My husband and I will be traveling to Chicago at the end of April with our 1 year old son and would like some great ideas where to dine. He does quite well in restaruants, but I am not looking for anything swanky. Somewhere if we show up with a child, people won't wonder why we are there. We love Italian food, american food, great fish restaurants, steaks, etc.

We are staying at the Homewood Suites downtown. Any suggestions would be wonderful. Thank you.

There are 100s within your area. You won't have a problem finding some that are family friendly at all. Most are not very high end either.

Check out www.metromix.com

Plug in your hotel address and go to town seeing what is close or what you would prefer.

There are dozens of threads on this too. Do a search for Chicago Downtown FOOD and see what comes up. You'll see lots of pizza wars, steak place wars etc. Ditka's isn't too far from you. They have great chopped salad and good pork chops. But you have MANY choices.

Enjoy and welcome to Chicago! It's cold as a witch's t--t here today. It's bound to be great when you get here.

Kathryn - here is a link to family friendly restaurant in Chicago. Some are in the burbs but there are lots near your hotel. In general, due to your primo location, you will be able to spill out of the door and find a lot without too much research. But here goes.

I can tell you about some of the ones I have been to:

Rain Forest Cafe: 605 N. Clark St. (ignore the address on the link) Not sure if you have been to one, they are a family chain made to resemble a rain forest. Even a one year old would get a kick out of it. Its your basic salad, sandwich, american food place. Make a reservation.

Bucca Di Beppo - another chain, like Maggianos. But good Italian food and kid friendly.

Weber Grill: everything is cooked on a huge weber grills. Steaks, chicken, lots of barbecue focus. Fun, casual.

Big Bowl 6 East Ceder. Asian style, make your own stir fry, lots of noodle dishes, kids menu with basics. I think they give crayons or some type of toys. Good food, reasonable price.

http://chicago.citysearch.com/bestof...?init_search=1

These are not fancy, probably not where I would send you for just you and hubby but good with a baby. Mike Ditka's is a good one too as suggested. Great food.


If I think of more, will repost

GO TO LINCOLN PARK ZOO WITH THE BABY. Its the best and its free.

Sorry, can't endorse Rain Forest Cafe for a baby. He'll likely be scared of the special effects; other negatives are long lines, high prices and mediocre food. Save it for when the child is about 6-9 years old.

LP Zoo is ideal - there is a decent cafeteria-style restaurant near the south pond where they rent paddle boats. My guys loved it when they were that age. Other haunts of ours were the Oak Tree Restaurant at 900 North Michigan shopping center and Tempo at Chestnut and State; both have large menus and are open all afternoon.

Thank you for all of your feedback. We are really excited for our trip!!

Just thought I would add my 2cents worth. We loved Grand Lux Cafe http://www.grandluxcafe.com/locations.htm

The menu was great and I guess i would describe it as 'smart casual'. Please if you go, order the Strawberry Shortcake. It will blow you away. IMHO

That looks great. We will certainly try the Strawberry Shortcake!!

You will be near our new favorite, Quartino's. We've taken our grandchildren there for early dinner. It is a noisy retaurant so the children could even cry and nobody else would hear them. (Actually our granddaughter is quieter at loud restaurants than in quiet settings.) The food is great with lots of small portions. Start by ordering a few plates and keep going until you are full. But save room for profiteroles and the chocolate pannini! For steaks and seafood, go to Hugo's Frog Bar. We frequently brought our grandson there when he was one.