What are some fun things to do in Chicago?
 

I already plan on going to a Cubs game and going to the horse track. June 3 - 6th what other cool things are there to do?

hookers

pizza

Check. Forgot to add that, we are going to some famous deep dish pizza place one of the days.

The museum scene is very good in Chicago, if you're into that kind of thing. The Field Museum, the Art Institute, Shedd Aquarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry are all a lot of fun. Highly recommended.

Then there's North Pier, which I haven't been to since it was renovated, but it is supposed to be an interesting place with restaurants and entertainment and whatnot.

And the Chicago-style pizza is not to be missed. There are several good places: Giordano's and Uno's come to mind, but there are lots of others.

You could also go check out that flying saucer-turned-football field thing they have in the middle of town. :)

Giordano's is easily the best in my opinion. You won't be disappointed.

I'm almost positive that we're going to Giordano's now that you mention it. Cool, thanks. I think we're going downtown after I fly in on Thursday. Getting bumped coming back from the Derby = free trip to Chicago :D

You absolutely cannot go wrong with Giordano's. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Oprah, baby.

Only if I can boo her and get kicked out of the studio.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...

You could go and throw rocks through the windows of Neuqua's house, and beat up on his family. I'll provide the financial backing for that.

Ask her about tossing salad.

Ditka

Coyote Ugly's is fun :)

:eek:

leave?

Leave.

Go to the Silo. Visit me at TSC Great Lakes.

I got nothing.

Holy crap Chubby, this is freakin scary. This is the exact post I was going to be making in a few weeks, as I am going to Chicago in June also! So thanks everyone for the tips.

Giordano's is okay, but personally I like Pizzeria Uno, Gino's East, and Lou Malnati's better.

Screw the Cubs, storm the field at a White Sox game.

Go to the train station. As you walk slowly down the stairs, see if a woman is trying to haul her luggage and a baby carriage up the stairs. Time might slow...such that when the mafia goons come in with the accountant, it all happens in slow motion.

But don't worry...Andy Garcia has the shot.

Seriously, though, it's kind of cool to walk down that staircase.

WSUCougar's post reminded me of one of my other favorite aspects of Chicago: the architecture. There are a number of beautiful old buildings downtown that are fun to look at. The Wrigley Building, the NBC building, the Water Tower, the Art Institute (recommended for other reasons above), and I could go on and on. Fun stuff.

If you're going to the cubs game, make sure to stick around after the game and go to Cubby Bear and/or Hi Tops. Giordano's is good, but let me tell you about some places that aren't local restaurant chains for some good pizza. Pequod's is excellent, and so is Lou Malnati's (imho, both better than Giordanos). You gotta find a way to get to Gibson's steakhouse, or Morton's. Do the Michigan avenue thing. (shopping, and the art institute) The Field Museum on south Lake Shore Dr is awesome. Try Buddy Guy's Legends bar for some good blues. Another personal fav of mine is a restaurant called Nine, (with the Ghost Bar on the 2nd floor) very trendy...

Yeah we're already planning on going to the Cubby Bear after the game. Thanks for the places to go, I'll have to check em out.

First time poster long time lurker...I'll agree with everything that davidlando1 fonzie and daimyo posted. But in true wrigleyville fashion, make sure you go to one the 10 or 20 local bars before the game as well. Also find some local hot dog joint...demon dogs or gold coast dogs (2 suggestions) and get a hot dog with the works, or a maxwell st. polish. Take an architechture cruise on the chicago river (can do this along with the michigan ave thing.) And if you're looking to kill a few hours and have a car, take a drive north up the lsd (no that stands for lake shore drive) and hook up with sheridan road. You'll have a view of the lake on one side and 2000 sq ft houses that cost a million bucks on the other. You'll be up north where they had all those nice hazing incidents. :)

I will provide a counterpoint on Lou Malnati's. Do not ever go there. It is terrible. The pizza is yeasty. The last time I went, the plates they put on our table had not been washed. One time, on a group outing of coworkers (that I was not involved in), everyone got food poisoning. I would rather not eat at all than eat at Lou Malnati's.

I recommend Gino's East. Great deep-dish pizza.

Oh, and since it's Chubby we're talking about, stay far, far away from my house. ;)

If you want another highly-rated restaurant that I personally hate, try Bob Chinn's. I've gone 5 times, and have yet to have a meal that was decent (don't blame me - my stupid coworkers always want to have their damned birthday outings there, so I can't not go).

Definitely go see the Aquarium.

Also go to "Hooters", babes !

When I was in Chicago last summer I had both Gino's and Lou Malnati, I preferred the Lou Malnati, but Gino's was good too, and you can write on the walls when you are there!

Navy Pier is garbage, but, you can catch a architechture cruise from their, so, it might not be avoidable.

Sears Tower is also a good thing to go check out if you are downtown.

You can hit the Shedd Aquariaum, the Field Museum in one shot since they are right next to each other basically.

Oh yeah, try to avoid driving in downtown, take cabs or the trains, the drivers are nuts in Chicago.

Ed Debevick's is pretty good downtown, waitresses with attitudes.

I always enjoy walking the "Miracle Mile." You could go to Six Flags. There is a Second City off of Rush St. Also, I highly recommend the museums.

You came to the right place for Chicago advice (lived there five years). Not sure what your scene is exactly, but I do have some advice for you:

1. Have some Giordano's pizza (do NOT listen to those advocating Gino's East, trust me).

2. Go to Wacker + Michigan Ave. and take an architectural boat tour. Chicago's got a lot of very interesting-looking building and you'll learn a little Chicago trivia.

3. Museum of Science and Industry. Thursday is a free day if you're able to go then. If you can go at an off time, that's best as it can get packed and the lines to some of the more interesting interactive exhibits can get long, but it's a pretty cool place.

4. If you like blues and you don't mind the hefty cover ($15? $18?), check out Kingston Mines around 2600 N. Halsted. I've never been disappointed with their music. B.L.U.E.S. (almost across the street from KM) and the above-mentioned Buddy Guys Legend (600 S. Michigan Ave or so) are also good places with cheaper covers.

5. There's a relatively new piano bar that opened called Howl at the Moon that's a pretty fun place to go (somewhere downtown, around 300 N. Wabash or so, but that's a general vicinity guess).

6. Good restaurants are everywhere, but include The Berghoff (German, brew their own beer, on Adams St. close to Michigan Ave.), Chicago Chop House (incredible steak place, go there if you win at the track as it's pricey, on Ontario near Dearbourne downtown), Flat Top Grill (all-you-can-eat stir fry, like a Mongolian BBQ but better, one location at Southport and Belmont, one downtown around 1000 N something), Cafe Iberico (Spanish tapas, numerous good-looking women, good sangria, somewhere near Chicago Ave. and LaSalle St.) A couple of great brunch places are The Orange (a bit swanky, on Clark St. near Belmont) and Mitchells (very good food in a diner-like atmosphere, near North Ave. and Broadway a little north of downtown).

7. Check out this web address: hxxp://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalDeptCategoryAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1634310978.1084887921@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfadclhhemjgdcefecelldffhdfhg.0&deptCategoryOID=-536884873&contentType=COC_EVENT&topChannelName=Dept&entityName=Special+Events&deptMainCategoryOID=-536884873

It lets you know what's going on in Chicago. Very handy as there are tons of fun little (and some not so little) festivals and street parties that go on during the summer. Here's a brief list of some I found that I figured that may interest you:


May Fest
June 3-6,2004
4700 N. Lincoln / 2300 W. Leland
12 - 11 p.m.

Chicago Gospel Music Festival
June 4-6, 2004
Grant Park in Downtown Chicago
Free Admission

Ferraris' On Oak Street
June 4, 2004
Oak Street between Michigan Ave. and State St.
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Taste of Serbia
June 5-6, 2004
3062 W. Palmer (Palmer Square Park)
10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Park West Antiques & Flower Fair
June 5 & 6, 2004
568 W. Arlington Place
June 5: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
June 6: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Community Art Fair
June 5 & 6, 2004
Bixler Park
57th & Kenwood
11 a.m. - Dusk

57th Street Fair
June 5 & 6, 2004
Kimbark between 56th & 57th
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Nettelhorst French Market
June 5, 12, 19, 26, 2004
3252 N. Broadway (The Nettelhorst School)
8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair
June 5 & 6, 2004
500, 600, 700 blocks of South Dearborn; 30 West-80 West Polk; Printers Square
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Sikh Day Parade
June 5, 2004
6400 N. Ridge Ave., proceed West on Devon to Western Avenue
12-3:00 p.m.

Artworks Chicago on Walton Street
June 5 & 6, 2004
Walton Street from State to Dearborn
10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Belmont - Sheffield Music Festival
June 5 & 6, 2004
Sheffield between Belmont (3200 N.) & School (3300 N.)
12 - 10 p.m.


I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but I'll come back and add more later. If you want to, you can pack a lot of living into your four days in Chicago.

You can always do my ex-girlfriend. She's pretty hot in the sack. Or on the sack. Whatever.

Throw Cork at Sosa

You should steal your best friends fathers Ferarri for the day, and go eat pancreas at an expensive restaurant, then catch a foul ball at a Cubs game, and then sing with a bunch of hot german chicks on a parade float...

BUELLER!

Pizza - Everybody has the favorite. Some like Gino's East, some like Giordanos, some like Malnati's, some like Uno's. My recommendation is Pizzeria Due. This not only has the best atmosphere, but the best pizza as well. Downside to Due's is that you will be waiting in a long line if you show up at normal meal times. Head there between 2-3 and the wait is tollerable.

Other Eateries - Dick's Last Resort and Ed Debevic's are fun places. Morton's and Gibson's for steakhouses. Carson's for ribs. Lino's for Italian. Berghoff for German.

Museums & Tours - Museum of Science and Industry is the museum to see in Chicago. They've got plenty to see, including a German U-Boat from WWII. Chris3627 has an excellent recommendation as well: Take an architecture cruise on the Chicago River. Best tour in town. Field Museum is really good, also and worthy of a visit.

Bars - Only one recommendation from me: Irish Eyes on Lincoln. The place is a dive and sometimes overpacked, but its a frickin fun place to drink.

Strip Clubs - The Admiral on Lawrence. It's a strip club, need I say more?

choke a bitch

Draft lottery party at Neuqua's place.

CR

Bumper cars on the Tri-State or Northwest.

I still have that paper hat they forced me to wear there..... pretty cool place.... similar to Dick's in the Flats, for anyone that's familiar with Cleveland.....

Aren't you a Clipper fan?

:)

Hey, that doesn't mean I can't kick a guy when he's down! :)

CR

Word up on Demon Dogs. Right under the Fullerton el stop.
Also, there might be a Second City off Rush also, but the only one I know of is at North and Wells.
And -- is Pizzeria Due at all different from Pizzeria Uno? I thought they were pretty much the same place.
And I have to disagree with JAG about Flat Top Grill being better than Mongolian Barbecue -- it's not nearly as good, in my opinion.

Go to the 98th floor of the John Hancock -- not the observatory deck, but one floor below it. You can get an all-you-can-eat buffet style lunch, for around $15, which isn't much more than any other nice restaurant, plus you get a great view.

Why is May Fest in June? :confused:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. My friend lives there and she knows a lot of stuff to do but suggestions are more than welcome!

Hm, well if you like more variety in meats and an atmosphere that's more fun, you'll prefer Mongolian BBQ. I personally enjoyed the greater variety of other things to put in the stir fry (fruits, veggies, sauces) and just overall enjoyed eating at Flat Top more.

But, completely forgot about the Hancock which I give a big thumbs up. Go to the Signature Lounge near sunset, get one ludicrously overpriced drink, and enjoy a great view. See if you can get into the women's bathroom too, they supposedly have an awesome view from in there. View of Chicago that is. The men's bathroom just has a wall.

Chubby,
No clue what that May celebration is. Maybe they're just happy May's over. :)

Same ownership. Due's is Uno's without the commercialism. Better atmosphere IMHO.

Also, good call on the Hancock Center. You may also want to take a moment to head to the Sears Tower Observation deck.

Ferraris' On Oak Street
June 4, 2004
Oak Street between Michigan Ave. and State St.
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Going to Cubs game on friday (Prior's return!)

Sikh Day Parade
June 5, 2004
6400 N. Ridge Ave., proceed West on Devon to Western Avenue
12-3:00 p.m.

Hmmm where to go eat? :D

Can't wait to see Prior pitch on friday!