Yeah, Barleycorn's pretty douchey. Only been there once for my lol10year HS reunion, but you had a great time with the boy and that's all that matters.

Some solid hot dog and pizza trips with the **** and good comedy. Good to hear you guys had a great time.

Theres multiple Barleycorns, LP isnt terrible for football viewing. Cant speak for Wrigleyville one. Which one is considered the douchiest? Or is it just an all encompassing douche

I believe he's referring to the new Barleycorn in River North which is actually pretty decent. Standard River North bar. It's huge. Wrigleyville is intolerable, LP one is meh.

I went to emporium for the first time and man, that's a great blast from the past. Played a some NBA Jam and Simpsons. Not a bar I would frequent, but would be fun to go to once every 2-3 months.

What Chicago-focused websites/blogs does everyone in here frequent on a regular basis?

Personally, I visit the following (plus many more):

News/Activities
190 North
DNAInfo
now YOU know
TimeOut Chicago
Lake View Patch

Food/Drink
312 Dining Diva
Check, Please!
Concierge Preferred
Eater Chicago
Gapers Block
Grub Street
Jeff Eats Chicago
Serious Eats

Real Estate
Crib Chatter
Dream Town Chicago
YoChicago

Err - That's correct it was River North. I can't say what type place it is in a non sporting event type deal. It had a ****pot amount of TV's and good service. On a side note I noticed a very high % of women vs men. The 2 closest tables to me had 9women and zero men. They were all above average.

johnny,

I'd recommend EveryBlock. You pick what neighboorhoods you want to follow and people post news items, new bar/restaurant info, etc. There's an app available as well. Never used it before moving here but it seems to be pretty active here. Only downside is they send you email every time a new story comes up but it's easy to unsubscribe and just check it when you want.

Not bad: http://go-go-go.org/2013/02/04/how-t...e-a-chicagoan/
How to: Visit Chicago Like a Chicagoan

Sorry if this has been asked a ton, but I'm in Chicago tonight for 1 night with a couple other poker players. What's the best place / area to go out to eat then grab drinks afterwards? I've heard wrigleyville and Lincoln Park but I'm open to suggestions obv.

Pretty broad question but yeah, can't go wrong with LP/Lakeview/Wrigleyville. Lots of drink specials out there on Tuesday nights, pretty much unlimited options as far as dinner within the area.

Edit: Generally I'd recommend dinner in LP or Lakeview, then wherever for drinks. I've never eaten in Wrigleyville but the bulk of the better restaurants tend to be in LP/Lakeview, IMO.

Where are you based at? It's a wide open question as there is a ton to do in pretty much every neighborhood

Ya I guess I should have clarified. We haven't booked our hotel yet so we're open to suggestions. Driving there from WI and flying out of O'hare tomorrow afternoon.

I would love to help you out but this still doesn't add much. Is this your first time in Chicago?

Try narrowing it down by neighborhood, type of cuisine, price level or something else (a combination of these would be even better).

Knowing absolutely nothing about you, here are my 10 favorite places to eat in Chicago at the moment:

The Art of Pizza - only recommend delivery or take-out
Girl & the Goat - difficult to get in on short notice
Havana
Hot Doug's - closes at 4 pm, stop by before heading to O'Hare!!!
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab - possibly difficult to get in on short notice
Kuma's Corner
Lao Sze Chuan - two locations (Chinatown or Uptown)
Lillie's Q
The Purple Pig
RPM Italian - difficult to get in on short notice

BONUS 1: Since you're in a car and there is no other way to reach it, I would recommend Calumet Fisheries which is near the Chicago/Hammond, IN border. It's a 2 minute drive from the Horseshoe Casino in case you're playing there.
BONUS 2: I see you're from Atlanta? Perhaps try Big Jones in Andersonville for some good southern cooking.

OR you could visit one of the following places and let me know how it is since these are the 10 places I'm most interested in trying for the first time:

Au Cheval
Bar Pastoral
Bite Cafe
Franks 'N' Dawgs
Frontier
Irazu
Little Goat
Maude's Liquor Bar
Monti's
Piccolo Sogno

Ya 1st time in Chicago. I'm 26, going out with a few guys between 25-30. Want to grab a nice dinner then go out for drinks afterwards. Going with other poker players so budget isn't too big of an issue.

What type of meal/drinking are you looking for? Steakhouse and beers? Fine dining and cocktails? Small plates and wine? Any particular types of food you like?

Preferably a steakhouse or fine dining. Tapas would be cool too. We're getting in kinda late so that might limit our options - wont be able to eat until 10. Our hotel is in wrigleyville but we're looking up restaurants in Lincoln Park. Then we're just bar hopping after that.

Just saw your edit. Thanks for all the suggestions! Ya I'm from Atlanta, but I live in Miami now. I will let you know what we end up doing / how it goes.

Off the top of my head not coming up with any steakhouses in the Wrigleyville/LP area that are not meh.

http://bavetteschicago.com/ - Bavette's is a recently opened, well-reviewed steakhouse behind the Merchandise Mart (downtown). It's slick, it's from a good restaurant group, and I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about it.

Lots of other steakhouses in Chicago, from classics like Mortons, Gibsons, Chop House to newer players like Chicago Cut and Mastro's.

There's definitely good food to be had in Wrigleyville and LP, though I would hardly call them the best destinations in the city. If you're up for bar hopping and beer is your beverage of choice, you probably want to wind up back there for at least the drinking part of the evening.

You can put together a very nice evening on Randolph Street, depending on how booked up places are, though it's not the best bar hopping, I'm sure it's not awful between the bars at Girl and the Goat, Maude's, and others. Similarly Wicker Park could be a really good time between dinner at someplace like Trenchermen or The Bristol, followed with drinks at Big Star, Violet Hour, Blue Bird, etc.

Really the biggest handicap to putting together this evening will be finding really "good" food in LP/Lakeview/Wrigleyville. Bar Pastoral just opened an is already many people's pick for "best" food in the area. It's kind of a void for fine or fine-ish dining.

Awesome. I think we are going to check out bavettes since its open till 11 then go out drinking in LP / wrigleyville. Thanks for all the recommendations!

SOG,
I was actually at Bavette's last night until about 10. Did you go? Too bad I didn't check this thread, I would have encouraged you to try it.

I've had two solid meals at Bavette's. I think it's probably my favorite of the Sodikoff places, all of which I enjoy.

Speak of the devil...this site shut down permanently today

So, only doing one restaurant this year for restaurant week, and we did Two Restaurant, in the old May St. Market space (Grand & May). I was pretty impressed w/the food, maybe just a notch below Ada St., but the portions are more generous. They're doing 4 courses for $33 for Restaurant Week, so if you're looking to make a late addition, I'd recommend.

Haha that is strange. Too bad, it was a pretty good resource for local events etc.

CBOT is very interesting if you're into commodities and markets.

I'd stay away from navy pier unless you have kids..

Should have mentioned this a long time ago but is anybody else going to Wingfest this year? Tickets are sold out (obviously you can get some on CL at some point) but I got mine right away. Never been before.

Also, anybody heading to the Chicago Beer Festival (spring version) at Union Station? Also got my ticket for that recently. Last fall's fest was awesome but note to self...don't go on an empty stomach.

did anyone have any luck w/tickets for pj @ wrigley?