Will have 2-3 hours to kill in Chicago, food/drink recommendations? (Rosemont: how much, neighborhood)

[Myron Gaines]

Hey all,

I'll be in Chicago for business (first time there) and will have about 2-3 hours to kill. Looking for a good place to grab a few drinks and something authentically "Chicago" to eat. I'll be flying into O'Hare and have to spend some time in Rosemont then I have a few hours before my flight back - it looks like I can just take the El right in to the downtown? Approximately how long does that take? And what actually counts as Chicago's downtown/CBD? I'm from Philly originally and very familiar with New York so I'm basically looking for Chicago's Rittenhouse Square / Midtown - I assume the Loop is the equivalent?

Thanks!

[emathias]

it takes at least 40 minutes of actual train travel time to get from Rosemont to the Loop. Wicker Park is slightly closer, and pretty interesting, but with only 2-3 hours to kill you'd still be cutting things close. If you have 3 hours, it would be tight but might be worth the trip. If you only have 2 hours, I don't think it'd be worth the risk. are you able to pin down how much time you actually have, starting from the actual Rosemont CTA Blue Line station?

[Vlajos]

It will be real tight time wise to go into the city.

[Myron Gaines]

Sorry I should have clarified - I was taking travel into account, I figured the El was 40/50 minutes based on some quick googling but wanted to ask here to confirm. So I'll have ~3 hours in addition to that.

[emathias]

ok, what kind of food do you want? Things like pizza and hot dogs and italian beef, or fine dining, or some sort of ethnic food they don't have in your normal areas?

[chet everett]

In additions to questions about you might like to eat it would helpful to know what time of day you'll land and what day of the week this stop over is scheduled for, as well as where the next leg of your trip will be -- not real smart to try and get taco if you are headed to LA or something...

Frankly the few times when I have had an extended stopover in even intersting towns like NY it is not worth the stress of watching the clock to leave the airport. The extended stopovers often occur for longer flight to less popular destinations and the last think I would want to do is miss a flight in the current airline environment...

[Myron Gaines]

Originally Posted by emathias

ok, what kind of food do you want? Things like pizza and hot dogs and italian beef, or fine dining, or some sort of ethnic food they don't have in your normal areas?

Yeah I think pizza would be my first choice followed by Italian beef. Something good and local.

Originally Posted by chet everett

In additions to questions about you might like to eat it would helpful to know what time of day you'll land and what day of the week this stop over is scheduled for, as well as where the next leg of your trip will be -- not real smart to try and get taco if you are headed to LA or something...

Frankly the few times when I have had an extended stopover in even intersting towns like NY it is not worth the stress of watching the clock to leave the airport. The extended stopovers often occur for longer flight to less popular destinations and the last think I would want to do is miss a flight in the current airline environment...

I'll be free on a Friday at about noon. I'm headed back to Philly after so just looking for something nice and local to try.

[jwaiter]

You could take the Blue Line to the Damen stop (Wicker Park neighborhood) and walk from there to the nearby Lou Malnati's for some Chicago style pizza. There's also a number of places near the intersection for shopping, drinking, walking around.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

You could take the Blue Line to the Damen stop (Wicker Park neighborhood) and walk from there to the nearby Lou Malnati's for some Chicago style pizza. There's also a number of places near the intersection for shopping, drinking, walking around.

Wicker Park is hardly the "birthplace" of Chiago style deep dish (for that I'd head to the original Uno's or the more unique but owned by the same group, Due's) but Wicker Park leaves you a little more direct access to the Blue line so pressure to get back to the airport is less.

There are lots of interesting resturants in Wicker Park and frankly a deep dish pizza is better if you have about four or more folks to all dig-in, the balance of crust to cheese to sauage is best in the larger pies....

A nice Italian beef sandwich is great option when you are by yourself. There is a place in Wicker Park called Jay's that is OK but if you ride the El a couple stops down and then walk (assuming you don't have any bags) over to Mr. Beef on Orleans in River North it is a higher quality product and a more uniquely Chicago experience as the "dining room" is just a couple of room long picnic tables. From River North you will have a longer trip back to O'Hare and much of River North has a touristy feel but with only 2-3 hours I don't think I would venture over to Al's Beef on Taylor which is still an axcellent standard bearer...

[eating while walking]

Originally Posted by chet everett

A nice Italian beef sandwich is great option when you are by yourself. There is a place in Wicker Park called Jay's that is OK but if you ride the El a couple stops down and then walk (assuming you don't have any bags) over to Mr. Beef on Orleans in River North it is a higher quality product and a more uniquely Chicago experience as the "dining room" is just a couple of room long picnic tables. From River North you will have a longer trip back to O'Hare and much of River North has a touristy feel but with only 2-3 hours I don't think I would venture over to Al's Beef on Taylor which is still an axcellent standard bearer...

I agree that Al's Beef on Taylor is excellent. It's got a great combination of old school ambiance (because it really has been there for like 80 years) and the Al's dipped with hot peppers is a delicious sandwich. Mr Beef has the atmosphere but the sandwich isn't that great in my opinion.

OP if you have 3 hours plus travel time, you want to see the city, and you want to experience Chicago food, here's what I would do. Take the Blue Line to the Jackson Stop. This will put you downtown in the Loop which is the central business district. It will also put you next to Luke's on Jackson St, which is a classic Chicago-style fast food place. Nothing there is amazing but the hot dogs, beefs and gyros are solid. From the Jackson Stop you can walk a few blocks east to the lakefront to enjoy a skyline view, or a few blocks north to the river for a closer look at the downtown architecture.