visiting chicago in october for urbanathlon. best places to stay and eat?

[tkm616]

my friends and i will be going to chicago in october for the weekend to compete in the urbanathlon. since we'll basically only have one day (3-4 meals), i want to make them count. i've been dying to try frontera grill (even more since bayless just won the top chef masters). does it live up to the hype? also, suggestions for best deep dish pizza? being from nyc, i have to compare. and, if anyone knows a good hotel to stay at, i'd appreciate your advice. thanks.

[tkm616]

wow, no love from the chicago site. is it because i'm from nyc?

[chicgail]

I think you might consider giving a little more information about
- what kind of food you prefer (by cuisine or style)
- your budget
- what part of the city you expect to be in
- whether you will have a car or will be relying on public transportation

There are a lot of discussions and opinions about deep dish pizza on this board. A search will bring up many of them. Top contenders would be the originators of this style of pizza: Uno and Due; the Lou Malnati chain, and Pizanos, but you will find many people who champion other restaurants. Note that there is a difference between deep dish and stuffed pizza, which was also invented here in Chicago.

Yes, Frontera and Topolobampo live up to "the hype." Both are likely to be swamped right now. Frontera doesn't take reservations. You can try opentable.com for Topo.

There is little disagreement that Alinea is the best restaurant in the city and possibly in the world, but be aware tastings are $145/person and the tour is "$225/person without wine.

Oh, and I don't think it matters to anyone, one way or the other, whether you are from NYC, Dubuque or Dubai.

[tkm616]

i was joking about the nyc thing. thanks for the info. we'll be using public transportation and i'm not sure where we're staying yet. I was hoping someone could suggest a good hotel that is central to a lot of good restaurants. i don't really have a budget or a specific food that i want to try. probably not italian since there are so many good ones in nyc, and not asian since i just got back from l.a. i'm just looking for the best food to eat with the limited amount of time that i have.

[chicgail]

Chicago has a plethora of wonderful restaurants. In a steal and edit from another recent post, you might want to consider some of these:

Perennial - across the street from the city's biggest organic farmers market. Farm-to-table casual and excellent without breaking the bank.

Sola -- Hawaiian/Asian/American fusion -- never had a bad meal there; reasonably priced.

Charlie Trotter -- iconic but mixed reviews recently. Haven't been in several years.

Tru -- high priced, beautiful spot, amazing food, great service.

Mado - farm-to-table mom and pop place in a neighborhood not in the tourist area.

Avec - mostly small plates, expect to wait and sit with others not in your party

Hot Dougs - gourmet sausage sandwiches unique to Chicago. Go for lunch. Go early and expect waits down the block.

Gourmet Mexican cuisine: In addition to Frontera/Topolobampo, there's Mexique, Sol de Mexico, Fonda del Mar, Mixteco Grill to name a few-- all in neighborhoods

Thai - Spoon Thai, TAC Quick and Sticky Rice -- inexpensive, authentic Thai (SR is Northern Thai and to me the best of the bunch). The others both offer translated Thai language menus. Don't bother with pad thai.

Blackbird/Naha/MK - all excellent moderately priced fine American contemporary cuisine.

Lula Cafe - Again largely organic, creative, inexpensive

Sweets & Savories - excellent American comfort cuisine (I guess those go together) in a neighborhood

Mercat - Excellent Spanish tapas, probably the best in town

Carnivale for Creative Latin and a scene-

Green Zebra - fine vegetarian fare even if you're not vegetarian

Spring -- same chef as GZ above. Fish emphasis

Publican - Noisy, fun, good gastropub

This is just a start and I could certainly go on, but you get the idea. Do some research and decide for yourself.

[tkm616]

that's an awesome and extensive list. i really appreciate it.

[nmprisons]

My food favorites: Alinea, Hot Chocolate, Hopleaf

My hotel favorites: Trump