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Location: Shaw, St. Louis/West Ridge, Chicago/WuDaoKou, Beijing
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Hey guys...I made this list on Facebook for my friends that have been coming to Chicago a lot and never seem to make it past downtown...I always try to suggest some alternative things to do so they can experience the Real Chicago and get a good feel for the city...is there anything you guys think I should add to the list?
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Ok...so I've had a TON of friends from STL coming back and forth to Chicago at any given time and I notice that 90% of em' never make it past Downtown. This hurts my heart because Downtown is like 1/50 of the city limits and it's definitely not where the bulk of the locals are going to party hard!
I have been back and forth to Chicago since I was a kid, and my mom even lived here for some years but I was always an ill informed tourist until I finally moved here. I always thought Chicago couldn't hold a candle to most other cities I had seen thoroughly until now. I love this place and I enjoy sharing the reasons I love this place with my friends and the places that make this city awesome.
The city limits are much bigger than most people think (I still haven't seen the suburbs at all) at about 40 Miles N to S and 10 miles across
and everyone forgets that there are beaches here!
Here's Hollywood Beach which is about 10 miles N of Downtown in my neighborhood Edgewater.
Hollywood Beach
*best pic of the beach I could find had a dude in a thing lol :/
For all the people that I know are coming and have been recently and didn't get to see much this is 4 u.
Above all just give me a call and I'm happy to share some places that I enjoyed.
First off, Downtown is probably a load of fun if you're earning 6 figures a year and have plenty of disposable income. There are lots of sights you should see if you're coming here for the first time and lots of good walking. The theaters are cool if you're seeing a show, everyone should see each of the major museums, aquarium, etc at least once and there are some good restaurants that come with a high price.
But...Michigan Ave gets super old if you're not buying anything and the place is filled with yuppies and older people with money. The bars are pretentious although you could pick up an attractive tourist chic if you wanted...but nothing about them is laid back.
"Ill-informed tourists converge upon the nightclubs of Rush and Division St. The city's best DJs spin elsewhere, the best drinks are served elsewhere, and the cheapest beers are served elsewhere; the hottest of-the-moment clubs and in-the-know celebrities are usually elsewhere, too." -Wikipedia haha!
What makes big cities have character is not the big national chains you could find in any city in America, but the small businesses and quirky little shops and mom and pop restaurants you find in the neighborhoods. One of my favorite little neighborhoods is Wicker Park/Bucktown on the West Side of Chicago...you wont find McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and the more generic Retail Chains in most down to earth Chicago neighborhoods and that's what I love about this place...This can be said especially for Wicker Park/Bucktown...
Most of the people around here are early to late 20s and there is quite a bit of diversity here as well...Some of the bars can get filled with a few too many hipsters but thats OK most of them are welcoming.
If you're headed here go to the intersection at North Ave & Milwaukee Ave and work your way around the streets and shops...Milwaukee has a lot of quirky little shops for clothes and other stuff during the day but at night this place is PACKED with people going out to drink...There are a TON of bars and down to earth lounges in the area and I really recommend checkin this hood out. If you're drinking in the area and are looking for a bite after I really recommend a little taqueria at Ashland & Chicago called Traspasada...the well known 24 hour taco places like Arturo's and Lazo's + Flash Taco suck ass.
Drinking in Wicker Park has always been good to me. There are never any covers anywhere in the neighborhood. One of my favorite little places is called Crocodile...There is an upstairs lounge and a downstairs dance floor where they usually spin a mix between house and good hip hop and they often mix the house and hip hop tracks together... make your way up and down Damen, Milwaukee, North, And Division streets. Nearest to the Damen Blue Line stop.
Another one of my favorite neighborhoods is Lakeview...if I could live anywhere else in Chicago I would move to Lakeview somewhere around Belmont & N Clark. I really recommend for people to check out the shopping and stores at Clark & Belmont and work their way down Clark towards downtown. Just when you think it's going to end Clark keeps going with cool little shops and restaurants until you get deep into the residential area of Lincoln Park...definitely take a stroll down here if you're looking for something interesting to do. It's sort of like an oversized version of the STL Loop on multiple streets.
I would avoid Wrigleyville personally because every time I've gone there has been a drunk frat boy ******* trying to start drama and they're not very welcoming.
Closest to the Belmont Brown/Red Line stop.
In my neck of the woods Clark is again another cool street to check out...Starting from Foster and North Clark make your way north into Andersonville which has lots of good little restaurants and cool shops to see. Its closest to the Berwyn Red Line stop.
If you're looking to do some high end shopping and eat some really good food on the high end check out the restaurants and stores at Armitage & Halsted in the Lincoln Park neighborhood and go up and down both streets near the intersection. The famous theaters Steppenwolf and Second City are also nearby...Closest to the Armitage Brown Line stop.
Most of the bars in the city are on the North Side but If you're going clubbing hit the clubs on the Near North Side and the West Side Warehouse District...I'm too much of a broke ass to do much clubbing so just look for some spots on the neighborhoods...Some of the Big names are Enclave, Vision, Green Dolphin Street which I love, Soundbar, Crobar, and Funky Buddha Lounge.
I really don't know that much about the South Side of Chicago which is 60% of the area of the city...but from what I've gathered so far it's very boring down there...Just my opinion. It's not very dense down there at all and lacks things to do and reminds me too much of STL city...There is some good soul food in Bronzeville, the South Shore and Hyde Park (Where the University of Chicago is) have beautiful architecture but still, very boring. If you're here for St. Patrick's day go down to Beverly for the largest Neighborhood Festival in the world!...there is also a parade downtown and both are massive drunkfests that put mardi gras in STL to shame.
Chicago has A LOT of big, vibrant ethnic communities and I really recommend checking them out whether you are just looking around or going to eat some food! Each neighborhood almost always has a main drag where the bulk of the shops and restaurants are. In my hood we have Argyle street which is called "New Chinatown" but most of the stuff there is all Southeast Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian etc...) The main drag is Argyle between N Broadway and N Sheridan...Closest to the Argyle Red Line stop.
The "real" Chinatown is on the South Side is pretty awesome. There are lots of good restaurants and little Chinese shops and Dim Sum everyday. Most of the restaurants are concentrated on S. Wentworth Ave & Cermak...Closest to the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop...Check out the pic!
Southwest of My hood is Lawrence Ave which has a TON of Korean restaurants and is honorably called Seoul Drive...I love my Korean BBQ and I go often...Its located in a neighborhood called Albany Park...Just ask to go to Seoul Drive in Albany Park (Lawrence Ave.) Close to Kimball Brown Line stop.
Near the Korean Neighborhood in Albany Park is a Middle Eastern Neighborhood on Kedzie...You can find all sorts of good middle eastern food like Persian, Lebanese, and even Palestinian...Near the Kedzie Brown Line stop.
Also north of my hood is Devon Ave which has a TONNN of Indian and Pakistani restaurants...Devon is really impressive because of the density of the restaurants and how long the strip is...its about a mile long of Indian and Paki restaurants and really recommend checkin it out. Just ask to go to Devon Ave where the Indian and Paki restaurants are in Rogers Park (Close to Loyola Red Line stop)
Chicago literally has a million Mexicans and Mexican restaurants are EVERYWHERE....but one of the largest Mexican communities is in South Lawn. There is an area called Little Village or La Villita on 26th street between Sacramento and Pulaski which is paackkked with Mexican restaurants and shops for about a mile and a half...I recommend checkin it out of u like authentic Mexican food. Close to Kedzie-Cermak Pink Line stop.
The Near West Side near UIC has a few things...There is Greektown, Little Italy, and New Maxwell Street Market (on Sundays)...Most of the Greek restaurants are at S. Halsted and W. Jackson near the Clinton Blue Line stop. Most of the Italian restaurants are near S. Racine and Taylor near the Racine Blue Line stop...New Maxwell street market which is open only on sunday mornings has a ton of street vendors and tents with mostly super authentic and delicious Mexican food also near the Clinton Blue Line stop on Desplaines Street.
A bit further west on Division Street will get you to Paseo Boricua which is a Puerto Rican neighborhood...there are some cool Puerto Rican shops and restaurants to see as well as the massive Puerto Rican Day Parade.
If you really want some good soul food head down to Bronzeville @ 47th street...For my friends that arent Black or Brown don't be scared lol...no one is going to mess with you unless you are in their business.
While I didn't touch anywhere near all of the interesting things to see in the City Limits these are some of my suggestions. Get out of Downtown and see "The Real Chicago" trust me you won't regret it!
As far as Chi Town Pizza goes I recommend The Art of Pizza and Bella Bacino's...I hear Pequods is good as well...Giordanos and all those big chains lost their quality to their name years ago.
I hope this helps you have a good time in the Chi...I had way too much time on my hands today...I think I should start my own Chicago Guide lol!
***ALSO NAVIGATING THE TRAIN SYSTEM IS SUPER EASY AND PARKING AND DRIVING IN CHICAGO AROUND THE CITY CENTER IF YOU DO NOT LIVE HERE IS NOT RECOMMENDED...YOU WILL GET GRIDLOCKED IN TRAFFIC AND YOU WILL WASTE YOUR DAY DOING CIRCLES TRYING TO FIND PARKING...USE THE L AND GET A VISITOR PASS FOR UNLIMITED USE OF THE TRAIN...THE RED AND BLUE LINES RUN 24/7/365 AND I DOUBT ANYONE VISITING WILL USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE RED, BLUE, AND BROWN LINES...JUST KNOW WHAT STOP U ARE GOING TO...ITS QUICK AND LESS STRESSFUL TO TAKE THE TRAINS. ABOVE ALL U TRULY HAVENT EXPERIENCED CHICAGO UNLESS YOU'VE TAKEN THE CTA TRANSIT!
Very nice list. I would suggest adding some other southside areas, like Bronzeville's 47th street, Hyde Park and promotory point, and even Bridgeport, and some other southside beaches. Also some of the museums are out of downtown, ie chicago history on North Ave, and the museum of science and industry by hyde park. Oh and 'new chinatown' is only called that on wikipedia, as far as I know, its called just 'argyle' or 'vietnamese town' to almost everyone I know.
The Japanese Gardens along the lake off of 59th St Metra and The Fountain of Time (very walkable from the gardens and takes you right past UofC) is accessible from 63rd and Cottage Grove. When it runs from Spring to Fall it is pretty breathtaking.
I think it's a great start but there are some things.
1. The city isn't 40 miles north-south. Western Avenue is 23.5 miles north to south, which is impressive sure but not 40 miles.
2. You gave a lot of attention to Little Village but none to Pilsen? There are plenty of well known Mexican restaurants there as well, in addition to the National Museum of Mexican Art and new-ish art galleries on the east side of Pilsen, etc.
3: "AND I DOUBT ANYONE VISITING WILL USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE RED, BLUE, AND BROWN LINES..." Well, that's a little myopic considering you gave people the option of taking the pink line to Little Village.
4. Two suggestions: Margie's Candies and Mario's Italian Lemonade for those soon-to-come summer days!
I think it's a great start but there are some things.
1. The city isn't 40 miles north-south. Western Avenue is 23.5 miles north to south, which is impressive sure but not 40 miles.
2. You gave a lot of attention to Little Village but none to Pilsen? There are plenty of well known Mexican restaurants there as well, in addition to the National Museum of Mexican Art and new-ish art galleries on the east side of Pilsen, etc.
3: "AND I DOUBT ANYONE VISITING WILL USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE RED, BLUE, AND BROWN LINES..." Well, that's a little myopic considering you gave people the option of taking the pink line to Little Village.
4. Two suggestions: Margie's Candies and Mario's Italian Lemonade for those soon-to-come summer days!
I love the Mexican Museum of Art and forgot all about it until now. Thanks for the reminder. The day of the dead exhibit they had last fall was great.
At lot of people also seem to come for the architecture in downtown and the Wright stuff in Oak Park but skip over historic Pullman. It's a bit of a hike way down in the 110s but worth it. Cheap and interesting.
I think it's a great start but there are some things.
3: "AND I DOUBT ANYONE VISITING WILL USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE RED, BLUE, AND BROWN LINES..." Well, that's a little myopic considering you gave people the option of taking the pink line to Little Village.
Unless they fly into Midway Airport ...
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