Out of towner - Northshore food & lake help

Planning a short visit to Chicago area and need some help with a couple things.

A few years ago my wife and I took Lake Shore (not sure how far LS went) from downtown north to the Botanical gardens. I know this probably isn't the best route but it was leisurely and scenic. We'd like to do the same this fall. Here's where things get real vague. Along the way we passed and stopped at an Italian grocery, kind of mid-upscale in an upscale neighborhood. Seems I recall it being on the left hand side of a triangular section of curving road! Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about (I said it was vague)?

Along the same lines, we love the lake. It's almost ocean like. We spent an hour or so sitting along the edge near downtown with out pastries last visit. We'd like to spend a bit more time with the family near the water. Is there a better / more scenic area to sit near the water than downtown? Something northern would be best.

Cheers.

I think you may be thinking of Convito Italiano which is in Plaza Del Lago in Wilmette:

http://www.convitoitaliano.com/

They recently merged their two restaurants into one and condensed their market, but their quality is still very high.

Hi,

The road you describe sounds like Sheridan Road, which is an old Indian trail going along the lake shore. Did you also pass a building that looked like the Taj Mahal? A shopping center along Sheridan Road is in Winnetka called Plaza del Lago, could this be what you are thinking of?

Regards,

Wow, you all are amazing, I'm almost sure that's it (it's been a while). And yes, we did pass the temple!

How about somewhere to stop at the water?

Abouna wrote:How about somewhere to stop at the water?

Just south of Plaza del Lago is Gilson Park (right near the B'hai temple), which has plenty of space to relax near the water.

Unless your trip is planned for a long time from now, bring a sweater!

Best,
Michael

Abouna wrote:Wow, you all are amazing, I'm almost sure that's it (it's been a while). And yes, we did pass the temple!

How about somewhere to stop at the water?

If you're up in that neck of the woods,
you can always stroll around the Northwestern
campus in Evanston. The benches on the
"lakefill" give a nice view of the downtown
skyline.

Thanks everybody!

To me the best lakeside spot is just north of the Northwestern campus at Lighthouse Beach, so named for the lighthouse that is part of the Evanston Art Center grounds at Central Avenue on Sheridan Road. You enter the parking lot at the Evanston Art Center and you can either walk down a few steps to the beach or sit on a bench behing the Art Center and look out over the beach grass and small dunes. There is a park with a picnic shelter on the north side of the parking lot if it is drizzling. In a couple of weeks, there will be a magnificent, symmetrical blazing red maple along the Sheridan Road side of the park. You can also visit the grounds of the lighthouse, which have a nice little path and garden.

Come to Promontory Point at 55th St. for a great place to sit by the lake.
As its name implies it is a small peninsula that juts out into the lake. From its north side you can see the Loop across the water; from its south side you can see Hammond and Gary, Indiana in the distance and much closer, the Museum of Science and !ndustry a couple of blocks away, and from the tip you look out at open water. It is also the best swimming spot in Chicago. Today, Oct 2, the water temperature has dropped to 68F, which is considered swimable by a few of us.

Jane wrote:Come to Promontory Point at 55th St. for a great place to sit by the lake.

Just to orient you, the Point is in the Hyde Park neighborhood, 7-8 miles south of the Loop (downtown Chicago), near the southern end of Lake Shore Drive. The drive you describe taking goes north from downtown Chicago. Lake Shore Drive, which is a divided, limited-access highway, goes about 7-8 miles north from downtown, and ends within Chicago's city limits. That's where you can continue north along the lake on Sheridan Road, as noted by Cathy2, through Chicago, Evanston, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe (home of the Chicago Botanic Gardens), and Highland Park, where it merges with other local roads. It continues north of there, but not in one uninterrupted stretch; it merges with other roads, splits off, etc.

The Italian restaurant you referred to in your original post is definitely Convito Italiano, by the Plaza del Lago shopping center in Wilmette. I was just in the area last weekend, and Convito is closed. They are doing some major construction on that building, and the restaurant is gone.

Hi,

Sheridan Road in Highland Park does get a bit tricky, because as you approach the central business district it does get chopped up and re-directed:

All is pretty and windy until your reach a 4-way stop with a railroad bridge in front of you.

Turn RIGHT onto St. Johns Avenue.

At the stop sign at Central Avenue, Turn RIGHT. (landmark bank building with copper clock)

Proceed less than half a block, then turn LEFT onto Sheridan Road.

***

Next Tricky Bit: Highwood

Following Sheridan Road, you come to a T-intersection, Turn RIGHT. This takes you through Highwood's business district, then follows the western boundary of Fort Sheridan.

After passing the Fort, then look to turn RIGHT onto Sheridan Road just before the railroad bridge/viaduct.

If you passed the railroad bridge/viaduct, then you have two choices: go back or turn right onto Western Avenue (light after rr bridge), which takes you into downtown Lake Forest. You will meet Sheridan Road again by either going East or simply follow the railroad tracks on the east side for a few miles because Sheridan Road meets again just as Lake Bluff begins.

The pretty, leafy tour ends on Lake Bluff's northern edge for a more gritty scene in North Chicago, that won't change until you are at Waukegan's business district. After Waukegan's bluff front series of antique homes, Sheridan Road to the Wisconsin border is pure business district. In Zion there is the Illinois State Beach Park, which you can picnic at.

If going beyond Lake Bluff is something you want to do, then I will continue the instructions on how to stay on Sheridan Road.

Regards,

jpo wrote:The Italian restaurant you referred to in your original post is definitely Convito Italiano, by the Plaza del Lago shopping center in Wilmette. I was just in the area last weekend, and Convito is closed. They are doing some major construction on that building, and the restaurant is gone.

This is incorrect.

Convito Italiano has moved to the north side of the same shopping center (Plaza del Lago), into the space occupied by Betise, as the 2 entities have merged. It's true that the building CI once occupied is being rennovated but they are no longer in that space.

Click here for their press release about the move/merger.

=R=

eatchicago wrote:

Abouna wrote:How about somewhere to stop at the water?

Just south of Plaza del Lago is Gilson Park (right near the B'hai temple), which has plenty of space to relax near the water.

Unless your trip is planned for a long time from now, bring a sweater!

Best,
Michael

My hubby proposed to me there! In November no less!