First time visit - food itinerary - any comments?

I have spent the last couple of weeks trying to identify as many "must" restaurants for my visit the first week in September. Some background: I am a private chef here in San Francisco and I appreciate good food over everything else but I am NOT a snobbish foody. I am just as comfortable at a whole in the wall pizza place as I am at a 5 star restaurant. We'll be staying at the Sofitel Water Tower. I don't mind travelling and am in fact looking forward to becoming very familiar with the "L". Here goes nothing:

Pizza: Lou Malnati's or Pizzerias Uno and Due - Wabash and Ontario

Mexican: Topolabampo (This one is a definite. I have all of Rick Bayless' cookbooks and like his style of Mexican cooking (me being Mexican myself)

Hot Dogs: Hot Dougs; Byron’s – before Cubs/Giants game

Steak: Gibson’s

French Bistro: Café Zinc (a must category for my girlfriend who is a francophile. Looking for a great steak frite)

Russian Tea Time: For a break during our visit to the Art Institute of Chicago

Breakfast: Ina's on Randolph; Wishbone on Washington or Tempo on State Street (We want a nice place to have a leisurely breakfast). I would also like to find a nice place for a Sunday brunch.

Deli: Manny's

Greek: Santorini’s

Upscale: Spring (I really don't want to bust the vacation budget on Charlie Trotters). I would like to find a restaurant that will allow me to visit the kitchen.

All comments will be appreciated and I promise a long and exhaustive trip report when I get back. Thanks all. Sorry for those of you that saw this post on Chowhound. I want to make sure that I cover all of my bases.

do some searches. great latin food here. for mexican, you must go to Pilsen for restaurants, and maxwell street on sunday morning for outdoor market fare--don't forget the corn smut (huitlachoches?)

do some searches on this site
as usual, seth says it well:

Seth Zurer


Joined: 17 Feb 2004
Posts: 392
Location: Logan Square
Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 11:49 am Post subject: First Maxwell St Market Trip of the Season

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Today, with the glorious weather, and the beaming sun, I made my way to New Maxwell St with a visiting cousin. Some new stalls, some old favorites. On the newly configured south end of the market we saw immense gorditas de requeson being fried to order. Manolo and Rubi in their north of Roosevelt slots were in fine form - for the first time (did they always have it) I had a fresh taco al pastor, shaved from a pineapple topped spit to order onto a freshly griddles taco-sized tortilla with cebolla cilantro and a shpritz of red salsa. As I walked away and took a bite, this taco stopped me in my tracks - crisp porky edges on rich juiscy slivers of meat, warm crusty masa, clean onion and cilantro - so good. I nearly collapsed. I nearly exploded. It was breakfast # four of the market - after two quesadillas, an empanada de rice pudding, a taco de carne asada and half a mild oaxacan tamal, it was all I could do to choke down an unfilled fresh churro on the way back to the car. Looking forward to going back for more al pastor from Manolo (or was is Rubi) as well as the gorditas de requeson, and springing for a 6 pounds of strawberries for seven bucks which for some reason I couldn't convince myself to buy today.

I saw your post on the board that shall remain nameless:

As for French fare: perhaps you mean Bistro Zinc...not Cafe'?

Your list is relatively solid for a first timer.

I prefer NY-styles, but you could do worse than Pizzeria Due(not Uno). Everyone has a favorite as you will soon discover.

Your list is missing a strong Thai selection...as luck would have it this board is fairly exhaustive in it's investigation of Chicago Thai.

Search...search...search

I'd offer excellent Chinese suggestions, but coming from San Francisco you might not feel so inclined esp. as regards our dim sum and/or the perpetual search by newbies for xiao long bao.

search...

You are also less a visit to one of our triumvirate of newish boutique restaurants: Sweets and Savories, Lula Cafe, Or Schwa...plus, maybe, Think.

good luck

My mistake, did mean Bistro Zinc...

If I had two weeks I would certainly squeeze in some Thai. Plus, I'm realistic and know that I will get sidetracked from my "set" itinerary.

Thanks for the suggestions.

fjcastro,

I think you've got a good list going. A couple comments:

1) Keep in mind that Topolobampo also qualifies under your "Upscale" heading. It is at least as expensive as Spring. If you really want to experience what Chicago has to offer in terms of Mexican food, the suggestion of Maxwell Street is about as important as anyplace in town. Also, there are a huge number of posts on this site about authentic Mexican in neighborhoods like Pilsen, La Villita, and the rest of town. Searches for "carne en su jugo" or "birria" in the site search would be excellent places to start.

2) French bistro food is one of the areas that I do not think Chicago shines in, but Zinc is a decent option. If I had to point you to one place, it would probably be Kiki's Bistro.

Enjoy your visit and please report back about your experiences.

Kiki's Bistro
900 N. Franklin
Chicago
312 335 5454
http://www.kikisbistro.com/

Best,
Michael

French bistro food is one of the areas that I do not think Chicago shines in

Actually, I disagree. I think this is one of the categories that has been strengthening in recent years. Along with the two you mentioned (Zinc, Kiki's), off the top of my head I can name:

La Sardine
Le Bouchon
Bistro Campagne
Bistro 110
Cyrano's
La Tache
Chez Joel
Marche
Mon Ami Gabi
Brasserie Jo

and that's only within the city's precincts, and doesn't even cover many of the bistro-like, French-influenced venues (like La Petite Folie and Socca). You may argue about the relative merits of each, but is there another city in the country other than NY (maybe SF? LA?) with such a concentration of restaurants in this category?

Just to comment on a few of your options:

Pizza - I'd take Malnati's hands down over Uno/Due's. I also love Pizano's -- it's pretty identical to Malnati's and excellent. There's a Pizano's on State St. a few blocks north of Uno/Due's.

French bistro - I'd skip Bistrot Zinc. I just don't think it's very good. Instead, I'd suggest KiKi's Bistro (closest to downtown), Le Bouchon (Bucktown) or Bistro Campagne (Lincoln Square).

Upscale - Absolutely nothing wrong with Spring, but I'd have to put Blackbird at the top of my list. I'm sure you have plenty of places in SF to go for great seafood, but Paul Kahan at Blackbird is a master with game and locally grown food and it is phenomenal. www.blackbirdrestaurant.com

Breakfast - I think Chicago has far too many great breakfast places to settle on Ina's or Tempo. Instead, choose Orange (Printer's Row is less crowded location) or Bongo Room (Wicker Park or Roosevelt near Soldier Field). Both offer much better and far more creative breakfasts.

Enjoy your visit!

jbw wrote:

French bistro food is one of the areas that I do not think Chicago shines in

Actually, I disagree. I think this is one of the categories that has been strengthening in recent years. Along with the two you mentioned (Zinc, Kiki's), off the top of my head I can name:

Without trying to hijack this therad too far off course, I can name all those restaurants as well, but when I make the list of which ones I care to return to, it is a significantly shorter list.

I'll stand by my current favorites of Kiki's and Le Buchon.

Best,
Michael

Just a heads up that the Byron's on Clark St. near Wrigley Field is long gone, if that was your plan. I'm not familiar enough with the immediate vicinity to suggest a replacement, although there is another Byron's available on Irving Park Road -- at Wrigley, take the Red Line one stop north from Addison to Sheridan, walk north to the corner, turn left and it's a few buildings down, on your left.

Bob S. wrote:Just a heads up that the Byron's on Clark St. near Wrigley Field is long gone, if that was your plan.

That was my plan. So any alternatives to grab a dog before the Cubs game besides Wiener Circle?

fjcastro wrote:

Bob S. wrote:Just a heads up that the Byron's on Clark St. near Wrigley Field is long gone, if that was your plan.

That was my plan. So any alternatives to grab a dog before the Cubs game besides Wiener Circle?

Wiener Circle is excellent, but it is about a 20-25 minute walk from Wrigley (or you can try to catch a Clark St. bus). There's Wrigleyville Dogs right next to the park, but it's not so hot. You might want to try Murphy's Bleachers (Sheffield & Waveland -- right behind the center field bleachers) . . . it's always a fun (albeit crowded) pre-game hangout and they grill up dogs, brats & burgers.

You know one thing I forgot to mention in the other thread just like this, is that an unsung aspect of Chicago food are the historical ice cream parlors. Granted, most of them are not readily accessible to the tourist (or car-less), but still they are worth seeking out. Just throw any of the following words into the LTH Search feature:

Cunnis
Cupids
Gayety
Margies
Plush Horse
Rainbow Cone
Mitchell's

All of these places are truly great and make all or most of their major products themselves. There may be no single best of this list. Gayety has the whipped cream, Cunnis the fudge, Mitchell's the ice cream etc., so I'd just go to them all

Note, of this list, Margies is very accessible to El riders, being right at a stop of the blue line (Western), and there is a new location (not tried) near Wrigley.

We went out to the plush horse the other evening for ice cream. It's recently become our go to place for home made ice cream just because it's close to where we live. Unfortunately I don't think it's very accessable via public transportation but Margie's is an excellent within the city choice as VI suggested.

I would substitute David Burke's Primehouse for Steak instead of Gibson's. Gibson's is crowded, touristy and overrated.

fjcastro wrote:

Bob S. wrote:Just a heads up that the Byron's on Clark St. near Wrigley Field is long gone, if that was your plan.

That was my plan. So any alternatives to grab a dog before the Cubs game besides Wiener Circle?

The Byron's on Irving is only 3 blocks away from the entrance to the bleachers (Gate "N") at Wrigley. If you are taking the "L" to the game then, as Bob S. suggested, just take the train one additional stop to Sheridan instead of exiting at Addison. Byron's is around the corner. You can then easily walk back to the ballpark from there (and poke your head in TAC Quick on the way back in case you change your mind about wanting Thai food later on).

I think you have a good looking list. I don't have firsthand experience with Bistro Zinc so can't really comment on their steak frites but I think Marche and Brasserie Jo both do a very good job (I'm a little more partial to the atmosphere at BJ over Marche).

I guess Byron's on Irving is still in play. Thanks for the updated info. It's hard to tell without having visited Chicago what is where, etc.

If it's hot during the first week of September, ice cream will definitely be in the plans. Thanks for the suggestions.

I think that David Burke's Primehouse rates serious consideration.

This forum rocks, thanks to all for the insight and recommendations.

fjcastro wrote:I guess Byron's on Irving is still in play. Thanks for the updated info. It's hard to tell without having visited Chicago what is where, etc.

If it's hot during the first week of September, ice cream will definitely be in the plans. Thanks for the suggestions.

I think that David Burke's Primehouse rates serious consideration.

This forum rocks, thanks to all for the insight and recommendations.

In terms of places for steak, a lot depends on your desire for dry aged beef, as opposed to wet aged. Most of the steakhouses in Chicago serve wet aged beef (my favorite of which is Keefer's). If you want dry aged beef, then you need to head for David Burke's, Capital Grille or Smith & Wollensky.

Hello all,

My first time trip to Chicago starts this Friday. My girlfriend and I will be taking the Architectural River Tour on Labor Day. Does anyone have any good ideas on where we can pick up a nice box lunch to take on the trip? Also, do they allow you to bring wine on the trip or will we have to remain alcohol free during the trip?

Thanks much.

Frank

I would go to Fox & Obel on Illinois St. It's less than a 10-minute walk from where the boat leaves and they have very good sandwiches, salads and desserts. I highly doubt that they'll let you bring alcohol aboard (you should check to make sure about wine and food). In any event, enjoy the cruise -- in my opinion, it's one of the real highlights in Chicago.

If you're taking the Architecture Foundation tour, both of their boats have a bar (and snacks I think).

I consider the bar yet another selling point for one of the best attractions in the city.

I'd recommend calling ahead to find out if you can bring alcohol on board. They do search backpacks and bags as you embark, so if it's not permitted, you'll probably be unable to sneak it on. But as others have mentioned, they do have a bar.

It's a wonderful tour...I took it about a month ago, and even though I've lived in Chicago for more than 15 years, I learned a lot.

I agree with BR that Fox & Obel would be a good bet. My very favorite sandwich in Chicago is their lobster club sandwich. I also recently had a great turkey, cranberry, and brie sandwich. The brownie is excellent, and I'm picky about brownies. The brownies have a darker tasting chocolate flavor. My only compliant is that I find the menu is a bit hit or miss, depending on what you order.

F&O has a special box lunch menu. Look for it near the entrance to the cafe. Haven't tried any personally, but it looks like a pretty good value.

As a preface, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am on vacation with my girlfriend in Chicago. I have a side business as a private chef so I truly appreciate good food and wanted to see what Chicago had to offer. This is my first trip to Chicago and I planned (with the assistance of this forum) many culinary delights for my 6 day stay here. This is the first post of the results of my culinary adventures.

Day One: I was saddened to learn that Hot Doug's was closed for remodeling (was really looking forward to those duck fat fries). I decided to pass on lunch and went to dinner at Kiki's Bistro. My girlfriend is a franophile and insisted on a French bistro. It was such a pleasant evening that we decided to sit outside on the patio. The atmosphere was great with a nice view of the John Hancock building and the "L" whizzing by every few minutes. The server was very attentive but not overly intrusive which allowed us to enjoy a leisurely meal. I started with the Salade Maison - Mixed Greens Dressed in a Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette. The greens were very fresh with a nice touch of endive and tomato. Very nice. For my main course I had the Steak Pommes Frites. The steak was done to perfection and the herb butter added a very nice touch. My girlfriend had the Poulet Roti - Roasted Chicken Marinated in Olive Oil, Garlic and Provence Herbs served Mashed Potatoes and Natural Jus. This had to be the biggest piece of chicken I had ever seen in a bistro. The chicken was moist and tender.

Sadly, the meal ended with probably the worst Crème Brulee I have ever had. The top of caramelized sugar was soggy and was not "crisp" as it should have been. The lack of this most important (to me) feature of a good creme brulee was disappointing.

Overall, I would highly recommend Kiki's Bistro to anyone who enjoys french fare. I was quite pleased with the overall experience.

Fjcastro-

I look forward to hearing more of your culinary adventures in Chicago. Welcome to Chicago and LTHForum!

-The GP

Day Two - Arose early and caught the "L" to Ann Sather. As my girlfriend is of Swedish decent, we had to go here. I ordered the Smoked Salmon Benedict — Poached Eggs, Norwegian Salmon, Fresh Dill and Hollandaise Sauce. The poached eggs were perfect and the salmon was delicious. My girlfriend ordered the Smoked Salmon omelet. The omelet was incredibly light and fluffy and not at all oily or greasy. You get two sides with your entree and I chose the hash browns (tasty and hot) and the cinnamon rolls. Much has been written on these pages about the cinnamon rolls and I was not disappointed. The rolls were warm, tasty and gooey. Perfect. The server was incredibly attentive and I never had less than a half a cup of hot coffee during the entire meal. Four very big thumbs up for Ann Sather.

After breakfast we strolled down the street to take in my very first game at Wrigley Field. At around the 3rd inning mark, I treated myself to a nicely grilled polish behind the center field bleachers. All the condiments were there: the radioactive green relish, grilled onions, tomatoes and hot peppers. Probably one of the best dogs I've ever had at a ball game, ever. Due to the incredibly low price of the beer ($5.75 for a pint of Beck's), I had quite a few which resulted in a very early evening for me; to the chagrin of the girlfriend.