For very good Italian a little north of your hotel, Topo Gigio on N. Wells Street.

Thanks again for all the great responses. I'll look into all of them!

Two suggestions for Italian. For lunch there is a place in The River Hotel on Wacker Dr just a half block west of Michigan Ave.It is about 3 blocks from the Art Museum. I cannot remember the name. Good, fresh food and not expensive. For dinner, try Volare on Grand just east of Michigan Ave. Quality, authentic and not too expensive ($120 for 3 of us including wine). I felt very comfortable in jeans. NO wait at about 6 on Saturday night.

For furnishings, I passed a Jonathan Adler store somewhere just off Michigan Ave. It was interesting.

Just looked it up. For lunch it is Bacino's at 75 E Wacker Dr.

Oh brother. Anteprima sure looks good. So does Province and may be more doable by taxi.. Santorini looks promising, as well. Dumb question: Is smoking allowed at Andy's? That would be a deal breaker. We have smoking laws in food establishment in my neck of the woods.

Thanks, gardendiva! I hadn't seen your posts.

Just moved to SoCal from Chicago and I am missing all of the great restaurants. For fabulous Pizza ...NOT chicago style at all, but very thin crust and a very cool spot, go to La Madia on 59 W. Grand. Order the pepperoni with truffle oil and the artichoke pizza. It is awesome. You can wear jeans . Also order the mushroom bruschetta. You could alo go here for lunch.

You are staying in a great location on Delaware...I actually lived two blocks from there! It is very residential and yet close to all of the great shopping and nightlife.

For a nicer birthday spot go to Rosebud steakhouse just around the corner from your hotel on Walton or go to Coco Pazzo on Hubbard ( italian).

Also, definitely take your hubby up to the 94th floor of the John Hancock building for a cocktail and the amazing view. It is one block from your hotel...amazing view. He will love it!

Have a great time! Kelly

I recommend Salvage One for unique decor. All antiques pulled out of buildings. Pretty much a warehouse and pretty much the opposite of Crate and Barrel. No textiles that I know of.

Great restaurant recomms above. Coco Pazzo is amazing. BTW Il Mulino has a Chicago restaurant (famous NY italian restaurant).

How is Coco Pazzo Cafe? THat is quiet close to us and more casual, it seems.

Can anyone comment on walking from the L to our hotel upon arrival? (Michigan & Delaware). I have plantar faciitis in my left foot and that is the other concern for me - we are fit and like to walk, usually, but it'll be more of a pain this time. And speaking of that, my shoes will be ... probably running shoes, so I need someplace where that won't be a big deal. We're not usually so high maintenance, I swear!

Thanks again, you've been very helpful, maybe too much so. Now I can't decide on where to go!

NO smoking in any bars and restos in Chicago. I would second the pizza at LaMadia!

Oh and thank you Ernie, for the Salvage one tip, may have to check it out! (As well as Il Mulino, my husband is a New Yorker!

Suz - thanks, very, very good to know.

La Madia is a 5 dollar cab ride from your hotel ...trust me you will love it! Also if you just want to stay downtown then use the bus not the El. There's a bus stop literally outside your door at the Hilton. You can hop on one of the busses at the El as well to get to your hotel or just get off at one downtown stops and take a cab. Should be no more than 7 or 8 dollars and should be worth it du to weather and luggage and your foot!

Have fun !

Coco Pazza Cafe is an excellent choice. It is owned by larger Coco Pazzo ( also in NYC) in River North. We have eaten at both places for years and recommend them.
HOpefully, you've made reservations by now.

A 'short and sweet answer' to my (politely asked) question from Andy's Jazz Club:

Smoking is not prohibited in the state of Illinois.. Your reservation has been cancelled.


It's hard to make reservations when you've only got two days and you don't know which part of town you'll be in. You know, after a day of trudging around, esp, in the wind and maybe snow, it's hard to look decently presentable, you know? ;-)

I've never tried the bus, but have a large map with info so will check into it this evening. My plan was to L in as far as we can, then grab a cab.

Again, thanks, Fodorites, and if you think of anything between now and 11 p.m. central, give me a holler!

Check the trip planner on the CTA site at www.transitchicago.com. It will help you figure out which bus routes will be useful. You may also want to consider transit passes. They allow unlimited rides on all CTA trains and buses for a 24-hour period. A 1-day pass is $5.75 and a 3-day is $14 and they're available at the airport rail stations, CVS, Walgreens and other stores around the city.

If you're flying, take the Orange Line from MDW or the Blue Line from ORD to Clark/Lake. Then catch a cab from there to your hotel for only a few dollars. The station has elevators & escalators.

When you're trying to catch a bus, there's a number for each stop at the bottom of the sign. You can text that number to 41411 and you'll get a message telling you when the next buses will arrive there.

Cool, thanks, Citylights.

Also, just to be fair, I got another e-mail from Andy's and it looks like it was a misunderstanding - he meant to say, smoking was not allowed, not, "not prohibited." It's all good.

Would love to hear how you like the Hilton Suites, going in May and still narrowing down my choices. Where do you usually stay?

How were your restaurant choices? Hope your weekend was fun.

Hi everyone - You guys rock! Still in Chicago, flying out early to avoid the storm. Hope you all are ready for it.

vittoria, I would recommend the Hilton suites. It's in a quieter area, but just off Michigan across from the hancock building. My only complaint is that there are no L stations close by. The bus stop is just up on Michigan, though, and we've used that. This is such a great city.

I'll write more when I get back but thank you Chicagoans. We enjoyed the Purple Pig, Province, La Media, Volare, all just stellar recommendations. Probably the standouts are what we have adoringly started calling "The Pig," and La Media. Food at Province and service were quite good, but we were seated in the back room by the wait service area. So I would def. recommend asking for a table out front, it's just nicer there. More later, but thanks again!

Glad you enjoyed your weekend. With all the ballyhooing about this storm, I wouldn't be surprised if it fizzled out and we end-up with just enough snow to cover the grass.