re: Chicago Itinerary (Thoughts/Changes/Recommendations?)

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Time, frustration, and potentially your wallet.

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Oh really? Thought the train ride was $5 to downtown.

Time is often about equal with Uber wait times and traffic. I didn’t feel unsafe on the L

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Oh really? Thought the train ride was $5 to downtown.

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Dude is just trying to let you know that you’ll get mugged on the Blue Line. Lame shite to say. You’ll be fine, just as countless TD posters have lived to tell the story

I’ve lived along three different Blue Line stations (Division, California and Chicago) + commuted to work on it for years. The worst I’ve personally seen is a pile of shite or some guy talking to himself. Not ideal, obviously, but there’s far worse in Chicago to worry about than the Blue Line.

Like any big city, you’ll see a weirdo, but I can’t think of a single time that I felt worry for my own well-being.

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Blue line is ghetto af.

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Jumping in to second a few other suggestions already made.

Dovetail is a great beer destination. And Beyle is across the street. It's also a short walk from there to some great places to eat, specifically L&M Parkside which just opened from their retail fine foods shop. From Dovetail you can also hop on the Brown line and head south two stops and get off at Paulina. Right there is Bitter Pops (taproom + bottle shop) and The Green Lady, a gem of a beer bar.

Also second Tango Sur. Their sister location, Bodega Sur, is next door and serves alcohol, in case you weren't in the mood to bring your own. If you have to wait (no reservations at either place), go next door and grab a drink at the Music Box Theatre's lounge.

Regarding the LSU game - the "official" alumni bar is DS Tequila in Lakeview. However, the Standard is still an LSU bar (check out their Instagram). The Standard used to be the official alumni location but it switched a couple of years back. However, the manager at the Standard is a huge LSU fan. I haven't been since the 2019 title game, but it typically draws a big crowd. I personally enjoy it more than DS Tequila as Standard is an actual sports bar. DS Tequila is more of a restaurant that happens to have TVs and is more of a party atmosphere, if that makes sense. In either one, I'm sure you'd have a good time though.

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Regarding the LSU game - the "official" alumni bar is DS Tequila in Lakeview. However, the Standard is still an LSU bar (check out their Instagram).

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Yeah I was thinking about just going here, especially since its now an 11am kickoff.


Any word on if the section of Division that hoopsgalore mentioned still shuts down the streets and extends patios for Saturday gamedays?

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If you have to choose, I'd favor bar hopping in Wicker Park/Logan Square over Wrigleyville

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Yeah I think that's what we're going to do, what you listed above.

Was planning on doing Chinatown early and then the above in the afternoon evening but will probably flip those around due to the early KO and do Chinatown in the evening.

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From there, you can hop on the Blue and go up to Logan Square and continue to do much of the same. Longman & Eagle is a short walk from the Logan Square blue line and one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It's a short walk to Hopewell Brewing. Bixi Beer is also close by there. There's a well thought of restaurant called Lula's Cafe. I've only been once and enjoyed it.

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Longman & Eagle in fantastic — good recommendation. After eating there, I love going to Billy Sunday or The Walk-In for a night cap.

To add onto Logan recommendations, California is one stop closer to Wicker and part of Logan, too — few other breweries (some of these have other locations) to consider are Solemn Oath, Marz, Middlebrow, Revolution, and Pilot Project (brewery ‘incubator’).

For food, Gretel and Lardon are new additions to the neighborhood. Both good options!

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So seems like Wicker/Logan on top of China Town would be the recommendation for the “neighborhood” day outside of the touristy downtown area stuff?

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Honestly, think it depends If your goal is to bar hop, a couple in this thread would recommend Logan/Wicker over Wrigleyville, especially at 30+. Bars in Wrigley are pretty forgettable, but if you’ve never been and want a picture out front of the stadium, it’s worth going. As you can imagine, better during the season.

When were you hoping to visit Chinatown? Just curious, since you mentioned CFB Saturday. In any case, and I mentioned before, my favorite Chinatown restaurants are Triple Crown, Phoenix and Go 4 Food. I don’t go down much, but when I do, it’s usually Sunday at the lunch hour — always a wait for a table, but never been more than 45 minutes.

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Yeah just cool neighborhood, bars and restaurants to hop in to for a drink or snack, some shops/stores for my wife to do a little pop in shopping.

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In that case, Wicker is a good compromise since there are some women boutiques along Division + plenty of drinking and food in Logan and Wicker, too.

If people are saying LSU games are still on at Standard, think you’d rather have the added flexibility of already being in Wicker.

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Was thinking Saturday early evening

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My assumption is there would be a wait for most restaurants. Like I said, though, I usually go during Sunday lunch hour, so someone else might have a little more-insight on Saturday dinner in Chinatown.