Back to Chicago for vacation, need tip. (Evanston, Wilmette: appointed, for sale)

[MoItaly]

Thanks, good to know.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

I also really like Frontera Grill for great Mexican.

Problem: it is often impossible to get a table at Frontera and/or Topolobampo.

Solution: Go to Seven on State -- a fancy name for the food court on the 7th floor of the Macy's on State Street -- where you'll find a Frontera Fresco. Not only will you be guaranteed a table, but you'll get a tasty sampling of Rick Bayless' culinary talents at a fraction of what you'd pay to eat at Frontera. Plus it's quicker to get to from Printer's Row. Only downside is that those tasty margaritas are not available.

I understand Xoco right next to Frontera/Topolobampo is the same basic "quick-casual" premise as Frontera Fresco (though with a slightly different menu) and does not take reservations, so the worst you'd have to do is stand in line for a bit. Haven't been yet though.

[Attrill]

The lines at Xoco have been pretty reasonable lately - they were crazy when it first opened, but it is much more reasonable now. Any of the Bayless places are worth checking out. Los Nopales in Lincoln Square and Big Star in Wicker Park are two other Mexican places worth looking into (completely different types of places, but both are good).

If you head up to Little Saigon Sun Wah BBQ and Tank Noodle are two great places. There are a few places close to Hopleaf that are good. Tokyo Marina on Clark is a great no frills Japanese place with good sushi and a lot of other great food. Taste of Lebanon on Foster is great and cheap. Hopleaf has great food too, so it may be a moot point.

The LTH forum link Knitgirl provided is definitely the best source for food info in Chicago. I second Girl and Goat as definitely worth going to. Right now I think Longman & Eagle (Logan Square) is one of the best places in the city, and is definitely worth checking out. Some other places to investigate are Avec (West Loop), The Publican (West Loop), The Purple Pig (Michigan Ave.) The Bristol (Bucktown), and Takashi (Bucktown). If you're ever in BuckHEAD I highly recommend Holman & Finch.

In addition to The Hideout you should check the schedule for the Empty Bottle while you're in town. They book a wide variety of bands, but frequently have really great Jazz (modern).

[knitgirl]

I went to Xoco a couple of weeks ago and had a terrific carnitas caldo with arugula, zucchini and tiny little potato masa dumplings. It was perfect! Normally I use a lot of salt; this wasn't salty, but it was so flavorful and satisfying! They have a bunch of great looking sandwiches as well.

[Vlajos]

If you're staying at the Blackstone, you should check out Mercat a la Planxa.

www.mercatchicago.com

Also, if you head up to Andersonville as some have suggested, Ceres Table is wonderful!

Ceres' Table

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by MoItaly

I am still going to take a cab and go back to some places I discovered last time and were great (Quartino Restaurant, not even a top rated Italian restaurant in Chicago, would be number 1 in Florida hands down. Loud, but the food is great and the prices more than fair; The Joint was so nice and relaxing weekdays with live "Sinatra-style" music, as it was a lively shake-your-booty funk place on Fridays), but I was wondering if there is soemthing worthy at walking distance from the hotel for the night.

Also, last time our days were spent mostly walking (and some public transportation) and we visited:

- Museum Science
- Art Institute of Chicago (wonderful if you like arts, nothing to envy to famous European art museums)
- Field Museum
- Planetarium

We didn't go to Shedd, going this year or my wife will beat me.

We walked through

Loop, south and North
River North
Lincoln Park area (Armitage)
Division to Milwaukee all the way to Wicker Park, Buckhead (hope the name is correct, going by memory)
Greektown
Hyde Park, a little
Cabrini Green
and of course the usual Michigan/State area, Navy Pier etc..

Any suggestion for a nice neighborhood we can go visit and walk? I don't want to spend my time seeing only the classic attractions. Those are fine, but walking through neighborhoods is what gives me a real feel for a city.

Any idea?

I just wanted to say that I totally agree with you about Quartino's! I love that restaurant...

I'm not a ton of help, although I will say that if you didn't do it in 2009, stopping for a drink at the Signature Room at the John Hancock building is worth doing. There's no fee to get in (like there is with the observatory) and the view is amazing.

Signature Room at the 95th - When the Sky is the Limit...

I'll have to ask my husband about a bar with good scotch; he and his friends developed a pretty ridiculous scotch obsession a few a years ago and I know there are bars they go to specifically for that... I just can't remember which ones they are because, to me, scotch tastes like sucking on a two by four, yuck.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

If you're staying at the Blackstone, you should check out Mercat a la Planxa.

www.mercatchicago.com

Also, if you head up to Andersonville as some have suggested, Ceres Table is wonderful!

Ceres' Table

This man dispenses excellent advice; I proposed to my (now) wife at the Blackstone after after a fine meal at Mercat a la Planxa

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

This man dispenses excellent advice; I proposed to my (now) wife at the Blackstone after after a fine meal at Mercat a la Planxa

Why thank you fine sir!

[MoItaly]

Thanks to all of you, great information, exactly the kind I was looking for. I did already all the things that tourists do in Chicago, now I want to do some of the things Chicagoans do in Chicago.
I also booked a guide tour, it's of those guides that are volunteer locals and they take you around part of the city, afoot, and explain to you the history-architecture, local facts etc.. Looking forward to that to.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

I'll have to ask my husband about a bar with good scotch; he and his friends developed a pretty ridiculous scotch obsession a few a years ago and I know there are bars they go to specifically for that... I just can't remember which ones they are because, to me, scotch tastes like sucking on a two by four, yuck.

If you want good scotch and a wide selection of it, the place to go is Duke of Perth on the 2900 block of N. Clark. They have more varieties of scotch than many bars have bottles of liquor period.