Eating near Union Park

I'll be in Chicago on July 19 and 20 for the Pitchfork Music Festival. The festival runs from about 1 PM until 10 PM or so. This doesn't leave a whole lot of time. What are some good places for a light breakfast/lunch, and a late (but also light) dinner? I'll be staying at the Ambassador East Hotel ( and spending most of my day at Union Park. I'm not looking to spend a ton of money, but I'm aware that eating well doesn't always come cheap.

You're aware that the Ambassador East is at 1201 N. State, right? That's about 3 1/4 miles from Union Park. At any rate, you'll find lots of dining out options along the Randolph Street corridor. For late night dining you may want to check out Avec.

A couple of thoughts:

For breakfast within walking distance, consider Ina's on Randolph, or the Breakfast Club on Hubbard. Both places also offer lunch fare too. You could also try a cheezborger at the Madison outpost of the "world famous" Billy Goat, just across Ogden from Union Park.

For a later light dinner you could try the bar at One Sixty Blue, one of the city's top casual fine dining spots, or the Tasting Room wine bar, which has excellent food (mostly small plates) as well as a huge selection of wines and a great view of the skyline from upstairs. Both are on Randolph, just across Ogden from the park.
For something more casual, you could walk up Odgen to the corner of Grand and hit up Coalfire Pizza (BYOB, for now) for the city's top (non-Chicago style) pizza, or the Twisted Spoke for a burger on their rooftop deck.

If you search the site you will find threads on many of these options. Call ahead to check hours, as some places will start to close after 10, and many are not open Sunday.

Good luck and enjoy the festival!

You didn't specify what kind of transportation is available to you. There are some forum favorites like Coalfire, Honey 1, and Kuma's that are relatively nearby if you have a car. The first two should be open till 11 on Saturday; not sure if any of them qualify as light.

By the way, if Wishbone again has a tent at P4k this year, I highly recommend it. Also the vegan ice cream was surprisingly decent.

could it be that poor AlphonseMambo mistakenly booked a room at the Transient "Hotel" thats on Ogden Ave.called The Viceroy- where Warren Blvd. transitions into Washington Blvd?http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=Viceroy%20Hotel%20%2C1519%20W%20Warren%20Blvd%20Chicago%2C%20IL&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/uKjsSF ... cFRvQOKg/m

Also- isn't the Pitchfork Music Festival being played at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavillion?
7/17/2008 Music Without Borders: Pitchfork Music Festival Preview Night
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
http://www.millenniumpark.org/parkevents/allmusic.aspx

I'm just sayin'..........

Also- isn't the Pitchfork Music Festival being played at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavillion?

There is a series of concerts related to the Pitchfork Music Fest at the Pritzker, but the actual festival is in Union Park.

For lunch beforehand, Bombon Cafe on Ashland at Monroe. Excellent tortas Monday-Saturday; they have a brunch menu on Sunday.

Coalfire (on Grand just west of Ogden) would be walkable from Union Park, but it closes at 11 on Saturday and at 10 on Sunday.

Avec would be a better late night choice. Or some place in Greektown, where everything is open till midnight or 1 am -- if you just want something light, order a couple appetizers.

In the area of Union Park, I highly recommend a diner-style breakfast or lunch at Palace Grill. If the concert is really at the Pritzger Pavilion, then you're talking about a completely different neighborhood.

Hombre de Acero wrote:could it be that poor AlphonseMambo mistakenly booked a room at the Transient "Hotel" thats on Ogden Ave.called The Viceroy- where Warren Blvd. transitions into Washington Blvd?http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=Viceroy%20Hotel%20%2C1519%20W%20Warren%20Blvd%20Chicago%2C%20IL&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl
http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/uKjsSF ... cFRvQOKg/m

And you can put quotes around "Transient,"too, as that's how it's advertised on the side of the Viceroy. Believe me, that thought immediately occurred to me, and like a buttinski, I was just about to PM poor Mr. Mambo to warn him, but then I remembered that Union Park is at 1501 W. Randolph. Union Park, however, is well-reviewed on Yelp.

Yeah, sorry about the wrong address. I copy/pasted the wrong thing.

From the sounds of it, some of you guys know what the food at Pitchfork is like. I'll be eating one meal there, so are there any things that must be tried? Vegan ice cream sounds fun.

Pitchfork Music Festival

Union Park
1501 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL 60607
(Corner of Lake St. and Ashland Ave.)

JeanPoutine is pretty much spot on. Breakfast Club is a block away and a solid breakfast. For dinner, go to Coalfire for pizza - best thin crust in Chicago. And then Twisted Spoke for drinks. If you want coffee, Sip on Grand/Ogden is a really beautiful space.

btw, nice "this hour has 22 min" reference.

And, btw, make sure you see Cut Copy. I saw them back in May - Amazing show!!

cobra lounge is right down the street and has excellent bar food...the jumbo smoked wings are great.
it's a metal bar.
Cobra
235 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 226-630

For lunch beforehand, Bombon Cafe on Ashland at Monroe. Excellent tortas Monday-Saturday; they have a brunch menu on Sunday.

The are now closed on Sunday, to the enormous chagrin of my Customary Dining Companion, who was very bummed about the closing of the location on Washington in the Loop. Very sad indeed!

Go one stop west on the green line, get off at California, and at the bottom of the stairs, you will find the delicious Ja's Jerk Chicken. It's still take out only, but the food is worth the trip!

bluroses wrote:Go one stop west on the green line, get off at California, and at the bottom of the stairs, you will find the delicious Ja's Jerk Chicken. It's still take out only, but the food is worth the trip!

I don't know if this is inappropriate, but seeing as this thread is aimed at out of towners, I would add the caveat that that area is rather sketchy and it would be ill-advised to wander around later at night (post-concert) looking for somewhere to eat your takeout.

AlphonseMambo wrote:From the sounds of it, some of you guys know what the food at Pitchfork is like. I'll be eating one meal there, so are there any things that must be tried?

The food at Pitchfork tends to be a notch or two above regular festival food. There's still the place that will sell you reheated frozen pizza, the generic "Asian" stand, and one of those ubiquitous behemoths that churns out everything from Italian sausage to gyros to funnel cakes to, I dunno, Chicken Kiev. Avoid all. That still leaves several places with reasonably good food, my favorite being Wishbone. Pulled pork sandwiches, black bean cakes, interesting salads and slaws, and watermelon lemonade are all honest food that satisfies on what will likely be a pretty sweaty day. Last year, the cevapcici cart was also a worthwhile addition. There are a couple of other mainstays that I haven't tried yet, like Goose Island's fish tacos.

Fyi. If you are coming from the neighborhood of your hotel, it'll probably take longer than you expect. The CTA is a great value, but tends to be not so fast on the weekend. (I'm guessing a cab will run you $12-15 if you prefer.) If you're determined to not miss any of the bands, I'd suggest eat a big breakfast early, and budget in a little extra travel time. As some posters noted, the festival food is adequate-to-good and a better value than, say, Lollapalooza.

baffler wrote:As some posters noted, the festival food is adequate-to-good and a better value than, say, Lollapalooza.

I can vouch for the crawfish etouffee at Wishbone. Obviously it won't compete with the best New Orleans has to offer (I'm sure frozen crawfish were involved), but quite tasty nonetheless.

There's a new Indonesian stand that serves not terribly Indonesian food. Anyone try?

Spent yesterday at Pitchfork. The Goose Island fish tacos turned out to be a pretty good option. Walking to Coalfire for dinner after we were maxed out on music was a great option.