Oh wow!Have booked Sprout and Alinea and will work our way round as many of the others as we can thanks a lot x

You probably booked Alinea just in time as it was just rated the best restaurant in North America.

Love Frontera Grill (ate there by myself at the bar--they don't take reservations--when I went, on a random rainy Tuesday, it was jam packed!).

Cafe Spiaggia was excellent (cheaper version of the much more expensive Spiaggia, which the Obamas like). Try the wild boar gnocchi, which is delicious.

We also liked Sunda, which is a hip Asian restaurant with Thai, Japanese, and Chinese. It's definitely a fun place that you'd order several different things & share.

If you're going to a tour of Wrigley Field, or to a game there, have a couple drinks at Goose Island Brew Pub which is about a block away. Great bear, and pretty good pub food.

I would totally recommend Giordano's Pizza! Also, if you are interested in checking out which "neighborhood" to visit in Chicago, here is a source that will help you figure out which is the right one! -- https://giordanos.com/chicago-neighborhoods-guide/

Have fun!

Purple Pig

this thread is from 2010.

btw, I thought the Purple Pig was overhyped and nothing special.

Well, I live in a small city that doesn't have any restaurants that offer octopus, or beef tendon chips, or a lot of things they do. Besides, I liked the fun atmosphere. And good service.

I would question why a thread is resurrected after 6 years - to recommend a nationwide pizza chain.