So, the so-called Windy City then

[diggedy derek]

I'm off to Chicago soon. Looking forward to it – I've been once before.

Recommendations? I'm not really so into art galleries when I'm away as a rule, I tend to feel you can waste a fair chunk of time on them when I'd rather get to know the city itself. I've eaten barbeque and mexican there before. I guess I should try soul food and pizza.

[wingco]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Is this for the Empty Bottle festival? Excellent - I had a great time there. Found it hard to go wrong eating out.

[diggedy derek]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Yes, I've been there once before. This time it's bigger and better actually – some of the gigs are being held at the Museum Of Modern Art and other places.

There's a fair few music people I want to talk to also. A great city for musicians. I, too, found it hard to go wrong eating wise...

[evilC]

So, the so-called Windy City then

How soon?

If you're there for the evening of Saturday 25th - and depending on how much money you've got to waste - you could see the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Detroit Red Wings at home. They're 'my team' and the current Stanley Cup champions (though I still can't get used to thinking that!). It's also one of the keenest rivalries in all of ice hockey, so there could be fireworks, despite it being a pre-season 'friendly'. Not likely to be at all cheap, though.

[wingco]

So, the so-called Windy City then

I'm well jealous. Though I'd always be a little haunted by the memory of Malachi Ritscher, who was our personal tour guide back in 2005. http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2006/11/07/malachi-ritschers-apparent-suicide/

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

So, the so-called Windy City then

I believe there's a few good pointers in this.

[ursus arctos]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Hmm, the Art Institute was going to be my first recommendation.

Bruno is yer man here, having spent his college years just up the road in Evanston. I'd just spend time walking around downtown and exploring Grant Park, especially if the weather is decent.

[Wyatt Earp]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Weird, I thought I'd posted something on this earlier. I'd said something like this:

Yeah, the Art Institute is great, but it's the city itself that's the star.

I'm not a big fan of Chicago-style pizza, I must confess. On recent trips, I've been getting into the Mexican places in Pilsen, on the West Side. Lots of carnitas joints, carne asado as well, all BYO. Very different from the Mexican fare in non-Hispanic parts of town. Absolutely top scran, though, for tiny amounts of money. (You're used to that, as a Green Laner, of course.) Great Polish and Greek food too, in the relevant areas. Plus, just random stuff you come across, like the Northside Colombian joint I came upon accidentally a couple of years ago, which did this brilliant spiced steak with beans and plantains and things.

For posh nosh, if you're ever that way inclined, you could try Avec on the near West Side. It's a kind of tapas/meze stye of eating, except with Modern American dishes. I think you can't book. Prices not to be sneezed at, but not stratospheric either; food very good.

The best beer is Goose Island. The brewery, which is on the North Side, has a bar and grill attached (the food is decent-quality but bog-standard burgers etc, but the beer is bloody brilliant).

My sports suggestion was baseball: the North Side's Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play, is quirky and fun, if more than a bit middle-class, whereas whatever they're calling Comiskey Park nowadays has a much more South Side, blue-collar feel. Kind of Lord's vs the Oval writ large.

[wingco]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Obvious, but both the available boat trips are worth doing.

[ursus arctos]

So, the so-called Windy City then

For obvious reasons, I cannot be objective on the subject of Wrigley Field. It is by some distance the closest thing I have ever had to a personal pilgrimage site, and my first visit was genuinely one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

That said, Wyatt is unfortunately right. Not only has it been gentrified, but it has been dumbed down by the invasion of "Lincoln Park Trixies and Chads", i.e., airheads with money who are only interested in drinking, talking to each other and texting their friends (especially if they are on television). If the Cubs continue to be awful, they may eventually leave.

The White Sox' home is now called US Cellular Field (or "the Cell") and has always been more blue collar and down home than Wrigley given its South Side location (in the 70s, old Comiskey, old Yankee Stadium and Tiger Stadium were neck and neck for being located in the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the majors).

But they are still the Sox, and most people (pace Obama) don't really care.

[Wyatt Earp]

So, the so-called Windy City then

It would a pleasure, an honour and a privilege to watch a game with you at Wrigley Field some day. Though I can't see this being easy to arrange.

[ursus arctos]

So, the so-called Windy City then

I feel the same way about going to an Oval Test with you.

It's good to have goals like this as we get older.

[Mitch]

So, the so-called Windy City then

The best beer is Goose Island. The brewery, which is on the North Side, has a bar and grill attached (the food is decent-quality but bog-standard burgers etc, but the beer is bloody brilliant).

That beer must be good. My mate, who's a proper CAMRA-bore is trying to organise a trip to Chicago just to go to that brewery.

[Wyatt Earp]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Yeah, it's a cut above the usual "microbrew" thing, I think.

[ursus arctos]

So, the so-called Windy City then

The impressive thing is that they have managed to keep the quality high while increasing distribution significantly (it's relatively easy to find here in New York, for instance).

[Bruno]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Goose is so common I hardly think of it as a small beer company. I like some of it but not all of it, you'll be fascinated to learn.

For a fancy dinner I'd certainly recommend President Obama's favorite restaurant, Topolobampo. It's on the near north side. Brilliant food (billed as authentic or traditional Mexican) and they mix a memorable margarita, too. The chef is Rick Bayless, now of t.v. fame.

Not sure what you're in to. If it's, oh, say, the classical music scene, I could make some suggestions. If it's the night club band scene, I got nothing. If it's shopping, there's Ye Olde Magnificant Mile.

There are a billion restaurants; I'm sure Wyatt's recs are all good, given that he's discriminating in all things bright, beautiful, great, and small.

I would give one sushi rec in particular, if you're into sushi. Just say "I'm into sushi" and I'll bother.

[Bruno]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Oh, on Topolo, there's a grill attached, called Frontera Grill, which doesn't take reservations but is less expensive and more festive. You get there when it opens and there's already a line.

I seem to remember recommending this on here before; hope it wasn't to you, the last time you went...

[Reed John]

So, the so-called Windy City then

I'm going to not one but two conferences in Chicago in November. One will be one will be with the whole company like this one in Sweden. One will be solo.

[Wyatt Earp]

So, the so-called Windy City then

I can vouch for Topolo and Frontera. Poncy Mexican food: duck mole crepes, that kind of thing. But good with it. I hate the part of town it's in, though.

Incidentally, I'm into sushi, and will be in town in about five weeks' time.

[linus]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Chicago is the one big American metropole I've yet to visit, but Hot Doug's (www.hotdougs.com) has developed a big foodie reputation as one of the best places for sausages in a sausage town.

[Wyatt Earp]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Ah yeah, I was trying to remember the name of that place. It's very good.

Though as always with "gourmet" hot dogs in North America, the bread in the buns brings it all down, for my money. The meanest German roadside sausage van does better Brötchen.

[Bruno]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Why on Earth... wrote:

I can vouch for Topolo and Frontera. Poncy Mexican food: duck mole crepes, that kind of thing. But good with it. I hate the part of town it's in, though.

Yeah, it's pretty nondescript right around there.

Incidentally, I'm into sushi, and will be in town in about five weeks' time.

It's called Tanoshii, it's in Andersonville (N Clark). Very ordinary looking place, very un-swank. Bad 80s radio ambience. And now for the caveat: only, ONLY go at an non-peak time and/or day when it's fairly empty. Good for an early dinner. Service is slooow, because the sushi chef (Mike), who is brilliant, is also rather deliberate, and every time I went there was only one waiter serving the entire place. The "Mike Special" entails him making whatever rolls he feels like for you, so I would say order that provided you like elaborate roll concoctions. But the basic quality of the fish was always top notch, I've rarely if ever had better sashimi (not that I'm Mr. And I've had sashimi from Tokyo to Tanzania or anything).

Assuming it hasn't gone down hill since I've been. I've just looked at some online reviews and there are complaints about overpricing and service, but one can assume many of these people are clueless yuppie philistines. When Mike wants to please you, he pleases.

(Oh, and don't let the name Mike fool you. I'm pretty sure he's Korean or something. Of course, now having recommended this place, you'll go, and it will be terribly mediocre. That's how this always goes.)

[Bruno]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Get a hot Italian beef sangwich at some point, too.

Come to think of it, I want a hot Italian beef sangwich.

[Incandenza]

So, the so-called Windy City then

linus wrote:

Chicago is the one big American metropole I've yet to visit, but Hot Doug's (www.hotdougs.com) has developed a big foodie reputation as one of the best places for sausages in a sausage town.

Is that the place that does their fries in duck fat? I remember a place on "No Reservations" that had that.

[Wyatt Earp]

So, the so-called Windy City then

Ghost of Bruno wrote:

... Of course, now having recommended this place, you'll go, and it will be terribly mediocre. That's how this always goes.

Are you sure you're not English? You have that air of defeat and pessimism down pat.

Thanks very much for the recommendation. I often stay not far from there, so...