Taste of Chicago

[Brewtacular]

My wife and I are going to be in Chicago the weekend of the 4th. We have some stuff that we are going to around to do but dont really have any plans on the 4th. Neither of us is too familiar with Chicago since we arent from the area but I have heard of this and thought it may be interesting. Any thoughts? Is this a good time or I am likely to get annoyed? Is there something else anyone would reccomend? We will be staying in Arlington Heights but will have a car.

 

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[Ando Calrissian]

If you're going to be downtown during the "Taste" I'd first suggest not taking your car. Use the "L".

[homer]

You can take the Metra from Arlington Heights all the way downtown.

[RockCoCougars]

I agree that Metra is the way to go.

 

Hope you like crowds. This thing makes Summerfest look like a Marlins game.

[PKBadger]

Is there something else anyone would reccomend?

A certain baseball team from Milwaukee is playing in Chicago that weekend...you could try and snag some tickets off StubHub or Craigslist.

[SeriesFinale]

Hot, crowded, expensive

 

But I always enjoyed it. Go in there knowing these things and ready to take it easy, and you should be fine.

[eanelson4]

I really liked Ed Debevic's restaurant when I went there. The waiters are hilariously rude and the food was pretty good. It is kind of like a 50's style diner theme where the waiters/waitresses will dance on the bar every hour or so (if I am remembering correctly).

The best part was when I tried to ask our waiter for a refill on my soda. He passed by and I said "excuse me sir." The waiter promptly replied with "Don't worry, I didn't smell it." Been using that line ever since. It's right in downtown Chicago, so if you want to stop by there while you are doing Navy Pier or something, it is pretty convenient.

Linkage

[homer]

As for other things to do, you can't go wrong with the mainstage show at Second City. Consistently hilarious. If that's sold out, there are other places in town to catch comedy shows - Zanies is right down the road from Sec. City and always has top name acts, IO (formerly Improv Olympic) is up near Wrigley and offers improv until like 1:00am every night of the week (The Del Close Theater is usually where the best acts are) and it's cheap.

[Patrick425]

I really liked Ed Debevic's restaurant when I went there. The waiters are hilariously rude and the food was pretty good. It is kind of like a 50's style diner theme where the waiters/waitresses will dance on the bar every hour or so (if I am remembering correctly).

There was actually an Ed Debevic's open in Milwaukee on Jefferson street for 2 or 3 years. It closed about 7 or 8 years ago.

[Brewtacular]

Good ideas...

One more question for you all...the deep dish pizza. Neither of us has never really had a proper deep dish pizza outside of a trip to Pizzeria Uno downtown Chicago years ago. Any thoughts on where we should go? looks like there is a Gino's East and a Lou Malnatis near were we are staying.

[Bikeage77]

Gino's is great! For two people, one pizza and your good for 2 meals each. I recommend sausage over any other meat topping beacuse they use crumbled sausage. I haven't been there in awhile, but I think it was around $20. Find out which bands are playing taste of Chicago too, as they usually have some normally expensive acts for free. Summerfest type headliners.

[SeriesFinale]

Yeah, I've seen Wilco and Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello and Ray Davies, etc for free out there, all pretty great shows.

[homer]

Gino's or Lou Malnati's are about the same, IMO. Deep dish isn't my thing though. If you want great thin crust head to Bricks on Lincoln and Wisconsin (just south of Fullerton on Lincoln Ave.)

[eanelson4]

There was actually an Ed Debevic's open in Milwaukee on Jefferson street for 2 or 3 years. It closed about 7 or 8 years ago.

Oh wow, I had no idea (I don't live in and am not from Milwaukee)

 

Brewtacular -- If you or your wife are into musicals at all, try to catch Wicked while you are down there. Definately a top notch production, and very entertaining.

[Brewtacular]

Anybody ever been to the Chicago Botanic Garden? Thinking of taking it easy and checking the garden out in Glencoe and perhaps Evanston.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

The Botanic Garden is pretty cool, went their with the wife a couple years ago. I got bored of the flowers sooner than her but they have some nice shrubs and bushes and a large prairie area that is pretty cool. If its a nice day it a good place to be outside and enjoy summer.

 

As for deep dish pizza - I would say Lou's is #1 and I am also a fan of Rosati's but that may be more of a suburban takeout/delivery thing. Don't recall ever seeing a sitdown Rosati's.

 

Also Wicked closed in January so you are out of luck there.

[thebruce44]

There's a botanic garden in Evanston? I live in Evanston and had no idea.

 

For pizza, go with Lou's.

 

I have never been to the Taste mostly because it strikes me as a lame Summerfest with an emphasis on food instead of drinking and music. It will be nice to be down in the park though once the fire works go off though.

[Brewtacular]

There's a botanic garden in Evanston? I live in Evanston and had no idea.

I misspoke. It is in Glencoe which appears to be close to Evanston.

http://www.chicago-botanic.org/

 

Any recommendations if we do check out Evanston? I thought we may take a look at the lighthouse and the lake. My wife has never seen Lake Michigan, or any of the great lakes.

[homer]

No offense to anyone that lives in Evanston, but it's more or less a suburb on the lake. You could walk around Northwestern and look at the lighthouse I guess. If she wants to see the lake you guys could drive south a few miles from Evanston and go to Montrose Beach - not as crowded as North Ave and easier to park.

[thebruce44]

No offense taken, but considering I work in the south end of the loop and my commute is about 25 minutes, I am going to disagree Homer. Evanston can function as its own city, and there is plenty to do there due to the college and a very nice downtown area, but it is perhaps more a part of Chicago than many of the western parts of the actual city and is serviced by the CTA very well.

 

If your wife wants to see the lake and she is looking for it to be less crowded, Evanston offers many great beaches. The one closest to the Campus is fairly crowded but the others never are. If you want a beach with lots of people and things to do, I would recomend the lakefront around Belmont Harbor in the city. Evanston is also known for its dinning. Every restrauant I have been to has been pretty good, and quite a bit cheaper than the loop or Lincoln Park. For shopping, I can't really recomend much, but my mom comes down all the time from Milwaukee to go around to the stores near the Main Street El stop. The downtown area also has a lot of interesting stores. There is also a lot of outside recreational activities that you could find out more about by cheaking the city's website.

 

Hope that helps.

[SeriesFinale]

No offense taken, but considering I work in the south end of the loop and my commute is about 25 minutes, I am going to disagree Homer. Evanston can function as its own city, and there is plenty to do there due to the college and a very nice downtown area, but it is perhaps more a part of Chicago than many of the western parts of the actual city and is serviced by the CTA very well.

I'm apt to agree here--I certainly felt more like I was in Chicago up there than when in, say, Sauganash.

 

ANYWAY, Evanston always had a touch of Madison to me--I always liked it there.

[homer]

True it's very well connected to the city (I"m just a handful of Red Line stops south myself). It does have a nice little downtown but if you are going to go to Chicago to shop and sight-see, why not just go to Chicago and shop and sight see? My point is that Evanston doesn't really offer anything unique. Not saying it's a bad place or anything, but if you are visiting Chicago once a year I probably wouldn't make a trip up there. Again, I'm not ragging on someone for living there at all - but it'd be like visiting Milwaukee and spending all your time in Waukesha.

[Brewtacular]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

As for why we probably won't head into Chicago itself...

My wife is pregnant so I don't really want to deal with loads of walking or crowds from the Taste or lengthy transit in the event she gets exhausted. And frankly, Chicago doesn't do much for me. We've been to loads of major cities. Our deal is really to do some shopping at Japanese and Korean stores in Arlington Heights/Niles so my wife can get some stuff she needs ( I would say want but that is another discussion).

So yeah, I think Evanston sounds a bit more like what we are looking for.

[ChicagoBrewFan]

The taste is interesting but super crowded, and remember that the fireworks here are on the third. If you are looking for something intereting and really cool I recommend the Wendella Boat Architectural tour on the river. The kiosk for it is right in front of Navy Pier.

[thebruce44]

I think you will really like the Evanston area brewtacular. Let me know if you have any other questions and I will try to help out as much as I can.