4 days in Chicago

[pistachio peas]

Hello everyone in Chicagoland,

I'll be spending 4 days in Chicago with a friend. Neither of us have visited before. I live in Minneapolis (for grad school) and she lives in Toronto (where I am from). We're meeting up to celebrate her birthday. We're staying at the Sofitel. (This is sort of our thing - for my birthday we met up in NYC)

I'm a big foodie, and she can be convinced to go anywhere. We definitely want to try Chicago pizza and hot dogs. Good brunch places. However, I'd also like to eat some things that are hard to get, or not very good, in Minneapolis. I'm thinking about things like ramen and sushi.

Can you all help with a list of must-eat places that aren't too expensive?

Also - I want to take her out for a nice birthday dinner. Something around $80, not including tip? We're very open in terms of food, but I'd like to be a fun, bustling atmosphere for her birthday. In New York she liked places like Balthazar.

Thanks for the help! I am so excited about this trip!

[pistachio peas]

Please help! :)

[lbs]

For Ramen:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/enterta...

I can't vouch for the restaurants listed in it but the writer is respected for his tastes/stories.

You should check out some of our Thai places. I like Spoon Thai (off the Brown line -Western). TAC also gets some serious love (off the Red line - Sheridan

)

What do you plan on doing during the day/night? It might be easier to suggest places around that.

[nsxtasy]

>> Can you all help with a list of must-eat places that aren't too expensive?

Sure! Let's start with our delicious Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. There are two main varieties. For the single-crust "pizza in the pan", I recommend Pizano's on State ( www.pizanoschicago.com ) or Gino's East on Superior ( www.ginoseast.com ) or, only slightly further, you can go to Uno and Due where it all started ( www.unos.com ). For double-crust "stuffed pizza", I recommend Giordano's on Rush ( www.giordanos.com ). Wherever you go, you can phone ahead to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for your pizza to bake.

For our other local specialties of Chicago hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches, there are two places a block apart on Ontario, and both of them have good representations of both items: Al's Beef ( www.alsbeef.com ) and Portillo's ( www.portillos.com ).

Another local specialty that you rarely find elsewhere is creative provincial Mexican food. Rick Bayless is widely recognized for bringing this trend here, and his restaurants are still excellent and providing the most creative Mexican food in town. Topolobampo is the most expensive, and accepts reservations in advance but books up long in advance for dinners, not as much for lunch. Frontera Grill is not as expensive, but accepts only a handful of reservations and keeps most of the dining room available for walk-in traffic; waits for a table can be lengthy on weekends and at lunchtime. I think Topolobampo at lunchtime is a great bargain. www.rickbayless.com/restaurants

Another place I love is Cafe des Architectes, which is right inside your hotel. Everything I've eaten there has been absolutely sublime! It's also very reasonable in price; at dinner they have a 3-course prix fixe menu for $42 every night, and Sundays through Tuesdays they have their 3-course "neighborhood friends menu" for $29. www.cafedesarchitectes.com

Other places you might enjoy, with a fun bustling atmosphere, not too far from your hotel, include:

Sunda (pan-Asian) - www.sundachicago.com
Nacional 27 (Latin fusion) - www.nacional27.net
Cafe Iberico (tapas) - www.cafeiberico.com
Quartino (Italian small plates) - www.quartinochicago.com

For brunch places, see these two discussions:
Foodie needs recs on cocktails and brunch - http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/364403
River North Breakfast Ideas - http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/693985

For more ideas on ways to eat well without spending a fortune, see this discussion:
Where are the best Chicago dinner *values* - the hidden gems? - http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/697829

Here are a few more suggestions of places I wouldn't miss.

Our new French Market, located just west of the Loop in one of the train stations, is worth a visit. Keep in mind that it just opened a couple of months ago, and it's not fancy. However, it has several dozen food booths and these include some of the very best that Chicago has to offer. Highlights include the croissants, entremets, and French macaroons at Vanille Patisserie; the artisan chocolates at Canady Le Chocolatier (whose main shop is in the South Loop, also not far away); the cheeses at Pastoral; and the rainbow cookies at Delightful Pastries. www.frenchmarketchicago.com

While you're here, go to Garrett's Popcorn. There is a location on Michigan Avenue, a short walk from the Sofitel. They have caramel popcorn (with or without cashews or pecans), cheese popcorn, or a mix of caramel/cheese. Yum! www.garrettpopcorn.com

Fox & Obel is our premier gourmet food store, with the finest meats, cheeses, and other basics, as well as the finest baked goods and other prepared foods. Don't miss the yummy cinnamon swirl rolls at the bakery counter! There's a cafe in the rear if you want to eat anything on the premises, from a cup of coffee to an entire meal prepared to order. It's on the other side of Michigan Avenue, a long walk from the Sofitel. www.fox-obel.com

Most of our better restaurants accept reservations for free at Opentable.com

Feel free to ask more questions, and enjoy your visit!

[pistachio peas]

Thank you so much for these recommendations!
What do you think about Lula?

[nsxtasy]

Lula is very good. It features local and seasonal ingredients. They also do a very nice weekend brunch, which might be a great way to try it. If the weather is nice, they have some outdoor sidewalk seating in front of the restaurant that is very pleasant. The only downside is that it's geographically not all that convenient to the Sofitel; Lula is in Logan Square, about five miles northwest of the hotel. You can cab it or, by public transportation from the Sofitel, take the CTA Red Line from Chicago and State to the Jackson stop, then walk down from the platform to the pedestrian tunnel one block to the Blue Line, then take it towards O'Hare and get off at Logan Square. Lula is across the park from the el stop. www.lulacafe.com

[brady60611]

Nxtasy's post is fantastic - the Lula people also opened up another place - Nightwood which is fantastic.

You might also want to try Publican or Avec <--- both great.

A block or so away from Sofitel is a nice little sandwich/foodie shop - I can't remember the name, but its in the old Cru space (maybe someone can help with the name).

I've ate at all the ramen places listed in the tribune article and would say don't come to Chicago for ramen. the most passable version is in arlington heights, and that is way out in the suburbs.

[Querencia]

Not far from Sofitel and a good place for breakfast until the early PM is the Original Pancake House on Bellevue just a couple of doors east of Rush, a block south of where Rush and State come together at Cedar. You can google their menu (and >3000 others) by going to "chicago restaurant menu". Always full; very popular with local folk.

[geg5150]

I absolutely adore Balthazar and haven't found anything close since I moved to Chicago two years ago.

I'm going to suggest that you pass on Quartino, there is way better Italian here. Consider Piccolo Sogno on Halsted in the West Loop. It's right down the street from The Publican, so if you wanted to do a progressive type thing, you could hit both places. My fave Italian is Anteprima in Andersonville. Make a night of it and hit Hopleaf for the best beer list in the city, it's just two blocks from Anteprima.

Check out The Violet Hour for drinks, but go early, the wait gets crazy. C-View is the rooftop bar of the Affinia Hotel is and is great for cocktails, too.

I have to tell you that I haven't been super impressed by sushi or ramen in Chicago. Perhaps leave that for your birthday trip in NYC.

Also consider The Purple Pig. Small plates of super tasty bites, mostly Mediterranean in flavors. We were there last week and enjoyed everything from sardines to bone marrow. Great wine list. Again, no reservations, so get there early. However TPP serves until 2 a.m., so it could also be your last stop before heading to the hotel if you want a snack and a nightcap.