My wife and I will be visiting Chicago in a couple of weeks, and I thought I'd ask the IL HTF a couple of questions.  We are flying into MDW and plan on staying downtown.  Is the "Loop" a good central location?  We won't be renting a car and will utilize public transportation.  Are there any must see or must avoid places?  What is the best place to get real Chicago pizza?  Thanks in advance for any help.

Bad edit.

I can check and see if there are any festivals or anything going on this week or the next if you want. I would also look into BLUES On Halstead or Kingston Mines or The Green Mill for any blues or jazz you would like to see. Also, there are some pretty good European bars like The Hop Leaf that might be really nice if you want to spend a night drinking only good stuff.

my condolences

Depends on what  yours and the wife's interests are....

The Museums are pretty damn nice, The Symphony was great

The Loop area is fine.  Just up the road is the Magnificent Mile area, but you can definitely walk around. Being from Texas, our just perfect Midwestern weather might just be a little nippy for you.  Prepare for the highest sales tax in the nation, 11.25%, I believe, if you plan on doing ANY shopping/spending (food included) downtown.  You will full acess to the museums and aquarium.   As far as getting around, Chicago has one of the nicest, cleanest, easy to navigate, and farthest reaching public transportation systems in the country.  I lived there for 3 years and got around to everywhere i wanted to be before I bought a car, now I live in the "gun reasonable" suburbs.  Oh yeah, if it wasn't obvious, no open or CCW carry allowed, so leave you six shooter at home.  As far as pizza goes, you have your choices, there are tons of places to choose, and if you'll be around for 2 weeks, you can probably try it all.  Here's my list of favorites, in no particular order, they all have their merits.

Gino's East:  deep dish, corn-based crust, a little lighter, different than most pizza crusts, but still good...but the killer is the "LAYER" of sausage, if you like meat (gotta ask for it, or they give you the traditional "crumbled" sausage.  Definitely worth trying out to say that you've done it.

Giordanno's:  Classic pizza crust, lot's of cheese and stuffing, I usually order this at home because they are close to my house.

Lou Malnattii's:  This guy beat Bobby Flay in a pizza cook-off on the Food Network.

Pizzeria Uno's/Due's: Deep dish pizza.  Kinda commercial tasting to me.

BTW, Chicago style means "sauce on the top" of the pizza, not necessarily deep dish, but definitely have the deep dish.

Ironically, I will be in Dallas next Monday and Tuesday, any advice on places to have a good steak?   Hope you have fun!  

chicago pizza and oven grinder

U505  WW2 german submarine

cta orange line

millennium park




the one thing chicago has is food! find a beef stand and ask for a combo dipped with hot peppers and fries.
what kind of stuff is your wife interested in? the loop is where you want to be!

If you like chicken wings, head up to Buffalo Joe's in Evanston on Clark st. Evanston is just north of Chicago and the restaurant is right by the train tracks. Try their "Suicide" hot wings and tell us how they compare to wings down in TX.



 

Thanks for all the responses, guys, the wife and I really appreciate it.  It looks like we'll stay in the loop, museums are on the top of our list so that should work out.  

Edit for grammar

There are a bunch of steakhouses in Dallas, so it really depends on what you are looking for.  There are chains such as Saltgrass Steakhouse, Texas Land and Cattle, and Texas Roadhouse.  My experience has been kind of hit or miss with them, but when they are on its pretty good and they are pretty reasonably priced.  We also have some GREAT higher end steakhouses, but bring your wallet.  If that's your cup of tea, check out Bob's Steak and Chop House, Truluck's (Seafood also), Chamberlain's Steak and Chop house, or Kirby's Prime Steakhouse.  Check out Guidelive for restaraunts and other DFW entertainment.  Hope you enjoy Dallas!

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/