hiddenboston wrote:In response to an earlier post, are Andersonville, Roscoe Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park and West Town all within walking distance from each other? If not, what would be a good "foodie walking tour" based on at least two or three of these neighborhoods?

In a word, no. Chicago is very spread out. However, here is a walking tour I devised that touches upon the edge of Wicker Park as well as West Town. This tour hits the highlights of good Chicago chow -- Mexican, the invented-in-Chicago jibarito, Polish food, as well as classic cocktails. References to LTHForum threads are in the map itself.

To summarize, it starts at the Blue line (Division stop) at Podhalanka (Polish), then goes to La Pasadita (Carne Asada), then to El Taco Veloz (Carne en su jugo), then to Habana Libre (jibarito), then to Matchbox (classic cocktails), which is near the Blue line (Chicago stop).**

From a tourist perspective, this area is pretty bleak and urbanized. If you want to see the lively, prettified, and more tourist-friendly "main drag" of Wicker Park, walk due west of Podhalanka along Division Street. The main area of Wicker Park runs along Division west, through to about Leavitt, but -- I warn you -- there will be no good eats there. (You can, however, stop in Rite or Cut Rite Liquors along this strip and have a shot of Malort, a truly local and unique Chicago beverage. )

** Note: You can add a slight detour by going north on Ashland (after Podhalanka) to Carniceria Tierra Caliente f/k/a Carniceria Leon for tacos al pastor on a spit, as recommended upthread by GWiv, then turn around, head back on Ashland, and go to La Pasadita for carne asada.

Carniceria Tierra Calienta (f/k/a Carniceria Leon)
1402 N. Ashland
Chicago, IL

I would take CTA to Pilsen and enjoy the GNR's on 18th street. Nothing gets my goat, like goat.

The other casual ethnic specialty that Chicago features is Thai. Spoon Thai is very accessible by train and a relatively easy stroll west to Middle Eastern food on Kedzie (Semiramis), north to Korean (San Soo Gap San), east to Andersonville (several GNRs), or south to more Thai (Sticky Rice).

Well, I'm back in Boston after having a terrific time in Chicago. At times, I felt like I was in New York, though I didn't encounter any rude people.

Here's the rundown of restaurants and bars we went to:

Harry Caray's
Su Casa
Pippin's Tavern
Chicago Brauhaus (Lincoln Square)
Ditka's
L'Appetito
Pint (Bucktown)
Carmine's
Corcoran's
Original Pancake House
John Barleycorn (Wrigleyville)
Billy Goat Tavern
Chicago Chop House

As far as favorite restaurants are concerned, I really liked the food at Carmine's and the Chicago Chop House, though the atmosphere (and beers!) at the Brauhaus made that a memorable place. For bars, my favorite was Pippin's (we went there three times), though I also liked Corcoran's a lot. I wasn't thrilled by the Billy Goat Tavern, as I felt it was a tourist trap, and Ditka's was rather irritating, as the waiter wasn't very nice to us.

I can't wait to get back there! Hopefully it'll be soon...thanks to all your suggestions, by the way. I definitely appreciate it.

Glad you got here and enjoyed your visit. On your next trip, you might want to check out any of the LTH Great Neighborhood Restaurants, and see how much even more rewarding your trip can be by visiting places off the typical tourists' radar screens.

nr706 wrote:Glad you got here and enjoyed your visit. On your next trip, you might want to check out any of the LTH Great Neighborhood Restaurants, and see how much even more rewarding your trip can be by visiting places off the typical tourists' radar screens.

Good advice. Especially considering that many of the restaurants/bars you visited, hiddenboston, such as Pippin's, Pint, Corcoran's and, god forbid, Barleycorn's, were not only not recommended by anyone on this board, but very heavy on the Irish-bar theme. Thus, they can't be very different from what you get in Boston, no? Next time, please take the advice that you solicited here from Chicagoans and I promise, your visit will be much more rewarding.

aschie30 wrote:

nr706 wrote:Glad you got here and enjoyed your visit. On your next trip, you might want to check out any of the LTH Great Neighborhood Restaurants, and see how much even more rewarding your trip can be by visiting places off the typical tourists' radar screens.

Good advice. Especially considering that many of the restaurants/bars you visited, hiddenboston, such as Pippin's, Pint, Corcoran's and, god forbid, Barleycorn's, were not only not recommended by anyone on this board, but very heavy on the Irish-bar theme. Thus, they can't be very different from what you get in Boston, no? Next time, please take the advice that you solicited here from Chicagoans and I promise, your visit will be much more rewarding.

Heh, I ended up not having as much say in our restaurant/bar choices as I thought I was going to have. I would have loved to have gone to more of the neighborhood places, but it wasn't meant to be this time. But we did have a lot of fun in Chicago, and I liked most of the restaurants and bars we went to.

While you didn't go deep into the neighborhood favorites, the places on your list are generally solid. Sometimes we forget that Chicago's broad reputation for good food and drink is based more on the sorts of places you visited than on GNRs. You sure could have done worse. Next time, hit up some GNRs for sure.