Thread: Chicago Trip Report-A Guide to gastronomical delights

This report is rather long, so grab a Bistro bag, a soda and enjoy.

Preflight
Our flight was Thursday afternoon and as late as Tuesday night we were hoping for first, by Thursday morning we were just hoping to get on; we make it and get seats 14B & C, exit row, and yes DNA, we had a friend at the gate.
The gate area was jammed, lots of college students with lots of carry-ons and right in the middle of it all one tiny little girl belting out the tunes.
Have you ever noticed that the "ABC" song and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" have the same melody? I hadn't either, but you notice a lot when you hear them back-to-back 17 times in a row.
Boarding was slow and even with the gate agent holding the line between groups, the line in the jetway comes to a complete stop; once because a rolling backpack tips over spilling half it's contents and again when several of the college kids start making their way back up the jetway after realizing they'd forgotten to pick up their Bistro bags. Trust me, those Bistro bags were a hot ticket item with this group. Order was restored when it's announced that there are additional bags on board. Eventually we make it to our seats and of course the overheads are full. Over my head sits a cardboard guitar case plastered with music store stickers and a wheeled backpack with a broken zipper ... ah, college; our bags disappear up front.

The flight was uneventful, yes little Miss Ashley age 4, did start singing again, but this time we all had earphones and there's lots of gunfights in "The Whole Ten Yards"; we land ahead of schedule.

Welcome to Chicago
It's official, Chicago has the best food in the world ... all right, in my humble opinion.
The grand tour- The observation decks of the John Hancock and Sears Tower offer great views of the city, but neither offer much of a dining experience.
My group elected to check out the view from the Park Hyatt adjacent to Water Tower on Michigan Ave. On the hotel's seventh floor is the NoMI restaurant. The NoMI offers a great view of the Chicago skyline and has an open terrace in the summer months. Yes the prices are outrageous but we managed to find some items on the brunch menu in our price range and the views of Michigan Avenue, Lake Michigan and the Water Tower are fantastic.
Next we strolled Michigan Avenue, eventually finding ourselves right in front of Garrett's popcorn shop. The line snaked down Michigan Ave, estimated wait, 45 minutes, we decided to skip the appetizer and head straight for the day's main course ... pizza!

Chicago pizza, a crash course
There are three distinct pizza styles in Chicago: Chicago style, also known as deep-dish, which is thick-crusted and demands a knife and fork; stuffed, which is similar to a pie, with a crust on both top and bottom; and thin crust.
Two of the best deep-dish pizza restaurants are Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due, however my preferred pizza is the "stuffed" and my favorite pizza restaurant Giordano's.

Next it was a drive down Lake Shore Drive, passing the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium, all world class museums and a really great way to spend a day, but I'm on a mission and don't have time for "cultural diversions"; we don't even slow down. We pass Soldier's Field, home of the Chicago Bears... Randy what have you guys done, the stadium looks like a flying saucer landed in the middle of it. Anyway we finally reach our destination, Tony's Ice Cream Emporium, only it's not there, the place is boarded up, we're all very disappointed... but still hunger and drown our sorrows at a nearby White Castle. Trust me, there's nothing like the taste of 4 or 5 White Castle hamburgers, also know as "sliders", when you're feeling low.
The rest of of our Chicago trip was spent touring various eating establishments in the city and western suburbs.
My personal favorites-
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
Portillo's, for hot dogs, Italian beef and ribs-- <a href="http://www.portillos.com/portillos/look/" target="_blank">http://www.portillos.com/portillos/look/</A>

Culver's, for shakes and sundaes
Braxton's, in Oak Brook, for seafood
AND
Giordano's, for pizza-- <a href="http://www.giordanos.com/" target="_blank">http://www.giordanos.com/</A>[/list]
...what can I say, the Chicago ozone makes me hungry

The trip home
We listed for first, we got coach, funny the coach seats feel a lot smaller on the way home. For the record, I skipped the Bistro bag on the return trip... my diet you know.

Keep'em flying

Post edited to add websites, so you can waddle home from Chicago too.