whatchoo talkin' 'bout) Willis building.

 

The one cool thing about the Willis building is that they added these glass enclosures that overhang the street so you can get pictures literally standing over the city.  The pictures look pretty cool, but I imagine it's not every fun if you're afraid of heights (random internet picture below):

 

 

 

Holy balls.  Well, although I know you are sort of advocating against the WIllis, that pretty much seals it that we have to go now.  Wife is a photographer, she's going to have to get that shot.  

[balki1867]

Holy balls.  Well, although I know you are sort of advocating against the WIllis, that pretty much seals it that we have to go now.  Wife is a photographer, she's going to have to get that shot.  

 

Ha, well I'm glad I could help you decide on that

Oh yeah, how could I forget the architecture tour.  That starts near the mouth of the river and heads up the river.  The guides are really good too. I'm not sure about this but during the summer, I *THINK* you can time one so you take the tour and then stay on the boat for the Navy Pier fireworks.

 

 

EDIT: Confirmed.  Yes, they run special 'Fireworks' editions of the architecture tours during the summer: http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/architecture-tours/

[Corcaigh]

All I was going to suggest is to go up the tower both in daylight and at night.

[PleaseBlitz]

Sweet, WIllis Tower sells tickets that let you skip the line.  You just can't buy them in advance.  

 

Giordiano's is a chain, but the place to get pizza?

[balki1867]

Giordiano's is a chain, but the place to get pizza?

 

You'd have even the most ardent Chicagoans argue about this one, but it's one of the following:

 

Giordano's

Lou Malnati's

Gino's East

Pizzeria Uno (*NOT* the gross chain you're familiar with)

 

You can ask around with your hotel staff once you get here.

 

Honestly, I love Chicago-style pizza, but my mouth waters every time I think about Ledo's. I got thoroughly beaten up for that comment in a Ledo's thread on this board ~1 year ago.  Its pretty much my first stop when I'm back in MD.

[PleaseBlitz]

You'd have even the most ardent Chicagoans argue about this one, but it's one of the following:

 

Giordano's

Lou Malnati's

Gino's East

Pizzeria Uno (*NOT* the gross chain you're familiar with)

 

You can ask around with your hotel staff once you get here.

 

Honestly, I love Chicago-style pizza, but my mouth waters every time I think about Ledo's. I got thoroughly beaten up for that comment in a Ledo's thread on this board ~1 year ago.  Its pretty much my first stop when I'm back in MD.

 

All four of those places are within a 6-9 minute walk of my hotel.  I guess we wont be hunting for pizza.

 

 

And Ledo's is garbage.

[mcsluggo]

I suggest you go to the Free Republic website.  There you can find reference to the most Chicagoan of activities that you can participate in... communist marches, vote rigging, extortion from hard working business, fearsome "community activism", cemetery voting drives, and other various and sundry titillating activities.... 

[PleaseBlitz]

I suggest you go to the Free Republic website.  There you can find reference to the most Chicagoan of activities that you can participate in... communist marches, vote rigging, extortion from hard working business, fearsome "community activism", cemetery voting drives, and other various and sundry titillating activities.... 

 

 

I do that in DC.  

[balki1867]

 

And Ledo's is garbage.

 

LOL, dem's fighting words.  I take back all the suggestions I gave you.