My wife and I are planning a trip to Chicago in early August. Neither of us have been. What thoughts/recommendations on where to stay, where to eat, activities, public transportation, etc. do you have?

Thanks in advance!

Stay on Michigan Avenue, there are other good threads on this buried somewhere.

For food, Portillo's - hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches. I'd stay anywhere near/in the loop. So many bars - I'd recommend Sable for cocktails. Lots of breweries. Second city for improv is a blast.

Thanks - is StubHub the best place to purchase Cubs tickets?

i would just buy from a scalper. wait till the 2nd inning, they'll be cheap.

Little goat dinner had some of the greatest breakfast food ever. Depending what days u r going the roof top bars are awesome however they can have a hour+ wait. It al depends on what is important to you. Eater Chicago does a great job of highlighting top spots

Topolobampo is amazing.

What is the best way to get from airport to downtown? And from downtown to Wrigley?

AgBanker said:

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What is the best way to get from airport to downtown? And from downtown to Wrigley?

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Uber

AgBanker said:

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What is the best way to get from airport to downtown? And from downtown to Wrigley?

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Taxi or Uber to downtown. Redline to Wrigleyville. Go early and have a few drinks at the bars nearby. I'd even hang out in wrigleyville and on down to lincoln park afterwards for dinner and drinks.

Fwiw, I thought little goat diner was very bland. I won't be going back. The Au Cheval cheeseburger two blocks down lived up to the hype, though!

Blue line L direct from O'Hare to Clark/Lake station. I think it only cost $5. From Clark/Lake just walk a block cross the river and it is very close to many of the hotels. If your hotel is on Mich Ave it would be a couple of additional blocks.

Uber is the safest, took the L from O'Hare to downtown once and lets just say it wasnt a good experience.

I've taken the blue line L from O'Hare to downtown many times and never felt unsafe. It is also nice because the traffic along the highway there is a nightmare most of the time so you just speed along past it on the train.

For Wrigley from downtown, take the Red Line L to the Addison station. It is a block away from Wrigley.

I love Topolobampo also. Rick Bayless also has another more casual walk up to the counter and order restaurant called XOCO around the corner from Topolobampo. I get a conchinita pibil sandwich with habanero sauce there every time I'm in Chicago.

Just got back on Sun.

Stay at the Hyatt Centric Magnificent Mile. Central to most stuff.

Eat:
Portillos
Al's Italian Beef
La Scarola (make Reservations ahead of time) This place is still very mob frequented.
The Bar nextdoor (Richards Bar) is the only bar that I know of that you can smoke in! And you DO NOT ask why they are allowed to do this if you catch my drift. Next to that is Emmits Pub Filmed a Lot of movies there i.e. Uncle Buck U.S. Marshals and Backdraft.

Pizza:
I'm a Lou Malnatis fan, my wife Giordanos. Both really good

Baseball:
We were there for the St Louis games, Tix for that started at $140

Second City for a comedy show

Also, look and see what street festivals will be going on the weekend you are in town. Street festivals during the summer are incredible in Chicago!!

Go to John Hancock for a drink. Great view of the city!

Thanks everyone - we leave next week.

If we only have time for one Chicago style pizza, which would you recommend?

Keep other recommendations/suggestions coming.

I agree about Little Goat! I sent every single item I ordered back bc it was just terrible.

Will never ever go there again. Not even for the $11 ****ty mimosa that claimed to be pulp free but was more like orange juice pulp vomit.

I took the L and never had any issues. Even took the bus to Lincoln Park and it was easy.

Definitely go to the bar at the top of John Hancock for a drink or two.

Lou Malnati's was the better pizza IMO.

If you hate money like I do and want to get rid of it quickly, you have to go to Alinea. It was one of the most unique dining experiences I've ever enjoyed.

I thought Alinea was way overrated. More style than substance.

I paid up for the white truffle risotto dish. It was quite possibly the best bowl of food I've very had. That may have pushed it higher up for me. The black truffle ravioli explosion is also one of the best singular bites of food I've ever had. The rest of the meal was very good (not necessarily great across all dishes). The presentations, the style, the service...everything else made it the most unique dining experience. I've had better complete meals (every dish incredible) elsewhere but Aline's did not disappoint at the price point.

Oh that risotto...

also try Exchequer Pub on East Loop for thin crust pizza. Best in Chicago.

And Wrigley is best travelled to by the Redline. You can see the lake and North Chicago is really nice.

Craigslist for tickets. I lived up there one season and never had any problems. Best prices and always good people selling.

Three Dots and a Dash

AgBanker said:

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Thanks everyone - we leave next week.

If we only have time for one Chicago style pizza, which would you recommend?

Keep other recommendations/suggestions coming.

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You really can't go wrong pizza wise. If I only had time for one, I'd go to the original Pizzeria Uno. Get the shrimp and crab dip for an appetizer

We just booked a flight a few days ago to go to Chicago

We are there the 6-8th of sept and have a list of things we want to do. Staying in downtown Mag mike area

Looking for recs in architectural boat tours and museums. Hitting up Cubs game on last day and will honestly buy from scalper after game starts more than likely.

Deep dish Chicago style pizza is a must but wife has issues and usually eats gluten free so recs would be appreciated

Probably hitting up Rick Bayless restaurant but we want to find hidden gems for food and sites

She had never been. I have been for a baseball road trip back in 2002 with a friend

Did the architecture boat tour through Shoreline. It leaves from the Navy Pier which isn't a bad walk from Mag Mile depending on where your hotel is. The tour guide was awesome plus there is a bar on the boat.

Great tour. Loved it a few months ago.

Try to get tickets to Hamilton -- the Chicago cast is amazing.

Just got back from a 5 day trip here with the wife & kids (9 & 10). Loved it! We stayed at the Residence Inn at 201 East Walton... pretty nice location & were able to get a suite with kitchenette for about $200/night. Came with a free breakfast that we gorged on. Cooked our own meals a couple of nights just to save some cash & relax. We probably walked an average of 6 miles a day while we were there.

***GET THE GO CHICAGO PASS*** Saves you money & allows you to skip quite a few long lines. This pass is good for Shedd, Field Museum, Art Institute, and one of the Sears Tower/John Hancock. There were a couple of other places it was good for, but I think you can only do 4 out of 6-7 options. Very helpful.

Pros:
The Lincoln Park Zoo was free & excellent. The surrounding park was lovely.

I was impressed with the beaches along Lake Michigan. If I was a younger man, I'd have been right in the middle of it. Boats tied up partying off shore. Packed beach. (No pirate flags, jacked up 4x4's.. much less WT than Port Aransas.) Runners and bikers everywhere. Beach Volleyball, bikinis, music, alchohol.... sigh. To be young. (er)

Field Museum was ENORMOUS & an all day affair. Great museum.

Shedd Aquarium was ok, not much compared to Monterey Bay. Spent about 3-4 hours here.

Art Institute of Chicago has some great paintings: "Nighthawks" "American Gothic" were a couple of my favorites. Lots on Monet, Van Gogh & Picasso. The medieval armor was nice for my wife & I (GoT fans)

We decided to do the John Hancock Tower instead of the Sears (Willis) as it was closer to our hotel & had views of Lake Michigan Shoreline. The "TILT" gimmick was $7.00 & my 9 year old and I both liked it.

Millennium Park was a cool hangout.. saw a free symphony & enjoyed wandering around.

Saw the "Picasso" from The Blues Brothers. (We were on a mission from God) The kids liked climbing on it.

Took the river Architecture tour. Boring for the kids, but the wife & I drank beer and tuned them out. Very interesting if you are into this sort of thing.

We took Lyft everywhere... all the drivers were very nice.

Giordano's Pizza was very tasty.

Cons:
The newly opened Chicago "Riverwalk" is ok, but the restaurants are terrible. We ate at a place called "O'Brien's" or something like that. They forgot my order. And we found a piece of glass the size of a half dollar in the Hummus. Luckily we found it before it made it into anyone's mouth. Meal was comp'd... but it was all I could do not to lose my s&*t on the idiot waiter who said he wouldn't make us pay for the Hummus.

BLM rally. We came up the stairs from the riverwalk in front of Trump Tower & unavoidably had to walk right next to it. Kids were freaking out at all the screaming & police.

Anyway... had a great time & 5 days is just about the right amount of time to spend there. Another day & $1,000.00 and we could have seen the Cubs play. Oh well.