Paige

We'll be staying at near Navy Pier and are wondering best places to eat with two small children. Any ideas are appreciated!

carrie

Try any Corner Bakery for breakfast. For lunch, Wishbones would be a lot of fun. It's a tourist place, but the kids love Ed Debevics and ESPN Zone. The deep dish pizza places are always good choices. Toast is fun if you get to the Lincoln Park area.

don

Near Ed Debevics, which I also think is great for families, there is a Rock and Roll McDonalds. I've never have eaten there, but is there a child that doesn't like McDonalds?

patg

Just a word of caution - a lot of small children don't like deep-dish pizza. The cheese is really thick and they have a hard time with it. A regular pizza is better.

My favorite for families in that area is the Oak Tree in the 900 N. Michigan shopping center.

There is a big food court at Navy Pier where you will invariably end up. I do, every time. If it's nice out, look for the outside seating near the McDonald's.
Another good food court is Foodlife at Water Tower Place. California Pizza Kitchen is another of my kids' favorites in that mall. Sorry to be so unoriginal!

If you are downtown, Berghoff's on Adams St. between State and Dearborn) has a nice children's menu and great root beer.

I hope you aren't visiting this week; the weather is worse than January.

S.

My two favorite places to eat when we went to Chicago with our child were Berghoff's and Giordanno's. Berghoff's has German food and is just down the street from the Art Institute on W. Adams. (It's been there practically forever, established in 1898.) We went to Giordanno's for pizza; personally I wouldn't go to Chicago and not get deep dish pizza, but they serve both kinds so you can get whatever you like. Giordanno's is very close to shopping, just a couple blocks from FAO Schwartz. Hope this was a little bit of help. Have fun in Chicago!

lee

I know Navy Pier is the #1 site, but aside from the views, there isn't much there aside from overpriced food and shops. The kids will like ther ferris wheel, and they can run around. Lots of walking to get to the end of the pier. Much better food in a food court is at Foodlife, mezzanine level of Water Tower Place. Something for even the pickiest. FAO Schwartz is across the street. I love the Art Institute. Tues is free day. All the museums have one. Art Inst has a kids area downstairs. Museum of Science and Industry is near U of C in Hyde Park, so easiest by car, but great for kids.

arjay

Over Christmas, I ran into a large, many-aged-children, family group from Iowa, making their annual C. visit to Chicago...one of their regular stops was BREAKFAST at the Ghiradelli ice cream shop, just east of Michigan (on Pearson, I think?..opposite the Water Tower). What a memory-maker for kids! (Any ice cream meal, would be of course, not just breakfast). Another ice cream possibility: Marshall Fields on State St.

Depending on when you're going, a picnic on one of the outdoor plazas would be fun for the kids...room to play a bit, sometimes fountains...(or...cross the Drive and let them have a picnic at Oak Street Beach).

H

Didn't FAO Schwartz close?