I'm in Chicago. Any advice?

Giordano's
Gino's East
ESPN Zone (not so much for the food, but the atmosphere)

B

 

DEFINITELY go see Springsteen!! You will not be disappointed!

If you like the blues, check out Buddy Guy's Legends. A great blues club and restaurant.

Check out a Cubs game if you can and the nightlife around Wrigley Field...The Cubby Bear bar is lots of fun.

If you like Greek food, check out Greektown, near Union Station. Lots of good Greek restaurants.

 

I believe there's a Bob Chinn's Crab House downtown now. Go there, have a Mai-Tai, eat some garlic rolls and have the crabmeat ravioli. You won't be disappointed.

 

Go see something at Second City.

 

And if you see a guy named Clint behind the bar, tell him Blake says hi. He's a childhood best friend.

Second City is highly recommended.

 

giordano's is the best pizza in the world!! i miss that stuff

btw, B, did you know you can order pizza from giardano's by mail? of course, it will cost you around $75 for one pizza

 

Thank me later:

http://www.hotdougs.com/

Check out metromix.com for directions, reviews, etc.

Hit the Green Mill, try to grab SRO seats at Wrigley ...

and stay away from some dude with a pompadour that answers to the name 'Kelly.' That cat is trouble.

 

Whatever you do, don't turn over your dad's $400,000 mint condition classic Ferrari to the two shady looking valets at the parking garage.

 

I second Bob Chinn's. The original is in Wheeling, IL not too far from O'Hare.

I like the rare Hawaiian Ahi Tuna.

 

Two great places I ate when I was in Chicago last month: (1) Chicago Prime...some of the best filet mignon I've ever eaten and (2) Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab
(not to be confused with the Joe's Crab Shack chain). Links are below.

By the way, at Joe's, I had the black cod in a glaze of rice wine, miso and sake. I recommend that if you like fish. I also had the stone crab appetizer.

http://www.chicagoprimesteakhouse.com/

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/ward/102502_ward_stonecrab.html

 

Pizzeria Due

 

The Berghoff, right next to Marshall Fields.

Best restaurant I've ever eaten there. MF isn't bad either...

 

Demon Dogs!

pictures of rock and rollers all over the place, you may even catch a celebrity stuffing himself with the city's tastiest hot dogs.


lincoln park zoo is cool, too

 

let me chime in with another plug for the Untouchables Tour. Might be a bit corny but you do get to see where Dillinger was shot (a block away from my first apt yay go me), the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and other things.

http://www.plume-noire.com/tripping/gangsters.html

You can't go wrong with the pizzerias listed above.

There are architecture tours around downtown, but I recommend this one:

http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Tourism/ThingsToDo/Architecture.html

It's done from a boat in the Chicago River with some great views.

You can always go to the Sears Tower Skydeck, and I think the Hancock building has a restaurant up on one of the top floors.

For a pittance you can go to watch the downtrodden baseball teams, both 5 miles from downtown. You can see where a spaceship landed on Soldier Field and they named it... uh, New Soldier Field. It's just south of downtown at Roosevelt and Lake Shore Drive.

Upscale clubs are on Division around Rush Street, in the Gold Coast area north of the river downtown. Yuppie bars are around Wrigley, emo/artsy-type bars can be found 3 miles NW of downtown in Wicker Park/Bucktown.

Demon Dogs is closing down for good soon

EDIT: RMT's recommendations are spot on. Especially Greektown - go to Costa's if you get a chance. The lamb is great. And don't ask for Clint at Second City. When I told him Blake says "hi" I got propositioned and, following my denials, beaten up by some of his Van Buren Boys.

 

jerry springer.

 

If you want a hot dog or a polish sausage, hit The Wiener Circle up in Lakeview, I cant remmber the damned street .

 

double post

 

If you're gonna go to Weiner Circle, you better be prepared. I've never been there sober or before 2 am, but it's a great place to go if you like to talk a lot of smack to people. And have them talk it right back to you.

As for my tips on Restaurants:
Le Colonial
Klay Oven
Le Absinthe
Sushiwabi
Vivo
Twin Anchors
and I prefer Lou Malnati's for Chicago pizza

 

Deface Jordan's statue at the United Center with a nice grafiti'd "TWOSTON BABY!"