Need a bit of help please

Firstly,I hope I am posting in the right thread .

I would just like to say Hi from Essex in the UK

Caroline and I will be spending 3 to 4 days in your lovely city, arriving on June 15th, before moving on to Milwaukee to visit my sister.
We have been to Chicago once before, but did not do our homework and ended up just drifting around looking at the sights and grabbing the odd meal here and there.
We have as yet not booked a hotel, but are looking for a reasonably priced place in the city (any recommendations would be good)
The question is this, what is the thing that we must not miss, or eat when we are in Chicago. We have trolled the net (that’s how we found you guys) but realised that it would be nice to have recommendations from local people.
We are both foodies and everything at home is made in house from bread to pasta to sausages. We are not rich, so reasonably priced fare would be good.

Thank you in anticipation
David and Caroline

The Great Neighborhood Restaurant List is a good reference point - viewtopic.php?f=28&t=28382

Shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to help you with hotel options.

The GNR list is definitely the place to start your search. In addition to those restaurants, since you said you make sausages at home, I'd also recommend The Publican. Paul Kahan is one of the best chefs in the city and The Publican is his second-newest creation.

I would also recommend North Pond. The restaurant is in the park, on the lake. Beautiful setting and really amazing food.

(Note also that Mado is a completely different restaurant now compared to the one that was awarded the GNR. I'm not even sure if the new version is currently operating.)

Thanks Dave148 and Darren72
I will look at your suggestions in the morning as we are just on our way out to visit friends for supper (5.45pm here).
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Brilliant.

David and Caroline

There's a nice b&b called the Wicker Park Inn in my neighborhood. Very well located by the el (tube station) with lots of stores, restaurants etc within blocks... and reasonably priced. Would be glad to help show you around when you get here.

June will be beautiful, though be prepared for rain - we don't get nearly as much rain as other US cities, but June is statistically our rainiest month.

We have a lot of outdoor festivals and concerts and events - some are city-wide, some are neighborhood-specific. Many are already on the calendar, so you can find out what's going on when you will be here. You can go to a neighborhood festival and catch the bands playing, but still eat at a restaurant (you don't have to eat food-on-a-stick unless you want to )

Some sites to keep an eye on are:

Mayor's Office of Special Events
http://www.cityofchicago.org/specialevents

Metromix
http://chicago.metromix.com

Chicago Reader
http://www.chicagoreader.com/

Time Out Chicago
http://chicago.timeout.com/

NewCity
http://newcity.com/

Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau
http://choosechicago.com

edited to add link

Here's what I would recommend to any lover of interesting and creative (and DELICIOUS) foods, for three days in Chicago, because these are things that are unique to Chicago and/or that Chicago does particularly well. It's my personal list of "don't miss" recommendations.

1. Alinea has been widely acclaimed as the best restaurant in the United States and one of the best in the world. I believe they start taking reservations 2-3 months ahead of time. Make yours as soon as they start accepting them for the date you want. I know you said you don't want to spend a lot of money, but if you think you would ever enjoy splurging for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, this is the place to do it. (They currently charge $195 per person for their 17-20 course tasting menu, not including wine/alcohol/tax/tip.)

2. Our creative provincial Mexican restaurants are the best in the country, thanks in great part to Rick Bayless and the local talent he has developed over the years. Topolobampo is still one of the very best. I believe they start accepting reservations (on Opentable.com) exactly three months to the day ahead, and they fill up quickly. So again, make yours as soon as they start accepting them for the date you want. They are also open for lunch during the week, which doesn't book up as early as dinner and is more reasonable in price.

Topolobampo is not the only such restaurant, although it is probably the best known, the most expensive, and the one that books up first. Other great Mexican restaurants here include Salpicon in Old Town, Mundial Cocina Mestiza in Pilsen, Mexique in West Town, and Mixteco Grill in Lakeview.

3. For an upscale dinner or Sunday brunch, I second Darren's recommendation of North Pond. The setting in the middle of the park is exquisite, and the contemporary American cuisine from James Beard Award finalist Chef Bruce Sherman is a treat as well. They're also open for lunch on weekdays during the summer.

4. For a not-so-upscale lunch or dinner, have some of our local specialty of deep-dish pizza. It's delicious and you can only get it here in Chicago. The best places IMHO include the original locations of Uno and Due in River North, as well as the various locations of Lou Malnati's and Pizano's (the latter two of which were founded by sons of one of the main characters in the early decades of Uno and Due). Phone ahead with your pizza order to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for your pizza to bake.

5. Not for meals, but for "grazing" on other delicious food offerings, I recommend checking out (a) one of the Garrett's Popcorn locations for their delicious caramel popcorn (with or without pecans or cashews) and cheese popcorn; (b) Fox & Obel in River East, our premier gourmet food store with the very best of everything from basics like fresh meat and fish, to prepared foods of all sorts, sandwiches, and some of the very best baked goods in town (don't miss the cinnamon swirl rolls in the bakery department); and (c) our French Market which has stalls for some of our best food providers, including Vanille Patisserie, Delightful Pastries, Pastoral (cheeses and sandwiches), and Canady le Chocolatier.

For hotels, I've found the biggest bargains on Hotwire and Priceline, although they have a couple of downsides. You can often find hotel rooms for much less than half of what you'd pay when booking through traditional travel websites. One downside is that they are "opaque" websites, meaning that you can't choose a specific hotel; you only choose a neighborhood and a star level indicating how nice the hotel is. They assign the specific hotel. The other downside is that you must pay for the room at the time you make the reservation, and there are no cancellations or refunds. The difference between the two is that Hotwire tells you how much the room will cost for a given star level and neighborhood, whereas you offer whatever price you want on Priceline for a star level and neighborhood, and they either accept it to complete your reservation, or decline it. If they decline it, you can bid for different dates/stars/neighborhood right away, or you can wait 24 hours before rebidding the same dates/stars/neighborhood. When I am reserving well in advance, I start bidding on Priceline with a price that's 20-30 percent less than Hotwire is offering; if it's declined, I wait 24 hours and bid a few dollars higher. I almost always end up with a room for significantly less than Hotwire's rates which are already excellent. You can also find some guidance regarding Hotwire and Priceline bids at the site betterbidding.com.

I'll add one more link to the sites posted above by leek, and that is for the website of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, at choosechicago.com. It's a great guide to what to see and do around the city.

Incidentally, Milwaukee is also a lovely city with its own assortment of excellent offerings for those who love good food. I'm sure your sister will be choosing places that you will enjoy.

Thank you
I have just logged in and am amazed by all your replies, why on earth we didn't go down this route the last time we visited I just don't know. I am now going to spent a happy hour or so going through all your suggestions.
We have a balmy 10 degrees c (50 degrees Fahrenheit) here in Colchester and the sun is shining. We are in a holiday mood an looking forward to our stay.

Thank you for your generosity.

David and Caroline

if you are interested in a different experience from a hotel, i'd recommend checking out the bed and breakfast association of chicago. as dave mentioned upthread, there is the wicker park inn but there are others listed on the b&b website. since you arent coming until june, i'd imagine you'd have some choice if you plan early. i hope you have a great time in our wonderful city. i'd also suggest you plan to use the el (our elevated train system) as a sightseeing ride, as well as a way to get around town. justjoan


http://www.chicago-bed-breakfast.com/

Thank you all so much for the wealth of information.
We have been checking out all your links and will get back to you when we decide where to stay, also we are having fun checking out the places to eat. It certainly seems you have an abundance of fine restaurant's to choose from.

Jazzfood
I have sent you a PM. Thank you for your gracious invitation

Dave148
Thank you also

We will also follow up the link JustJoan has just posted in regard to B&Bs

Wonderful.

Regards

David and Caroline

Hi,

For a free tour specific to an area of chosen interest, the Chicago Office of Tourism has the Chicago Greeter. You can arrange a two-three hour tour with them.

A friend is a volunteer, looking at his business card I learn he specializes in: Lincoln Park, Old Town, Flea Markets, Chicago History and Ethnic Chicago.

The timing of your trip causes you to miss the Maxwell Street Market on Sundays. This is south of the downtown district though lively place to try Mexican food. You may want to visit Pilsen, along 18th street, to find Mexican, too.

Chicago Greeter
www.ChicagoGreeter.com
chgogreeter@cityofchicago.org
Chicago Office of Tourism
79 E. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602
312/744-8000
fax: 312/744-0622

A quick check of hotel rates around the dates you mentioned and it seems the hotels are relatively high then. That said, I work for a UK based company and we bring two colleagues here for a week every month each. They often get very good deals booking from the UK especially if they book with their airfare- lower than I can get here for them (and I am a very good hotel booker!) And if you don't pick the B&B route, I'll mention that they both adore the Hotel Amalfi - good central location and a really neat evening cocktail hour for guests complete with a great antipasto spread. I've been several times and while I normally always skip such things when I'm traveling, the Amalfi's is genuinely fun and the drink and snack quality is really good.

My other visit tips would be to take one of the river cruises if the weather is nice ... it's a great way to see the city - and to get out into the neighborhoods at least a little. I tell friends to go for example to Violet Hour for cocktails and then to Big Star ... or to snack their way along Armitage (Vosges Chocolates, Jah Grill, etc) ... I'm sure other folks here have great suggestions of similar parts of the city. The Loop and all is wonderful but the neighborhoods really introduce you to how we live (which makes the GNR list so valuable too!) Finally, if you're in town on a Saturday morning, head to Lincoln Park and the Green CIty Market - an amazing farmers market where you can sample some of the best of our local ingredients.

There may be a big convention in town during your dates -- if so, cheaper hotel rooms will be harder to find. One well-located spot which seems to have relatively good prices is the Club Quarters hotel at Wacker and Michigan (also called River Hotel). The rooms are said to be small but the location just south of the river can't be beat (and the hotel offers excellent views if you get a room on the river side). You would be near all the main tourist areas for shopping and sightseeing, and close to the L trains for getting out to the neighborhood spots (for better, more reasonably priced eating!)

However, if you already stayed in that part of town on your previous visit and are in the mood for something different, a B&B such as jazzfood suggested might be very nice. You could also check websites such as vrbo.com for an apartment rental (and folks here can help you figure out what neighborhoods would be best for a visit, if you go that route).

I will second the Club Quarters. It is by far the best value downtown. There is a second location on Adams, which isn't quite as ideal, but also isn't that far from the Wacker location.

You can get very good rates for the major hotels on Hotwire.

Darren72 wrote:You can get very good rates for the major hotels on Hotwire.

Yup. Just for comparison purposes, I entered June 15-18 for a double into Orbitz (rates for specific hotels) and Hotwire (opaque rates):

4 Stars
Orbitz (Affinia Chicago/Intercontinental Chicago) $225/$341
Hotwire (Magnificent Mile/North Michigan Avenue) $190/$160

3 Stars
Orbitz (Doubletree Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile/Hilton Suites Chicag) $194/$289
Hotwire (Magnificent Mile/North Michigan Avenue) $136/$130

2 Stars
Orbitz (Howard Johnson Inn Downtown Chicago) $78
Hotwire (Magnificent Mile) $70

And, as I noted above, you can usually get rates significantly less than Hotwire by using Priceline's "name your own price" feature.

Does anyone have a suggestion for the best rental car company in the Chicago area? Also, it would be helpful to have a list of the hours for each of the city's major museums. And what's the best way to buy Cubs tickets?

Thank You all for your help.

What a magnificent crowd you are.

We have just sent a Reservation Request to the Wicker Park Inn that Jazzfood pointed out to us. It is good to get that out of the way.
We can now concentrate on our stomachs With a list of recommended eating places a mile long it is going to be an interesting trip.
Also thank you for recommended places to visit, we have extended our stay for an extra day and will be leaving for Milwaukee after lunch on Sunday.

A very happy

David and Caroline

Kennyz wrote:Does anyone have a suggestion for the best rental car company in the Chicago area?

If he's staying in the city, he's probably better off without a rental car.

Kennyz wrote:it would be helpful to have a list of the hours for each of the city's major museums.

He can find the museum names at choosechicago.com and then look at the museum's website.

Note that the free hours at the Art Institute are going to change between now and then. The changes are already posted on the museum's website.

Kennyz wrote:And what's the best way to buy Cubs tickets?

Stubhub.

Thanks for the above links
We will definitely not be driving, but we will be wanting to go to the Art Institute, I have the link now in my favourites folder.

Thanks

David and Caroline