Yup, exactly like that. I'm on my phone an forgot to clarify what it was.

Very cool. Hopefully more beer spots in the city start to use a menu like that.

KDawg,

Idk, iNG is constantly having these $99/head things through gilt/travelzoo/etc, and that's probably the deal I'd go for ahead of like $35 or whatever for 3 tiny plates of food or whatever.

Clayton,

Note that it's Cafe Spiaggia, not Spiaggia, which is closed for renovations. The Cafe thing does appear a good deal, though.

Just got a res for Grace for Feb. Anyone been there? Managed to sell my Next Steak so figure I'm freerolling!

25 just graduated and will be moving to Chicago for a new job. Rent budget $1200 a month and would prefer to live alone. Trying to decide which neighborhoods to look at

Main things I'm looking for are ability to walk everywhere, and opportunity to meet quality 20s aged women(maybe a coug every now and then). Want a reasonably safe neighborhood, ideally with a lot of young professionals or college students.

I like bars with good selection craft beer, live music, interesting games and/or not a terrible M/F ratio. Not college drunk tank training wheels type places unless they have a gimmick like everyone gets a free tequila shot at the top of the hour that gets people drunk+mingling.

Would like options to go see comedy shows, trivia night, go see a play. Good sports bars to watch football and rugby would be a plus. Within reasonable proximity of a gym where I can squat and deadlift.

Might like to make a poker run to Hammond fairly regularly. I'm thinking being near a place where I can rent a car might be better than bringing one?

Not sure on time/ease of commute. I'd be working in 155 North Wacker.

Leaning Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville so far. Thoughts?

given what you've outlined, run far far far away from wrigleyville. Lincoln Park would be a solid choice depending on where in Lincoln Park you'd live (though you'll have your fair share of college gimmick bars given the proximity to DePaul).

Don't rule out Wicker Par. You'll have great options between Bangers&Lace, Jerry's, Links, and Piece. You'll also be within a walk to Map Room and a short train ride to Revolution and the Radler (though the Radler is more of a restaurant, but they have a wicked tap list).

The Horseshoe runs a free shuttle to and from the casino with stops being made all several places throughout the city. My recommendation is don't drive or rent a car.

Ya I plan on getting up and going to bed pretty early during the week(6AM gym grind) so during the week it will be all about the happy hours and for me it's always been meh at best going somewhere cheap on Friday-Saturday night.

Is Wicker Park really expensive/hard to rent in? On padmapper there maybe 1-2 places in the 600-1200 range and only like 10 pop up when I bumped it to 1800

I lived alone in East Lakeview for four years and really liked it. I paid $850/mo for a studio in a high-rise just north of Lakeshore / Belmont.

Easy access to Lakeshore Drive (~30 min drive to Horseshoe), a few express buses that will take you down to MI Ave / River North, and a few gyms in the area.

I'm not a bar scene type of person so I can't really weigh-in on where the best places to be are (I'd guess Wicker or River North though).

East Lakeview is super safe, reasonably priced, and it's a nice getaway from the city (lots of homes, families, etc). Plus - being by the lake is nice for jogging, etc.

Yeah, this is where I'm at right now. I usually go to Lincoln Park for the bar scene there as Lakeview bars tend to be a bit more divey (with a few exceptions obviously). Will occasionally go to River North/Wicker Park/Old Town etc.

Got a 1BR for $1175 but it's fairly big, which is nice since I need a home office.

Lived in east Lakeview also, sounds ok for what you want. But sounds like Bucktown/Wicker Park is right up your alley. Lincoln Park is definitely hit or miss depending on where you live

Yeah from what I know your budget is pretty lol for wicker Park, but there's some sketchier parts that maybe you can find in your price range. You're not really going to fund a place that fits 100% of your wish list, but having to travel bit for theater and such isn't that much of a hassle. Basically, the wish list sounds good, wp sounds like it's likely where you want to live, the price range is low, so maybe you want to live adjacent to to the good part of wp instead of in it.

Is it bad to live near an El line, noise wise? I'm a pretty heavy sleeper and it prob wouldn't bother me otherwise. If so, how far away should I try to be?

If you're a couple of blocks away, it's fine. It's definitely annoying being very near one though

I lived right next to the Blue Line Damen stop for about a year. I could go out the back door, and literally waive to the people on the platform. The first week or two was absolute hell. Hate to sound cliche, but after a a few weeks, it didn't bother me at all. I agree with KDawg that a couple of blocks would be fine.

Chicago rules. I'm ready to make funds to go splurge there

Any dinner recommendations for restaurants in the Streeterville (?) area? Got my boss in town this week and he's staying at the W on Lakeshore. Ended up at Emilio's tonight which is like an authentic Spanish tapas place, pretty solid. Looked like there were quite a few restaurants in that area but I rarely make it down there.

if you're looking to impress, then take them to RPM Italian

Thanks Kdawg, that looks perfect.

Quartinos is pretty awesome too

We ended up at Eataly last night and my boss loved it. I thought it was a great concept but the portions were kinda small for the price, but I guess you're paying for the experience too. He liked it so much that he wants to go again tonight, though if it was up to me I'd try RPM or something else. Ah well.

So me and my roommates lease is up at end of April. Our landlord has offered us an extension for 6 months. We've both decided to extend it through the summer and get out own places. That extension would make our lease end Oct 31st. Will there be some good selection out there for apartments or should we end the lease Sept 30th? Not sure which month would have more openings. Our landlord has said he's flexible on lease extension term

Completely anecdotal but I would imagine there would be more options available after Sept 30. It's an even "quarter" of the year so I would imagine a higher number of leases would end on that date as opposed to 10/31.

Btw, if you guys need any real estate help in Chicago - a friend of mine does good work and is an ex-poker player / won't screw you over. PM me if you're interested and I can send you his contact info.

I'm going to be in Chicago this Saturday.

I plan on catching part of the dog show in the morning and checking out Michigan Ave in the afternoon.

Is Chinatown worth visiting this time of year?

What is the best way of getting around Union Station -> McCormick Place -> North Michigan Ave -> Union Station?

Go Big Red

I can't answer most of your questions as well as some of these other guys but if you DO go to Chinatown, Lao Sze Chuan is as good of a restaurant as any down there (in terms of the food only).