Help my wife and I plan our visit. (Chicago, Burnham: best hotels, hotel)

[Robert P Stewart]

My wife and I are visiting Chicago this August for a weekend getaway.

We want to be downtown - in an embarrassingly expensive room on the top floor of some mega building. We want to eat at the two best restaurants in the city. We want a Chicago style hotdog too.

Nothing else is important. Money is not an issue. This is our first time away from our little ones in a couple of years and we'd like to make it count.

What say you?

Robert

[Attrill]

The best hotels are definitely the Ritz, the Four Seasons, the Peninsula, and the Park Hyatt. Another great hotel that I've always liked is the Burnham.

The "it" restaurants right now are Alinea and Moto. Both are very modern and experimental, really good and really expensive. The traditional high end restaurants include Charlie Trotter's, Tru, Ambria, Everest, Les Nomades, and Spiaggia. Everest is on the 40th floor or so and has awesome views. Some other great places are Spring, Avenues, and Blackbird. I'm a huge fan of Blackbird, it isn't as much of a destination place as the others I listed, but the food is in the same league. There are so many great places to eat in Chicago it is hard to know where to even begin - these sites are a good starting point for researching:

LTH Forums
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=14
And Metromix
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/ (broken link)

Enjoy your trip!

[Steve-o]

Attrill brings up some wonderful hotels, Id also recommend the Palmer House. Perhaps not as nice as the ones mentioned above, but still unique. There is also the Hotel Monaco which is different. Cant forget about The Drake Hotel either.

Want a restaurant high up? Cant beat the Signature Room in the John Hancock Center, high up on the 90th floor I believe? Whatever floor its on, Ive heard its magnificent.

As for Chicagos-style dogs, hit up Wrigley Field for an afternoon. Nothing better than eating a Chicago-stlye dog at the 2nd oldest ballpark in the nation, all the while soaking up rays and watching the Cubs lose another one. LOL Go Cubs!!!

[ekg56]

We were in Chicago last week end and had hot dogs at Jimmys on Grand and Pulaski. Wow, just how a hot dog or in my case, a polish should be. And like the sign says, don't even think about asking for catsup!

[mdz]

Glad to hear Jimmy's is still around, I remember hitting that place on the way home from Blackhawks games growing up. Greasy as hell fries, great stuff. It's a bit of a trek from downtown though.

There's a decent traditional chicago hot dog stand called downtown dogs that is on Rush street just north of chicago avenue near all those primo hotels.

I shamefully admit as a Sox fan that wrigley field is a great place to watch baseball, but the food and hot dogs at wrigley stink--don't let that be your chicago hot dog experience.

[ekg56]

I agree Wrigley is not the place to get a hot dog. A true Chicago hot dog has to have snap to it and I know it doesn't have it at the ball park.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by ekg56

I agree Wrigley is not the place to get a hot dog. A true Chicago hot dog has to have snap to it and I know it doesn't have it at the ball park.

Well, I guess Im one of the weird ones who enjoys them. LOL I LOVE the Vienna Beef dogs at Wrigley.

[mdz]

Steve-O--they never used to have vienna dogs, They were using armour dogs or something like that last year when I went to the game. Can you get vienna beef now over there?

[j33]

Blackbird is excellent, however Tru, etc. are sadly out of my league, but if you would like to eat at any of those places, get your reservation now. I was actually not all that impressed by the Signature Room, but the views cannot be beat, I take anyone from out of town that I know up there for an overpriced drink (but then we eat somewhere else).

As far as hotels are concerned, I've heard nothing but raves about the Peninsula.

Steve-o, you are on your own with Wrigley dogs, I try to like them every year when they make me go to a Cubs game for work, but just don't (yet inexplicably keep eating them). They aren't bad, but they certainly are not great and as of two years ago when I last graced Wrigley, they were not Vienna.

[doublesuited77]

how was the trip?