Places to Eat

During our stay in downtown Chicago, we’d eat a big breakfast and then have an early dinner before the evening events.  Here are some of the restaurants we visited along Michigan Avenue:

- Yolk is located near the south side of Grant Park and serves huge omelets, fritattas, crepes, 5 types of french toast and variety of pancakes.  My avocado, bacon & cheese fritatta with blackberry/banana multigrain pancakes was awesome!  A local favorite.

- The Corner Bakery Café is located at several locations along Michigan Avenue and perfect for a quick meal. The Wacker location has a nice outdoor patio overlooking the Chicago River.  For breakfast they offer simple scrambles, muffins and coffee cake, as well as several types of oatmeal.  For lunch or a light dinner, they have salads and sandwiches with mini-bundtlette cakes for desserts. 

- We went to Pizzeria Uno to try some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza.  The restaurant, located a couple of blocks west of Michigan, feels like a neighborhood pizzeria  - tiny, but very cozy.  Their deep dish pizza requires some patience and takes about one hour to cook.  It’s a good idea to go during off-peak dinner hours to avoid a long wait.  If there is a wait, try the sister restaurant, Pizzeria Due, which is less than a block away and serves the same pizza.

- We had cocktails at the Grand Lux Café - a beautiful restaurant with copper iridescent walls.  I ordered a chocolate espresso martini (Starbucks Espresso Liqueur, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, Frangelico, Vodka and a Touch of Cream) and enjoyed every decadent sip.

Things to do

Is I mentioned in my previous post, there’s no shortage of cultural events going on in downtown Chicago.  Besides the outdoor concerts and festivals, here are some other things we enjoyed doing in downtown Chicago.

-  Shopping: Strolling down the Magnificent Mile and shopping can easily take up your whole visit.  You’ll find every major retailer along with many specialty stores on the mile. There’s also a free trolley to give you a lift when your feet start to get tired.

-  Architectural Boat Tour: The Architectural Foundation offers an excellent boat tour along the Chicago River.  Our tour guide gave us a great overview of the city’s architectural history and the buildings that make-up its skyline.  

-  Theater:  We went to see Shear Madness at the Chicago Theater, a fun who-done-it mystery/comedy set in a hair salon.  Getting half price tickets was easy at the HotTix outlet a few blocks from the theater.

- Chicago Art Institute:  We loved their collection of miniature rooms as well as their decorative arts section.  They have a very nice café in their courtyard with live music on  weekends. Admission is free on Thursday and Friday evenings during the summer.

-  Mini-tour of Lake Michigan:  For a unique view of the city and a chance to get out on Lake Michigan, take the water taxi from the Navy Pier to the Museum campus ($7).