re: Definitive Chicago Thread / Guide

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but always have just gone to Mokena to the home office.

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Guessing you've been, but Brothership has quickly become one of the better breweries in Chicagoland. They have a fantastic program of IPAs and BA stouts. Wish it wasn't such a hassle to get to from the north side

Thank you, good sir.

To bump the street festival link in my post, few notable ones this month if you'll be in Chicago:

Southport Art Fest (July 12-13) is also a great opportunity to explore a fantastic stretch of Lake View.

West Fest (July 18-20) is always very crowded and there's great music. Take Blue Line to Chicago (to clarify, it's a street).

Tacos y Tamales (July 18-20) is a great opportunity to check out Chicago's historically known Hispanic neighborhood of Pilsen. However, it gets absolutely slammed and prices are heavily inflated.

Roscoe Village Burger Fest (July 18-20) is another neighborhood worth checking out. Beautiful tree lined streets but the fest can get very crowded.

Wicker Park Fest (July 26-28) is one of the more attended street fests of the summer. It takes a huge stretch of Milwaukee and easily accessible via Division or Damen Blue Line stations. Plenty of live music and it's easy to hop in and out of bars on Milwaukee and a couple blocks south on Division.

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Is Portillo's considered good for Chicago dogs and Italian beef?

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It's fine. Probably worth going to if it's your first time in Chicago. Their cake shake is wildly good.

Johnnie's Beef, Jimmy's Red Hots, Superdawg, Wolfy's, Jr's Red Hots, and Bangers & Lace are where you want to go, though.

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Roscoe Village Burger Fest (July 18-20) is another neighborhood worth checking out. Beautiful tree lined streets but the fest can get very crowded.

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We always used to walk over to that one when we lived there. Hit Four Moon and/or Four Treys before or after.

Edited one of the two OPs to include a couple new breakfast openings, including Sarima, and coffee shops (totally forgot that initially).

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Johnnie's Beef, Jimmy's Red Hots, Superdawg, Wolfy's, Jr's Red Hots, and Bangers & Lace

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How does Luke's stack up to these? We stayed in the loop last August and I had their Italian beef and enjoyed it.

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How does Luke's stack up to these? We stayed in the loop last August and I had their Italian beef and enjoyed it.

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Luke's, like most restaurants and food halls in The Loop, are definitely geared for the 9-5 lunchtime crowd. I'd only been to Luke's, specifically, just a time or two years ago. I probably can't form a worthwhile opinion and, honestly, hadn't thought about it until this post

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aTm @ ND game in the middle of all that. Other bars will be in the mix I'm sure.

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Are you going to the actual game? If not, Chicago is a melting pot of B1G alumni, so I'd recommend checking out a couple team bars beforehand. Wisconsin/Alabama have the 11am kick that day, so would definitely recommend Will's, which is the big Wisconsin bar.

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For a day game at Wrigley, what would the best area to sit be if I wanted a little shade?

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300s and 400s will be shaded the entire game. Some of the 200s (not every row) are under the grandstand, so that will protect you from the sun. Bleachers will be sunny the entire game. Most of the 100s will, too, but along Cubs dugout / 3B line will see shade [I'd guess] halfway through the game as the sun moves west.