1 Day in Chicago - What to do?

I'm driving up to Mid Country Malt in a couple weeks to pick up several bags of grain. The girlfriend got the idea to come along and make a trip out of it by staying over in Chicago Friday and hang out Saturday afternoon.

We are 25 and on a fairly tight budget. I'm not a fan of touristy things but will do them if it is truly something good to see. We will have Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon and will be staying downtown.

What do we do?

Navy Pier... it doesn't cost anything to hang out there... there are some cool shops and things to do there. If you wanna get some good pizza, look up Geno's East... it was some of the best Pizza I have ever had. The aquarium is also really nice, but it's a little pricey...

We had pizza (don't go in hungry... it took an hour to cook. mmmm good@!)

We also did the architecture boat tour... it sounds a little cheesey, but I thought it was fascinating. I do not remember how much it cost, but you sit in the boat and cruise all through the city hearing about the history and the buildings.

The rest of the time we just walked. My wife looked in shops.

JMSetzler said:

If you wanna get some good pizza, look up Geno's East... it was some of the best Pizza I have ever had.

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+1 Geno's East is awesome!

I live in Chicago and there's so much to do, depending on your likes and preferences. What sorts of things do you like to do? PM me with any preferences and maybe I can point you in the right direction.

Jeff

We've got a GREAT lakefront for walking, along with Millenium, Grant, and Lincoln Parks. Michigan Ave. is good for walking and looking, too.
IF you can make it, and are willing to spend a couple of $$, I'd head to Goose Island for a couple of pints, and maybe a bite to eat.
Where downtown are you staying ?

JMSetzler said:

Navy Pier....

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No, he wont see any tourists there! :cross:

mklawz said:

No, he wont see any tourists there! :cross:

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...and nobody EVER goes to Dick's Last Resort...

The Field Museum (natural history) and the Art Institute are my favorite two museums - you can easily spend a day in either.

For Friday night, check out www.chicagoreader.com for music, concerts, bar, film and theater listings.

Have fun!

Pappers said:

The Field Museum (natural history) and the Art Institute are my favorite two museums - you can easily spend a day in either.

For Friday night, check out www.chicagoreader.com for music, concerts, bar, film and theater listings.

Have fun!

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Hookers/escorts, too ! Or, so I've been told...

Since you are on a tight budget, you can easily kill a day just walking around downtown. There's tons to see.

Portillos hot dogs are the best!!!!

http://www.rtachicago.com/
This will help you get around town.
24 hour CTA pass is $6 I think.

+1 on Goose Island, last time I was there they had 10 or so taps, now they have 20+.

Hard to beat the Map Room.
They have free eats on weekend afternoons (ribs, chicken, sausages, yum!)
http://www.maproom.com/beer.htm

dfohio said:

I'm driving up to Mid Country Malt in a couple weeks to pick up several bags of grain. The girlfriend got the idea to come along and make a trip out of it by staying over in Chicago Friday and hang out Saturday afternoon.

We are 25 and on a fairly tight budget. I'm not a fan of touristy things but will do them if it is truly something good to see. We will have Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon and will be staying downtown.

What do we do?

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Well, you'll be close to Three Floyds, so stop in there and have a beer and lunch.

Once you're in Chicago, any of the museums are world class, but I would recommend the Museum of Science and Industry. It's really cool and you can easily spend an entire day there. Other museum recommendations is the Field Museum and the Art Institute.

I think hot garbage tastes better than Gino's East. Pizza crust should never be made with corn meal and the sausage patty is gross. Personally, I'd go for an awesome Chicago-style hot dog at Hot Dougs or Superdog or a good local hot dog spot. A close second would be an italian beef at any of those places. You could also get a burger at the Billy Goat Tavern - touristy but good.

Night time ... Second City, Blue Man Group, Noble Fool theater or Steppenwolf would be good though kinda expensive. Or, drinks and hangin' out a neighborhood bar is also fun.

kjung said:

We've got a GREAT lakefront for walking, along with Millenium, Grant, and Lincoln Parks. Michigan Ave. is good for walking and looking, too.
IF you can make it, and are willing to spend a couple of $$, I'd head to Goose Island for a couple of pints, and maybe a bite to eat.
Where downtown are you staying ?

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I think she booked something right off of Michigan ave in the shopping district there. I'm not an upscale guy by any means so I doubt I'll be doing any shopping.

I'm all for walking around and just taking the environment in and I like to experience things that are unique to that city. We had already talked about heading to Goose Island for some pints.

There's a great new micro called Half Acre Beer that's up in Wrigleyville if you're wanting something beer-related. If you just can't get enough beer-related stuff, there's Two Brothers Brewing out in Warrenville (about an hour west), and they do a free tour and samples on Saturdays.

As far as cheap and cool... I would definitely recommend either the Shedd Aquarium or the Field Museum. I would personally avoid Navy Pier for just "browsing" if you don't want to be around tourists... the architecture and skyline boat tours are awesome though. Plan on $20-$35 a person for those though.

MrInternet said:

There's a great new micro called Half Acre Beer that's up in Wrigleyville if you're wanting something beer-related. If you just can't get enough beer-related stuff, there's Two Brothers Brewing out in Warrenville (about an hour west), and they do a free tour and samples on Saturdays.

As far as cheap and cool... I would definitely recommend either the Shedd Aquarium or the Field Museum. I would personally avoid Navy Pier for just "browsing" if you don't want to be around tourists... the architecture and skyline boat tours are awesome though. Plan on $20-$35 a person for those though.

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That's not Wrigleyville. I grew up in that neighborhood. Wrigleyville is southeast of there. Also, the last time that I was there(a couple of months ago), Half Acre was still in the process of building, and there's reall nothing to tour, although the brewmaster was VERY nice, and talked quite a bit about beer, and even offered a tasting to me and SWMBO.

kjung said:

That's not Wrigleyville. I grew up in that neighborhood. Wrigleyville is southeast of there. Also, the last time that I was there(a couple of months ago), Half Acre was still in the process of building, and there's reall nothing to tour, although the brewmaster was VERY nice, and talked quite a bit about beer, and even offered a tasting to me and SWMBO.

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haha... sorry, that's what I get for multi-tasking, I did mean to say NEAR Wrigleyville.

And I've only had their beers on tap at other places... I thought for sure I'd heard that they were serving/tasting on location now. I guess I got some bad info, I apologize!

MrInternet said:

haha... sorry, that's what I get for multi-tasking, I did mean to say NEAR Wrigleyville.

And I've only had their beers on tap at other places... I thought for sure I'd heard that they were serving/tasting on location now. I guess I got some bad info, I apologize!

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No, I may very well be wrong. As I said, it's been a couple of months since I've been back up to the old 'hood.

Go to Wrigley and laugh at the Cubs. Berate all their "fans". It will be worth it.

kjung said:

No, I may very well be wrong. As I said, it's been a couple of months since I've been back up to the old 'hood.

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Nope, never been there myself, I definitely got bad info... the OP should definitely catch a pint or two fom them while in town though.

For a SURE THING, and if staying mostly downtown, Goose Island is near the top... oh, and the Map Room for atmosphere+beer.

Best beer bar, hand down in town is Hopleaf, up in andersonville.

Hop the red line north up that way. Brown line works too, but youll need a cab depending on where you get off.

Be prepared for masses of major beer nuts, no sports, no macro brew, awesome food, 250+ belgian beers in the bottle and around 30 craft/belgian on tap.


Good neighborhood for a pub crawl too. Hit Charlies Ale House and Simons for sure.

The best place for eats is the Berghoff, on Adams Street by the courthouse. Authentic German cuisine for not a whole lot of money. Beer's pretty good, too, but nothing like what we all brew.

I don't get to Chicago much, but I always liked the Science and Industry museum.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I think we are planning on the Goose Island pub, but other than that its still wide open; too many things to choose from. I don't see us going to any museum or aquarium unless the weather is awful. Keep bringing the ideas, they are helpful.

Jim Karr said:

The best place for eats is the Berghoff, on Adams Street by the courthouse. Authentic German cuisine for not a whole lot of money. Beer's pretty good, too, but nothing like what we all brew.

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The bergoff closed a couple years ago. All thats left is a small sandwich counter and a catering company.

I don't get downtown much either, but I would recommend walking around downtown during the day- that’s my favorite time to go, especially when I’m visiting clients, and hitting the pub later on. Who knows you may end up seeing something you want to do, but if the weather isn’t so great you could always hit up one of the museums. Oh, and check Yelp for reviews on food places if you aren’t sure.

Last place that I had beer blow my socks off was here http://www.piecechicago.com/flash/index.html and the best part was the pints and bigger glasses where 5$ GF loved the pizza I just thought it was ok. Then again i like Pizza Hut

Grummle said:

Last place that I had beer blow my socks off was here http://www.piecechicago.com/flash/index.html and the best part was the pints and bigger glasses where 5$ GF loved the pizza I just thought it was ok. Then again i like Pizza Hut

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Piece is NY style pizza and not really near downtown. Although you can get there via train. If you want to just go explore where it's not so touristy but there are things to do. Take the blue line to damen or take the brown line to the Belmont stop and head east until you reach clark st. There should be a good number of people meandering at both of those spots all day and night. There are alot of music venues, (double door, sbuterranean, and a couple more I can't think of right now) neat record shops and bars at the damen stop. Thift stores and record shops are in abundance on clark too.

Okay, I have to jump in here as I get all over this city that is one of the loves of my life. First, Berghoff is back open, though I don't recommend it. Better German food to be had at Laschett's on Irving Park Road about 3 blocks from the Brown Line. As for best beer bar, I can't stand Hopleaf, it has mediocre food and the worst layout I've ever seen with next to no room at the front. Aside from that, the beer selection is as good as any in the city. I prefer Sheffield's, personally, after Map Room. Sheffield's is super easy to get to right off of the redline/brownline at Belmont, just north on Sheffield. Awesome crowd and tons of good drafts and decent barbeque. Piece is also an excellent option that I try and hit a couple times a month, excellent beers and awesome New England style pizza (technically not NY style, but whatever). And Goose Island is fantastic, 20+ taps and four casks of their own beers, plus guest drafts. Also, I believe Half Acre did just open the doors to their tasting room and store, which reminds me I need to get over there! Lastly, I recommend hitting Rock Bottom downtown. The brewmaster there, Pete Crowley, is doing some really cool stuff. It's definitely worth checking out and is likely a stone' throw from your hotel. Any questions, PM me

Map Room, Kuma Corner, and the Hopleaf. My three favorite so far.

Conversation starter:

1) Find the chair reserved parking spot.
2) Put the chairs in your trunk.
3) Occupy the parking spot
4) Hilarity ensues.

the 'new' bergoff is fail. The Bergoff is dead. long live the bergoff.

You couldnt be more wrong about hopleaf. The Mussels are some of the best you will find anywhere. The play on the ham and cheese sanwich with nuskies ham and locally sourced swiss on fresh marble rye from the bakery down the street is amazing. The winter sausage plate.. omg.

There are 3 spaces. The bar room, the dining room, and upstairs in the back. All three have different feels. Does it get crowded on friday and saturday nights up front? Yes, because its such a damn fine bar.

Sheffields is just another sports bar with a meh beer selection.

Map room rocks, but the clientele is bucktown hipsters galore, most with annoying 'tudes and even worse clothes. Also gets crazy crowded on fri/sat nights, with the same 'crappy' layout of hopleaf and about as much space. I do like this joint, but its better for an afternoon beer stop.

Piece is hit or miss. Their pizza is... marginal. Pequods is far better. Their beer CAN be excellent, but more often than not they have marginal beers on tap. Goose Island is a more sure shot to find something exceptional than Piece.

The only thing I agree with is Rock Bottom. Yes, its a chain. No, its nowhere near as good as Goose Island. But... surprisingly, they've been doing some decent beers in last few years, and the back space with the pool tables is quite friendly and open.


( I lived in ravenswood for 4 years before moving to Houston recently, and grew up in the western burbs. All of my 20s in ravenswood/lincoln park/andersonville/uptown. Love Chicago, and would move back in a heartbeat if the job called for it or allowed for it.)

mindcrime said:

the 'new' bergoff is fail. The Bergoff is dead. long live the bergoff.

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The berghoff hasn't been good for about 10 years now (some of which was closed). Don't bother with it and their beer isn't any good either. It's contract brewed by Miller.

mindcrime said:

Sheffields is just another sports bar with a meh beer selection.

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Unless you're a 24-26 year old Chad or Trixie looking for a meat-market, Sheffields probably isn't your scene.

srm775 said:

The berghoff hasn't been good for about 10 years now (some of which was closed). Don't bother with it and their beer isn't any good either. It's contract brewed by Miller.



Unless you're a 24-26 year old Chad or Trixie looking for a meat-market, Sheffields probably isn't your scene.

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Again, I disagree on the Sheffiled's thing, they've really amped up their beer status, bringing in tons of local beers. Yes, the crowd in the front can be crappy, but the beer school bar in the back is cool. Last time I was there ~1 week ago they had 5 different 3 Floyds on draft, always have surly, get some great one-offs (Ommegang Rouge anyone?). And I continue to say that the crowd at Hop Leaf is worse than at Map Room. But whatever, to each his own. And the pizza argument is moot, everyone has their preferences for that. But Hop Leaf's food has gone downhill the last two years, with the changes in staff. But one thing that you can't argue is that the quality of German food around Lincoln Square is tremendous (Laschett's, Resi's, Brauhaus, et al). Regardless, it would be hard not to have a good time here in Chicago...

noblesquirrel said:

Again, I disagree on the Sheffiled's thing, they've really amped up their beer status, bringing in tons of local beers. Yes, the crowd in the front can be crappy, but the beer school bar in the back is cool. Last time I was there ~1 week ago they had 5 different 3 Floyds on draft, always have surly, get some great one-offs (Ommegang Rouge anyone?). And I continue to say that the crowd at Hop Leaf is worse than at Map Room. But whatever, to each his own. And the pizza argument is moot, everyone has their preferences for that. But Hop Leaf's food has gone downhill the last two years, with the changes in staff. But one thing that you can't argue is that the quality of German food around Lincoln Square is tremendous (Laschett's, Resi's, Brauhaus, et al). Regardless, it would be hard not to have a good time here in Chicago...

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That's my old 'hood, and two of the places where I practically grew up...although back then, Laschett's didn't have a kitchen, and I won't go back because of the new owner's attitude. Just a personal thing.

Well, the trip is over. Thanks to everyone for the ideas. We did not get to do near as much as we would have liked in the 1 day but it was still a good time.

Highlights -

It rained both days but....

First, The girlfriend and I drove into South Holland to Mid Country Malt. I pulled into the docking driveway and loaded my 4 sacks of grain. The smell of that place was amazing as was the sight of a warehouse stacked full of malt.

We then checked into the Conrad hotel. It was a really nice room but I don't really get excited when it comes to hotels. The girlfriend loved it. We walked around a bit and I followed her while she looked in some stores.

We then took a cab to Goose Island brewpub on Clybourne. We sat a table next to the bar. The place had a pretty relaxed atmosphere, only 1 TV with the volume very low. It was all about the beer. We had the pretzels and I really enjoyed the stone ground brown mustard.
As for beer - I had a nut brown to start, a cask conditioned oktoberfest, the xxx porter and the smoked bock.
The nut brown was a lot better on draft there then when I have had it in the bottle.
The cask conditioned oktoberfest was something I didnt think would work, but I actually enjoyed it a lot.
XXX porter - definitely not my idea of a porter but none the less decent. It was aggressively hopped in the flavor with cascade and centennial.
Smoked Bock - I found a beer that I will probably never brew. This beer had so much cherry wood flavor that I thought I was eating bbq. It was definitely too smokey for me and had just a touch of a alcohol bite at the end.

Overall, we both had a great time there. That night we went out to eat pizza and just relaxed. The next morning it was still raining.

We made it up the Hancock Tower which was pretty cool and we both really enjoyed the experience. We had some coffee and watched what seemed to be a blizzard. We came down to realize it was raining on the ground.

We walked to Millennium park and took some pictures. I then followed her around shopping again. We wanted to go to a museum because of the rain, but instead decided to head home.

On the way home we stopped at 3 Floyd's brewing. A neat little place that was at capacity and we actually had to wait to get in. During the wait, I realized that they had hops growing as their landscape which was a cool touch. (yes, I took some) I had an Alpha King for the first time and loved it. The hop flavor was the spotlight for me. She had a Robert the Bruce, which was also very tasty.

We decided to take the tour, and I was pretty disappointed. To me it was more of an elementary lesson on brewing, than a tour of their brewing process. I thought the guide was arrogant, constantly saying that they were the best brewery in the world. There were no real specifics on their beers and no tastings offered. I'm not sure if my expectations were too high, but I would have rather spent my time back in the pub.

Overall it was a good trip, and probably one we will be making annually. I want to thank everyone who gave suggestions as they were very helpful.

Sorry for the incomplete sentences - I was just trying to make it concise.

Glad you had a good time. My wife and I are going to stay downtown for our anniversary in about 3 weeks and will probably have the same things in mind.

Goose Island is a must and hopefully maproom if it all works out.

That is to bad about 3floyds, I have had bad service there but it is usually good. The tour they usually offer a bottle of something and you drink it through the tour.