Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Steve Kubien
>Sorry for the OT thread but I've got a co-worker who will be heading to Chicago in the spring and he has no idea where he's going to eat. He looks at food the way I do...pizza is its own food group and you are permitted up to 25 servings per day.
He'll be staying near O'Hara for some salt-water aquarium shindig. What's the best place to get good Chicago pizza?
Thanks,
Steve Kubien
Ajax, Ontario
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Wendell @ Murphy, TX
>There was a show on the travel channel that you guys would have loved. It was called Pizza Wars. It showed the history of New York style and Chicago style pizza. They had a taste test between a couple fire houses on New York and Chicago. The tie-breaker was decided by some firemen in L.A. Unfortunately, the only pizza place in Chicago that I can remember from the show is Pizzeria Uno which claims to be the birth place of Chicago deep dish pizza. Hopefully someone from the area will reply.
Wendell
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Wendell @ Murphy, TX
>If you happen to get the Travel Channel, the show is on today (1/18) at 5PM eastern time.
WW
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Brad in Ottawa
>Steve,
When I travelled to Chicago on business I was taken out to Gino's. It was downtown near Rush St, after that I couldn't be more specific.
Service was indifferent, it was acceptable to write your name on the wall and the Deep Dish was incredible!
HTH!
Brad
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
David Miller from Iowa
>I'm familiar with the area and Gibson's in Rosemont (right nearby) is excellent. There are all the usual places, but that one is a meal to remember
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago *LINK*
Christopher Schwarz
>I went to school in the area and gained about 20 pounds on the pizza.
For the visitor, the easiest place to find (it's everywhere) that offers solid pizza is Giordano's. I am particularly fond of the stuffed spinach pizza from Giordano's. Get the stuffed pizza. Deep dish isn't much different than deep dish from other fine places in the U.S.
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
R.J.Whelan
>Steve ... for pizza I think the best is Pizzaria Uno: downtown - any cab will know where it is. The best deep dish I've ever had.
For one of the best meals anywhere try Charlie Trotter's (reservations way in advance are absolutely mandatory). For the adventurist try Charlie's Surprise: pick two or three wines and the kitchen will design a 7-9 course meal around the wine choices (this is a 3-1/2 hour deal). Depending on wines selected this will run in the $175-300 range per person: a terrible extravagance but it is truly one of the finest meal you'll ever have (in my case the hands down best ever, and eating is my hobby). There's a tiny bar at the entrance and they have just about every single malt I've ever heard of.
A truly great city - I've been everywhere and Chicago probably has more to see and do than any other US city (with apologies to San Francisco and Manhattan).
- rj -
Different tastes
Gerry Doll
>Steve,
Tastes differ, my Brother-in-law swears by Lou Malnati's. I prefer either Gino's East or Pizzeria Uno.
If you're stil following the martial arts, check out Degerberg Academy (Jeet Kune Do and various other arts.)
Gerry
Freezing in Chicago
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Mike Agee
>Besides Pizzeria Uno - check out Shaw's Crab House
Awesome seafood.The Dungenous Crab is excellent.
Mike
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Gabe Doyle
>For Chicago-style pizza: Lou Malnatti's is by far the best. Uno, Giordano's, Gino's, etc. are pretty good (never was a big fan of Gino's cornmeal crust though).
For seafood: Probably the best I've ever had (including on the coasts) is Bob Chin's Crab House. It's in Wheeling (short drive from O'Hare).
Thanks everyone
Steve Kubien
>Thanks for all of the advise everyone. I have forwarded your suggestions on to my co-worker.
Hey Gerry, yup, I'm still a stick-swinging jodo guy. I finally got my skirt so I fit in with everybody else (relax people. It's called a hakama and it resembles a skirt. Very manly). Unfortunately, I'm not the one making the trip so I won't be able to swing by the dojo you speak of. There's a 4 day jodo seminar at the University of Guelph in May that I'll be attending!
Again, thanks everybody.
Steve Kubien
-recovering from his 2-1/2 hour commute which should only take 40 minutes. I love winter driving!
Re: Thanks everyone
Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida
>I made a post (I thought) and it disappeared into the ozone...
If your friend likes stand-up dining, Chicago is famous for the Chicago Hot Dog, and the Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich. Both very messy and very tasty! A local will have to show him where to go.
Oh, and I second Bob Chin's!
Portillo's!
Rod Peterson -- Ormond Beach
>There are 17 of them scattered all over Chicagoland the last time I counted. It's a local chain started by a guy in a little trailer hot dog stand in Villa Park back in the '60s. First class operation. A zoo at lunchtime, no matter what location.
Also, O'Hare is about 40 minutes to an hour driving (depending on time of day) to the Loop, and about the same on the L that comes right to the airport.
Not in the pizza category, and despite the reputation of Berghoff's, the best German restaurant you're likely to eat in outside of Europe is the Chicago Brau House, a block south of Lawrence on Lincoln.
This is what the Trib has to say:
�The atmosphere at this kitschy Lincoln Square mainstay is year-round Oktoberfest. A lederhosen-clad band plays music nightly (starting at 7 p.m.) and the menu is loaded with traditional German offerings: herring, bratwurst, chicken schnitzel and kassler rippchen (smoked pork loin). Keep washing it down with draft beers like Spaten and Bitburger and you'll think you're halfway to Hamburg.�
It's a party every night and don't miss the weiner schnitzel, the German fries, the strudel, the Spaten, the lintel soup (when they have it), the bratwurst and sausage appetizer..., oh, well.
The only downside is Illinois doesn't have a no-smoking law yet. Never knew how much I appreciated Florida's until I went to the Brau House again last summer. Oh, those Europeans...
Rod
Uno's or Due
Bill Ward
>Many of you have heard of Uno's since it is pretty widely franchised across the US. The Uno's in downtown (actually a bit uptown) is the original. The sister resturant, Due's (like do-ays) is sort of kitty-corner to Unos. I'm a second generation Due eater and my kids are third generation. We live in Kansas City, but still try to get to Due's when we're in Chicago.
Gino's (or is it Geno's?) is good. Giordono's is good. Never heard of Gibsons until I saw the pizza wars show on TV. We still think all people that eat flat/skinny/cardboard pizza are crazy!!!
Re: Way OT: Dining in Chicago
Leo B
>If you're into steak, try the Weber grill. It's just a couple blocks up Ontario from Uno's. Good steaks, great beer and a good environment. They cook all the steaks on big, giant weber grills with charcol. Whenever I hit Chicago, I make time to get over there.