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Hitting Chicago on July 4... what should we do?
cloudeagle
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My wife and I are going to Chicago July 3-7 for the 4th of July and Taste of Chicago, something my wife experienced long ago and loved. Really I'm looking for general suggestions on what to do (we've already got a Citypass for the expected big attractions), but I've got a few specific questions:
Anything I should know about the fireworks show at Navy Pier? My wife only experienced the official city show, which apparently ended in 2011.
I've been told Chinatown is worth a visit, but how is Greektown? We love Greek cuisine and are intrigued. Anything there besides restaurants?
Speaking of which, got any restaurant suggestions? We're intrigued by the Purple Pig and my wife already has a pizza place in mind. Is Billy Goat Tavern worth it for the cheezborger? Anyone try Safehouse, the apparently spy-themed restaurant?
We'll be staying downtown along Congress Parkway near Butler Field if that helps. Happy to hear any and all suggestions!
Anything I should know about the fireworks show at Navy Pier? My wife only experienced the official city show, which apparently ended in 2011.
I've been told Chinatown is worth a visit, but how is Greektown? We love Greek cuisine and are intrigued. Anything there besides restaurants?
Speaking of which, got any restaurant suggestions? We're intrigued by the Purple Pig and my wife already has a pizza place in mind. Is Billy Goat Tavern worth it for the cheezborger? Anyone try Safehouse, the apparently spy-themed restaurant?
We'll be staying downtown along Congress Parkway near Butler Field if that helps. Happy to hear any and all suggestions!
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Chinatown can be worth a visit, though I recommend daytime during a weekend so you can experience a cart service dim sum lunch (though it would also be really busy at these times). Greektown, eh, you can miss this one. It's really just more of a small stretch on Halsted that has continuously been losing businesses as the west loop gentrifies rapidly. For pizza, I always recommend Pequod's over the standard Lou Malnati's or Giordano's. The burnt cheese crust on those pizzas is phenomenal. The Purple Pig is really pretty great. Lot's of people recommend Au Cheval for burgers, and it is pretty good, but not worth the often 3 hour wait. Unfortunatley all my burger recs are on the far north side (Little Bad Wolf has the best burger in the city imho). Not a fan of the Billy Goat. But speaking of goats, Girl and the Goat (for finer dining) and it's cheaper faster sister Little Goat Diner in the west loop are pretty great.
Navy Pier is mostly for tourists and suburbanites, I have no idea how the fireworks are there, since we stopped going once the municipal show ended.
One thing I can't recommend enough though is get out of the loop (the central downtown financial district) where you are staying. It mostly shuts down after 6pm outside of touristy stuff. Get on the L and hit some of the neighborhoods if you have time. If you like beer, try hitting Revolution Brewing in Logan Square.
My wife went to the Little Goat Diner a while back when she was visiting there and really liked it.
If you're into metal-themed burgers, check out Kuma's Corner or Kuma's Too. I've heard the wait can be really long, in which case it's not worth it, but when we went we waited around 20 minutes and it was worth it. But we're also metalheads, so we enjoyed the atmosphere and burger names. It also might be a bit too far for you. fake edit: Actually, according to their site they have a few more locations now, so maybe it's not as much of a hike. There's one not far from The Girl and the Goat!
The last time we were in Chicago a few months ago, we went to a place called Wildberry Pancakes & Cafe for breakfast and it was pretty good. Looks like they have a few locations.
My Backloggery
The Navy Pier fireworks are kind of lame now. Like if you're there, it's the best choice but don't go out of your way for them. I might find a good bar/restaurant that overlooks the show and just watch from there. Maybe watch from John Hancock.
Oh, yeah. I forgot about the Signature Room (a restaurant/lounge at the top of the Hancock tower). Having dinner, or even just a cocktail, up there on a clear night is pretty great (though pricey).
'cause everyone pretty much stops their car and gets out to watch.
I mean, if you want to do that cool, but be prepared to get stuck if you're on the way somewhere.
Excellent brisket too.
Great beer. All Rise Brewing is on site. Blackstar is a probably my favorite beer there.
Also don't sleep on the House of Blues, it feels kinda touristy but if you like southern cajuny style cuisine it's pretty good and hey there's music. Good pick for lunch
It's a little tiki bar with fun drinks and small plates.
If you wanna go, I'd try to make reservations. It gets pretty busy.
Yeah! We actually went there a few months ago too. I don't drink alcohol, but they were happy to make a non-alcohol version of a drink for me. My wife and friends all enjoyed their drinks too.
Neat little place. We managed to get in without a reservation in the early evening, but with the agreement that we'd be out of there by 7 PM because of all the reservations that evening. We overheard the guy just outside the bar area taking reservations for weeks in advance.
My Backloggery
COME AT ME, BRO!!!! I went to a Shake Shack in Boston a few weeks ago, and they had a 'Shake-cago' hotdog. I didn't understand the reference because I was like, "Yeah, that's what a hotdog should have."
Since you asked, Billy Goat Tavern is more of a tourist spot; they certainly nailed the look.
Oh! If you're looking for 'ethnic' places, check out the French Market (http://frenchmarketchicago.com/) which is inside the Ogilvie Transportation Center, and/or Eataly (https://www.eataly.com/).
It's a little hard to find, and there are some attire rules though.
Great cocktails. Excellent absinthe list.
Everything I've eaten there has been good. The menu changes from time to time.
If you do this, however, do not just walk in and expect a table at any given time. The Violet Hour is one of Chicago's best cocktail bars, and as such can be difficult to get a table at. I'd recommend going off-peak hours. A pre-dinner cocktail at 5(ish) PM would be much easier to get a table at than Friday at 9pm (impossible).
The only option for that is the daily lottery. If you win, you get very good tickets for $10 each. The limitation is that you have to enter the day of, and pay within an hour of winning. Oh and also since Hamilton is so popular, the odds have become pretty bad. I've had a couple different friends win tickets, but I've entered mostly every day since Feb and still haven't won. But, could be worth a shot, since it only takes about 10 seconds to enter.
https://lottery.broadwaydirect.com/show/hamilton-chicago/