Help me plan my Chicago "death march"

A group of friends and I have started a bit of a tradition: going to a city and walking it in a single stretch of approximately 18 miles over eight hours, with many stops for food in between. First was NYC, next was San Francisco, and this year it looks like we'll be tackling Chicago in either late May (definitely after NATO/G8, assuming the city's not destroyed) or early June. Being the only resident of the group, much of the route and food planning would fall to me.

My first thought for a route would be starting in Hyde Park either at the Museum of Science and Industry or just south around Jackson Park, walking north along Lake Park Dr. until it turns into the Lakefront Trail, walking the Trail through downtown to Lincoln Park, crossing over to Clark until Diversey, then taking Broadway up through Edgewater, ending at the Loyola campus around Devon & Sheridan. We've traveled up to a mile out of our way in the past if there's an absolutely must-have delicacy.

Ideally we'd want to end very close to our dinner spot (obviously we'll all be exhausted by then), and that spot should be able to handle a group of 12-15 on relatively short notice, as our finishing times vary wildly depending on how many stops we hit in between. No real cuisine preference, but $25-30pp pre-tax/tip would be preferred. Any Devon/Sheridan area recommendations on that front?

Moreover, is there anywhere we'd absolutely HAVE to hit along the above-mentioned route? We'd prefer that much of the dining during the march itself be non-sit down, lighter fare (perhaps some food trucks thrown in?). I admit to not being very familiar with dining options south of Cermak, so anything you guys throw out there is probably new to me.

Thanks!

I think it predates LTHforum, but several years ago some proto-LTHers did the "Mil-WALK-ee", where the walked Milwaukee ave from river north to ....not sure. Pretty far northwest. The road itself goes for 40 miles. It takes you through a pretty diverse set of neighborhoods, and past/near some very good restaurants... podhalanka and smak tak for polish (along with a million other polish joints), taqueria la oaxaquena, thai aree, lula cafe, superdawg, big star and the violet hour, etc.


One other option would be a bit more angular. Milwaukee Ave northwest from the start to Devon (will get you past all of those milwaukee ave joints), then Devon east to Western (will get you near all of the Indo-Pak places), then Western down to Lincoln, and Lincoln down to Lincoln Park (or until you tire of it).

Alternative last leg: Devon all the way to Clark, and then Clark south until you tire.

Do note that my more circular route is upwards of 23 miles, so you may want to trim it in a few places if you go that way. It also misses much of Chicago's great mexican restaurants, which are largely in Pilsen and Little Village on the south side. And, unless you make a short jaunt up to Honey One, you won't pass any good barbecue places.

Or, of course, you could end at Devon/Western and have dinner at Khan BBQ, which could almost certainly handle a group of that size with little notice.

Too much lake, not enough neighborhood/food.

Bridgeport-Pilsen-Taylor Street-Greektown-Loop/River North-up Lincoln (or Clark)-Lincoln Sq. (or Andersonville)-Uptown/Argyle (orAlbany Park)- Devon

Here's a proposed 20.5 mile march, starting at Ashland and 18th and ending up at Devon and Western. Takes you through Pilsen, Greek Town, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Avondale, Devon, etc.



Variant: Break off from Milwaukee at Foster or Lawrence, take either until you get to western, and then western to Devon. This will get you past a lot of korean (foster) and middle eastern (lawrence) spots, as well as getting you near Spoon Thai. The Foster variant shaves it down to 17.5 miles.

I don't have a ton of suggestions, but I think your idea is awesome...very cool! I live off LSD in Lakeview & personally, there's not much in my neighborhood that would be worth a detour to me. Further north, I'd happily detour to the Argyle & Broadway area for some Vietnamese.

gleam wrote:Here's a proposed 20.5 mile march, starting at Ashland and 18th and ending up at Devon and Western. Takes you through Pilsen, Greek Town, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Avondale, Devon, etc.



Variant: Break off from Milwaukee at Foster or Lawrence, take either until you get to western, and then western to Devon. This will get you past a lot of korean (foster) and middle eastern (lawrence) spots, as well as getting you near Spoon Thai. The Foster variant shaves it down to 17.5 miles.

This is the route we're going to use, altered slightly to take us through the Loop at the request of the group. Depending on how we feel after dinner at Khan, we might take Clark south and end in Wrigleyville, but I expect we'll all be dead by then.

There's concern that that stretch of Milwaukee won't have enough grab-and-go places, so if you all could help me prove them wrong that would be much appreciated.

Also needed: an awesome Pilsen breakfast spot, italian beef and dogs, and a suitable rendezvous point for those joining us for the second half only. I do plan to walk the entire route myself next weekend to get a feel for the neighborhoods, so I'll probably try a couple places you guys recommend then.

Thanks for the awesome suggestions so far, everyone!

Breakfast option in Pilsen - http://kristofferscafe.com/

For a great hotdog not far off of your route, I recommend Redhot Ranch. They serve up a great "Depression Dog". When you're walking along Milwaukee, it's a 1.5 block detour up Western.

Redhot Ranch
2072 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
773-235-5538

-Dan

I love the idea, I've dragged my wife through 15-20 mile "death marches" in London, SF, Boston, and NYC. It's the best way to experience a city.

I think you're definitely taking the right route by following Ed's advice and taking Milwaukee. The area around Milwaukee/Armitage has a lot of good places. Redhot Ranch is certainly worth checking out, and you could also go with burritos - Al Pastor from Arturo's and Carne Asada from Las Asadas. If you stick to Milwaukee in that area, Cafe Marianao is certainly worth checking out, and if it's a weekend you're likely to find some street vendors on that stretch of Milwaukee.

Yeah, the one thing I'm not sure about is the stretch from Montrose to Devon or so for grab-and-go.

Also not terribly far off your route is Honey One. Especially if you're already detouring to Red Hot Ranch.

At Belmont you've got another Las Asadas (so you could skip the one on Western) and Taqueria la Oaxaquena, both of which could give you something to go. At Addison is Thai Aree, and with careful ordering you could find something eat-and-walkable.

Near Montrose is Pizza By Alex, which could be worth checking out... I've had mixed experiences there, but it's capable of putting out good, interesting pizza. Up at Lawrence you're a one mile detour away from Delightful Pastries. I'd also strongly suggest you guys check out American Science and Surplus at Central and Milwaukee. No food, but a hell of a fun place. Then I'm not sure what there is until Superdawg at Milwaukee and Devon.

Your other sluggish stretch will be Devon east from Milwaukee until about Kedzie, which is a pretty long stretch. You'll go past the Chocolate Shoppe and Elephant Thai near Central, and Myron and Phil at Pulaski, but I don't think there's much else there.

Kedzie to Western will make up for it, though. I'm pretty certain about that.

For beef along that route, if you take Halsted from Pilsen north, you'll only be a few blocks from Al's on Taylor. Depending on timing, Mario's might be open, too. Pretty sure that's your best bet.

Could probably rendezvous easily at Superdawg or La Oaxaquena/Thai Aree. Those two latter might be good spots to sit down and rest for half an hour, and eat some food that can't be easily carried.

I don't know how grab-n-go it is (although I know you can get take-out there), but GNR Smak Tak is only a block-plus from your Milwaukee Avenue route just south of Peterson. At that point, Elston and Milwaukee have almost joined.

Dave148 wrote:Breakfast option in Pilsen - http://kristofferscafe.com/

Kristoffer's would be a nice stop for a slice of chocoflan or tres leches cake. But you are starting at 18th and Ashland, right? You need something before you get to 18th and Halsted.

What day are you planning on doing this on? and what time will you start? Here are some ideas starting at 18th and Ashland and heading east:

If you begin your trek around 9, you could get a couple tamales from La Cebollita, on Ashland just south of 18th. They have both savory and sweet tamales; the traditional drink to go with them is champurrado (hot chocolate flavored masa drink).

The fabulous Bombon bakery on 18th just east of Ashland is a must stop for something sweet.

From Nuevo Leon (open at 7 am) you could perhaps get an order of chilaquiles or machacado con huevo to go.

If you pass by Birrieria Reyes de Ocotlan after they open (10 am?) get a couple goat tacos.

Carnitas Don Pedro will definitely be open (from 6am M-Th, 5 am F-Sun) -- a quarter-pound of carnitas will keep you all going as you head east. Might want to bring some baby-wipes along...

Then stop into Kristoffer's for chocoflan or tres leches, and head north on Halsted.

Are you doing this on a Sunday? If so, Maxwell Street Market (on Desplaines north of Roosevelt) is a must.

If not on Sunday, maybe head a few blocks west on Taylor Street for beef at Al's and 'Italian lemonade' at Mario's (assuming this takes place after Mario's opens May 15).

then back to Halsted to Greektown (depending on what you want to eat, maybe just cookies at Pan Hellenic Bakery or Artopolis? Or some kalamata olives from Elea?)

From Greektown you could make your detour into the Loop. If you do this on a weekend, some food options there will not be open, though.

The march is taking place on Saturday, May 5th. We typically start these around 9 am.

Thanks for the great food recs so far. I'm actually planning to walk the route at some point in the next couple weeks as an advance scouting mission to plan optimal routes, breaks and other adjustments, so I'm sure I'll try a few of them along the way.

Honey 1 is definitely on the agenda, as is Superdawg. We're not averse to brief detours at all, but the mile-long one to Delightful Pastries might be a bit much. I definitely want to focus on the Pilsen food a lot, so everything mentioned in here is fantastic.

cccpr wrote:The march is taking place on Saturday, May 5th. We typically start these around 9 am.

Thanks for the great food recs so far. I'm actually planning to walk the route at some point in the next couple weeks as an advance scouting mission to plan optimal routes, breaks and other adjustments, so I'm sure I'll try a few of them along the way.

Honey 1 is definitely on the agenda, as is Superdawg. We're not averse to brief detours at all, but the mile-long one to Delightful Pastries might be a bit much. I definitely want to focus on the Pilsen food a lot, so everything mentioned in here is fantastic.

You'll pass by quite a few carnitas and birria joints, so those are probably worth popping in to. You'll also go by Honky Tonk BBQ, but they'll probably be closed.

Just a quick note about Italian Beef options -

At the Milwaukee/North ave intersection, Jay's Beef is just west on North ave at Oakley. May be a few blocks out of your way but the backtrack to get to Milwaukee again isn't bad, especially if you head back up Leavitt from North Ave.

As one of those who walked a least part of that proto-LTH Milwaukee-thon, let me warn you that there will be several long - very long - stretches on this walk that will be basically a trail of tears. This is the stretch coming north of Diversey on Milwaukee. Of course, at that point in your tour, you might want a break from the actual procurement and ingestion of food, but be aware that Milwaukee Ave. from about Diversey until you reach Irving Park is a dreadful place for pedestrians. You might want to consider, after such a trek, cutting east at Irving Park to Sabatino's, and just spending the rest of the night there.

Okay, I'm finally planning to walk the route this weekend and I'm nailing down the food to give us lots of options. We won't eat at ALL of these unless we want to end up near dead, though that IS part of the fun.

We'll start on 18th/Ashland with Nuevo Leon, Carnitas Don Pedro, and maybe Birrieria Reyes de Ocotlan (it doesn't open till 10, though, so probably not). Maybe a brief stop at Kristoffer's for some chocoflan.

We'll take Halsted up for Al's and Mario's. Maybe stops at Panozzo's and Xoco, definitely hitting Beard Papa in Block 37 (our group tradition). Possible detours at Habana Libre and Hoosier Mama before we head up Milwaukee, then Honey 1, Superdawg and Redhot Ranch.

The Devon stretch is still proving problematic; between Kedzie and Western was mentioned upthread...any recommendations there?

We're definitely finishing at Khan.

Any food trucks that are worth keeping an eye out for? I'm not too familiar with the scene outside the Loop.

cccpr wrote:...
We'll take Halsted up for Al's and Mario's. Maybe stops at Panozzo's and Xoco, definitely hitting Beard Papa in Block 37 (our group tradition). Possible detours at Habana Libre and Hoosier Mama before we head up Milwaukee, then Honey 1, Superdawg and Redhot Ranch.
....

Others will know better, but is Mario's even open yet for the season?

The Devon stretch...Taza Bakery comes to mind. I think someone has posted about George's Kabob's. You could hit Sudhakia Sweets (typing off the top of my head -- my spelling might be lousy.)

In addition to the excellent Taza Bakery already noted, you might try Uru-Swati (vegetarian Indian), Hae Woon Dae, Korean BBQ just 2 blocks off Devon on California, or one of several fine bakeries: Tel Aviv (Kosher--excellent rye bread--closed Friday afternoon and Saturday), Levinson's (Kosher style, try the babka), Eastern Breadstone (Iraqi), and Argo Georgian (have the hatchapuris). It's restaurant row all down Devon; I haven't even mentioned any of the other Indo-Pak places.

Uru-Swati
2629 West Devon Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 262-5280

Hae Woon Dae
6240 North California Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 764-8018

Tel Aviv Bakery
2944 West Devon
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 764-8877

Levinson's Bakery
2856 West Devon Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 761-3174

Eastern Breadstone Bakery
2818 West Devon Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 338-9969

Argo Georgian Bakery
2812 West Devon Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 764-6322

The GP wrote:

cccpr wrote:...
We'll take Halsted up for Al's and Mario's. Maybe stops at Panozzo's and Xoco, definitely hitting Beard Papa in Block 37 (our group tradition). Possible detours at Habana Libre and Hoosier Mama before we head up Milwaukee, then Honey 1, Superdawg and Redhot Ranch.
....

Others will know better, but is Mario's even open yet for the season?

They usually open around May 1st, no? We're doing this on the 5th, so we should be good.

cccpr wrote:

The GP wrote:

cccpr wrote:...
We'll take Halsted up for Al's and Mario's. Maybe stops at Panozzo's and Xoco, definitely hitting Beard Papa in Block 37 (our group tradition). Possible detours at Habana Libre and Hoosier Mama before we head up Milwaukee, then Honey 1, Superdawg and Redhot Ranch.
....

Others will know better, but is Mario's even open yet for the season?

They usually open around May 1st, no? We're doing this on the 5th, so we should be good.

Ah, that's what happens when I do a quick read before coffee...

This happened yesterday. Almost 24 miles all told. Because we did Sun Wah on Friday night, we ended up leaving Milwaukee at Foster and walking over to end at Great Lake. We're all pretty exhausted today, and my right ankle's killing me, but we had a great time. Sunday brunch at The Publican will be happening shortly to end the weekend. I'll be back with a full food rundown and pictures later. Thanks to all for the advice.

Since the OP hasn't gotten back to us, heres a report from one of the Death Marchers:

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx? ... e=1#698859

That's a nice report with lots of great pictures. But I think a group of LTHers would have eaten more along the way!

Looking forward to the OP's account of the walk...