Chicago residents and others: Need advice

[Pat]

My husband and I are going to Chicago for four days Friday to shop, eat, and listen to the blues. We will be staying on Ontario Street near the Magnificient Mile.

My husband will travel long distances to hear good blues and short distances to eat and shop.

Any suggestions about eating, shopping, and blues clubs would be greatly appreciated.

This morning he said, "I wish we knew some great places to eat in Chicago like the ones in Seattle." So, I am calling on the BB crowd again to help plan our trip. Thanks, everyone.

[zwieback]

Kingston Mines is a good blues joint.

[Pat]

Thanks, Zwieback, for replying to my plea. I had looked up Kingston Mines and saw that Joanna Connor is playing this weekend. I am not familiar with her. We are going to Buddy Guy's on Saturday to see Bobby Rush, but we need something the other nights.

[ChristyMarie]

You might want to check out what is playing at the House of Blues. Beyond that I really can't help, sorry.

However, I'm a total foodie so...what type of food do you want? Price range? There are about a million fantastic restaurants in Chicago but we need to know what you're looking for.

You can also check out the boards on www.egullet.org and www.chowhound for restaurant suggestions.

[Jessica]

I don't know any blues places but I know a few good restaurants in Chicago. What kind of food/price range do you want?

Have a wonderful trip. Chicago is one of my favorite cities.

[jules1993]

Pat,
I agree with the music selections mentioned already. You are staying in a great area for shopping - can't beat the Mag Mile for every kind of shop imaginable. One other music place worth checking out is a piano bar just down the street from your hotel. It's called Redhead Lounge. It's on Ontario between Dearborn and Clark (I think).

If you have certain types of food you like or shopping you want to do, I can help you narrow down your choices. As mentioned, Chicago is an amazing city for food and thus can be difficult to make suggestions without a little help from you.

Have a great time!

Julie

[Pat]

We like seafood, steaks, Italian, ethnic, most any kind of food if it has been prepared well. Presentation is also very important to my husband. Price range would be moderate to expensive since this is a mini vacation.

Again, thanks to everyone for their replies.

[LaurenG]

Here are 2 "off the beaten path", authentic restaurants that I highly recommend.


Restaurante Nuevo Leon (mexican)
1515 W. 18th St.
312-421-1517

Bacchanalia Ristorante (italian)
2413 S. Oakley Ave.
773-254-6555

[mbrogier]

I recently went to Lawry's The Prime Rib in the old McCormick Mansion. It is a gorgeous building and their presentation is very showy, excellent prime rib, but I didn't think the prime rib was THAT much better than other great steak places. The only other meat on the menu is salmon. They do cut off the prime rib off of huge slabs, so you can request the part you want. I thought the cart they kept it in reduced the amount of crusty coating on the meat and kind of steamed it. For my husband and myself getting small cuts of prime rib with extra sides (only comes with mashed potatoes and a great house salad) and no alcohol it was $100.

At the Marshall Field's at Watertower Place, there is a great gourmet food court called FoodLife. It was featured on Food Network a few years ago. My husband and I love that place. It is really an experience. http://www.foodlifechicago.com

The restaurant in the courtyard of the Art Institute is great. Upscale lunch food and from what I hear, great dinners. I loved eating by the fountain, and the food was actually worth going back for.

There are a few fresh seafood places, but I haven't tried them. Riva's on Navy Pier advertises fresh seafood, but it was awful. (I guess that's what I get for trying seafood on Navy Pier) :rolleyes: --at least it wasn't Bubba Gump's

There is a BBQ joint on Navy pier that has a bluesy jazz brunch on Sunday and live music other times of the week. I've heard that the Sunday Brunch at House of Blues is fabulous and a must do, but I've not been in town for the weekend.

**For things to do, I love the 90 minute river and lake cruise by Wendella cruises. It is really interesting, and a great value. ($19 a person). Someone on this board told me about it when I went to Chicago the first time, and I've done it a couple of times. http://www.wendellaboats.com/

You can buy a Citypass online or at Costco.com that gives you a pack of tickets to all the Chicago attractions valid for a week. Definitely worth the $40 each. Even for the weekend, it is worth getting. Tickets to the Shedd aquarium are $20 to see all the exhibits (definitely worth it), and if you just breezed through another museum you'd get your money's worth. We bought them for our first weekend tour and used most our passes. (gave the remaining tickets to a family we met at Harry Carrey's) A local tip is to get a drink or have lunch at the lounge at the top of the Hancock building. Much more fun than just paying to ride to the observation deck. The ferris wheel on Navy Pier is also a great place to catch the views.

[Pat]

Thanks, everyone. We are out the door. Our plane leaves soon, but I just had to jump on and see what everyone had recommended.

[ChristyMarie]

This restaurant is one of our faves and you can usually get a table last minute: http://www.allenscafe.com/

Cafe Spiaggia at 980 N Michigan would be a great option for lunch and is right by where you're staying.

For out of this world presentation you can always see if there is a last minute cancellation at Trotter's, Tru, Moto, or Alinea - out of the bunch Tru and Alinea are my faves.

NaHa is excellent for fusion: http://www.naha-chicago.com/

For Spanish/Latin I'd do Nacional 27: http://www.leye.com/restaurants/rest_home.jsp?id=23

Lawry's is excellent for steak and the building is gorgeous. However, Harry Carry's also makes a great steak. There's an entire Chicago steakhouse thread on egullet if you want to find the right one for your personality.

For casual, out of this world Italian I love La Bocca: http://www.laboccachicago.com/ It is a little north but well worth the cab ride.

HTH!

[catharine]

Not sure if you've left yet. Looks like you got lots of info on restaurants. I have something to add about music.

My DH is a bluesman [you can check out his group's concerts from the Kennedy Center at this page. (http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=MOONLIGHTR) Chicago is his mecca :) We were there back in May and although it seems that many of the traditional blues legends have passed away, there are still some good shows to see. I second the recommendation for Kingston Mines. We went there and saw Detroit Junior (sadly, he passed away last month, only 3 months after we got to see him).

You might want to check out Chicago Reader (http://www.chicagoreader.com/music/mainmusic.html) for a listing of shows. Also, check out the Black Ensemble Theater (http://www.blackensembletheater.org/) to see if any shows are running and whether they interest you. We saw a fabulous tribute to Etta James during our visit.

Have fun!