Making a quick Chicago trip starting today till Saturday

If you have never been, the river boat architecture tour is cool. Sounds lame but it is pretty cool. Get some deep dish pizza.

+1 for Pequods pizza

Do it! Round trip me and the SO's flights are $410

- I would continue to look into Girl & The Goat each day for the days you will be in the city. Reservations are always at a premium far in advance, but there will be parties that cancel the day before / day of when the restaurant calls to confirm. I've been to Girl & The Goat several times and have never booked more than a week in advance.

- Best Italian I've had in the city is Formentos and Piccolo Sogno.

- If you want a burger, the popular spot you will be told is Au Cheval. Can't argue here, but prepare to wait during the lunch hour and after work. Another burger that's been getting a lot of play is the Mott Burger at Mott Street, which is closer to Wicker Park.

- If looking for something Chinese, no other place I'd rather go than Go 4 Food in Chinatown. Unbelievable hot 'n sour soup and fair prices.

- Recommend going to Pequods during lunch and getting their $4.95 special, which is a personal pan pizza. Crust is to die for. For a thinner, Neapolitan-style crust, Coalfire and Spacca Napoli are awesome.

- Best Cuban is 90 Miles (go to the one in Bucktown/Logan Square) and best Argentinian steakhouse I've been to is Tango Sur up in the Southport Corridor.

- There are a lot of Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants up on Devon.

- Tacos and margaritas at Big Star. Prepare to wait. Get a cocktail across the street at Violet Hour. Quite a few rules associated, though, so read through them before going.

- The Robey Hotel is near Big Star and Violet Hour in Wicker Park. On the newer side with some stunning city views. Cabana Club is open during the day and Up and Up opens at 6:00pm.

- Do a brunch at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba and walk past some of the shops near it on Halsted. A lot of small boutiques and the streets radiating from the major streets (Sheffield, Armitage, Halsted, Clybourn) have some beautiful houses.

- DryHop and Corridor are owned by the same individual(s). DryHop is in Lakeview East and Corridor is in the Southport Corridor. DryHop has a great burger and Corridor has better beer. They've been trying to ingrain themselves in the unfiltered, juice game. They're doing OK with it.

- Forbidden Root has a beautiful facility in West Town. They advertise themselves at the Botanic brewery, which uses locally sourced ingredients. They have awesome wings on Tuesday, but they're quite small.

- Half Acre is my favorite atmosphere of the Chicago breweries. A bit of a younger, more energetic crowd near Ravenswood. On the smaller side, but still great beer and a bottle / gift shop connected. Half Acre has another 60,000 sq. ft location, but not currently open to the public.

- Lagunitas is my favorite "rainy day" spot. Located in Pilsen and not much around it, but multiple tap rooms and the ability to drink on the cat walk and look down at stacks-and-stacks of cases. It's pretty cool.

- Doubt you'll make it out to the suburbs, but Mikerphone has a tap room in Elk Grove Village. It's not very easy to get to, though, and there's a 48 oz. limit per person.

- Not far past, what one could consider, West Loop is Goose Island, On Tour, Finch, All Rise, and Great Central. Finch has had a weird few years, but has undergone a total re-branding effort, and Great Central is on the newer side, so I've never been.

- Pipeworks makes good beer, but no current tap room. They do have 'The Dojo,' if you feel inclined to pick up bombers/cans.

quote:

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If you have never been, the river boat architecture tour is cool. Sounds lame but it is pretty cool. Get some deep dish pizza.

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Definitely do this

And do it like tomorrow morning with a cup of coffee

It's nice to know about facts and areas for the remainder of the trip

Tacos in Pilsen

Wise Owl is a decent West Loop spot

South Loop: Blackie's (some underrated spots in/around printers row)

River North: Davanti (italian place w good house drinks)

+1 DryHop

Also Fat pour (shoutout to hoopsgalore)

Demera (Ethiopian)

Dib (Thai) uptown by the Aragon
Near Wicker Park, right down the skreets from the LSU Bar (Standard) is Emporium (they have the Michael Jackson moonwalker game )

If you catch some decent weather one of my favorite things to do is chill by the lake. Not quite by navy pier but not too far.

I finally checked out the art museum and it was pretty cool.

The L Train system is easy as hell to navigate abd will save you a ton of money on uber/cabs.

Thanks baws

Will report back once I start hitting these spots

Chicago was one of the biggest surprised to me. I didn't expect to love it and it was a fantastic city. Wrigleyville is pretty awesome.

Get the pork shoulder, you won't regret it.

My wife went to Chicago in November and said Lou's was really good, so we'll probably hit that up next week, too.

I may try to check out Pequods.