Self-planned Chicago food tour
 

Three woman are in charge of one day each in Chicago...we've been there before and done the usual tourist things. I'd like to plan a walking tour of places we can try some great Chicago food. The Chicago Food Tour you can buy tickets to doesn't work for our schedule. I'd like to stop at 4-5 places..a few miles between is fine....any suggestions?

Budget for meals? Just some quickies...

Hot Doug's (incredible gourmet sausages)
Topolobampo/Frontera Grill
Terragusto
Greektown restaurants
Devon Ave Indian restaurants

Well, I'm still trying to figure this plan out. Ideally, there would be a number of places within walking distance that we could try a little something...like a bakery, a deli, etc...greektown could be a possibility.
I wasn't really looking for a place to eat a whole meal at...this may be too hard to plan...just trying to fit in lots of food and exercise!

Check out http://www.bravotv.com and click on the Top Chef show. This season has been in Chicago and they've had all these local chefs on with amazing sounding restaurants.

Reza's is not to be missed. Persian food. Very hard to find in the midwest. They have two locations downtown.

http://www.rezasrestaurant.com/

And you would have to take the el or drive almost to Evanston, but a cool place on Howard is Gulliver's. They have very cool architectural antiques.

I think you would like Bucktown. Blue line L to Damen stop (three way intersection of Milwaukee, Damen and North Avenue (or take a cab, it is only 2 or 3 miles from the Loop or Michigan Avenue). It is hard for me to suggest specific places, but you would find a wide range from some of the hippest small restaurants to old local ethnic places. Some resources are www.chicagoreader.com (restaurants section), www.metromix.com, www.chicagomagazine.com. It is also a good area for small unique boutique shops and so would make a good afternoon into evening destination. Places change often, but I like wine so recommend what I think is called Bin Cafe or something on Milwaukee (a small sister restaurant to the very good Bin 36 near the Loop) for a wine flight with small food and a shop called (I am not making this up) Juicy Wine Stinky Cheese (or maybe the reverse) on North Avenue. Enjoy Chicago!

You also might consider pizza (though one slice of stuffed or deep dish might ruin the rest of your appetite!)...Lou Malnati's, Gioradano's, Bacino's, etc.

We always enjoyed Lou Malnati's pizza. Also been to Frontera Grill for lunch, fun atmosphere, good food, very crowded. Not to eat at, but the McDonalds is fun to check out with the "COOL" decor.
Enjoy your trip!

Near that Rock n Roll McDonald's is a giant Portillo's...good grill food...sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, etc.

Can you think of a place within walking distance(2-3 miles)where we could try a great chicago hot dog(Hot Doug's?, great pizza by the slice, maybe a wonderful ethnic bakery, or cheese shop? Just brainstorming...
we are staying at the Whitehall..thanks.

No offense, but please don't come to Chicago for a food tour and go to R&R McDonald's and Portillo's.

I wrote a whole long list of geographic and ethnic tour ideas and the computer crashed yesterday. Will rewrite ideas later, but where are you coming for your visit?

Sorry ... when not where.

We will be there July 16-19. I have Monday July 16 to plan from 11 a.m. on.....
We are interested in doing a lot of walking or public transportation. BTW, we have been to Fontera Grill, Adobe Grill and Atwood Cafe..loved all of those. Each day is planned secretly so others won't know what's up until that day. I wanted to do a food thing but it's kind of hard.......

laurelee, why do you not want to go on the food tour (www.chicagofoodplanet.com)? There's a tour at 11:00 am on the 16th and there are still tickets available. It stops at eight places but a few of them are very close together so it doesn't feel like as many as all that. It starts on the Magnificent Mile and carries on up Rush Street and covers Old Town and Lincoln Park. We took the tour this past Sunday and thought it was wonderful--and surprisingly interesting (we went primarily for the food sampling, to tell you the truth, but we learned a lot of neighborhood history along the way and got the scoop on several restaurants, too). I'd recommend this tour in a heartbeat. Lots of good eats, lots of walking, and lots of scenery to admire. It's well worth the $40 we paid.

I wish I could do the food tour...but I don't think we can make it in time. Our flight doesn't land until 10:30 or so....that's why I need to plan something on my own. I just don't think we can get out of the airport and make it there.

Okay--I just checked our flight and we land at O'Hara at 9:30--can we realistically make it to the Whitehall Hotel on Delaware to the food tour beginning at 11? What do you think?

I think it would be cutting it close, but you could possibly make it if:

-you carry on your luggage (it will add half an hour at least to collect your baggage)

-you're in a taxi by 9:45 am and don't hit traffic (I live downtown and usually allow 50 minutes by taxi to get to O'Hare)

-you can just stow your luggage at the Whitehall with the bellman


I'd be curious to see what others think; I tend not to be terribly relaxed when I first arrive and I think I might stress myself out worrying about trying to get there.

A few other thoughts on your restaurant choices, if you go that route: I love Frontera, but the no reservations policy makes it a bit of a hassle/scene. Adobo Grill serves similar regional Mexican cuisine and accepts reservations; Salpicon is another choice in that vein (that I've heard great things about but haven't visited myself.) If you opt for Frontera, just prepare for a raucous (and fun and pricy) stop with a potentially long wait (1-2 hours) and plan on having a margarita or two and appetizers in the bar.

In Greektown, the Parthenon is a warm, friendly, old-school place where you get great bang for your buck on classic fare like moussaka and fried calamari and lamb; wine by the carafe is a great deal, and the flaming cheese was invented here.

Have fun!

laurelee, you'd be cutting it awfully close and that's not even accounting for arriving late or having to stand in a line when you check in at the hotel. I wouldn't attempt it. Can you not swap a day with one of your friends so you could do the food tour on another day? I wouldn't mention it again but it really was excellent and just enough off-beat and interesting enough that you'd get plenty of conversation out of it long after you've left Chicago!

laurelee, let me preface by stating I have not gone on this tour myself. However, I have noticed its name cropping up on several travel websites lately. I will also state that many of the reviews I have seen of it on these particular websites have come from individuals who have made only a single review - for that tour. This makes me a little suspicious, of course.

I hope this doesn't sound snobbish but I feel that I know Chicago well enough that I don't need to have a guide with (apparently) no particular formal training or in-depth knowledge showing me around the Near North Side or North Side. I say apparently because I don't see any indication on their website of any training in cuisine, architecture or history. Perhaps they have some but I cannot tell it from their website.

Enough of that, though. The BIG question is are you really going to spend $120 (for 3 people) for a walking tour?

You can be part of a walking tour from experienced, trained, knowledgable docents in architecture from the Chicago Architecture Foundation for $15 pp (for 2 hours) or even less, depending on the subject. That's only $7.50 an hour pp. They even have a 2-hour "Happy Hour Tour" which includes a drink at the end for $16.00 pp. (Gasp! That's $8 pp per hour!)

You can be part of a walking tour in conjunction with the Chicago History Museum for $10.00 pp (again, for 2 hours). That's only $5.00 per hour. Unfortunately, all their History Pub Crawls are already sold out.

And, if those aren't inexpensive enough, you could get a FREE guide through the Chicago Greeter program for any neighborhood in Chicago in which you have an interest. They even have a special interest sections called "Food" and "Ethnic Grocery Stores".

Wherever you go, you can just throw in some visits to neighborhood places. The difficult part is, of course, that the really great places are not usually nearby each other.

Great Chicago Food.

I can pretty much tell some of the places where the Chicago Food Planet Tour takes people from just their descriptions. Would I consider them great? Well, I think The Spice House in Old Town is an excellent place to go but the others (of which I can tell) - only so-so.

If you are really serious about a Chicago food experience, one that will have GREAT cuisine, and price is not a major factor, then I'd recommend that you be saving your pennies (but mostly many quarters) and splurge for the "Chicago Gourmet". This event will be happening at Millennium Park from September 26 to September 28. More than 25 of Chicago's top chefs, accompanied by several top sommeliers and celebrities will be contributing. The cost is $150 per ticket after June 30 and $130 before. See the May 20, 2008 The Stew blog of the Chicago Tribune for the complete list (to date) of all the participating chefs and others, as well as the ancillary events planned. This is an important culinary event in one of the best dining cities in the world.

For your review:

www.chicagogourmet.org

I've got lots to consider...but I don't think I'll try and make the tour on the same day we arrive. I could possiblity swap if I decide to do this. I'm not sure what I'm doing now...but lot's of good suggestions.
Thanks everyone-appreciate it!