we always go to the Brookfield zoo fyi i can elaborate when i'm not typing on the ps3

For those who don't know, it should be noted that Arun's is not a typical Thai place which serves $6 pad thai. Meals here easily run $100 per person. Good food, although personally I prefer other restaurants in this price range.

Lake Front

Driving on Lake Shore Drive isn't really a whole lot of fun, I just always liked that song. The point is, that the lake front is stunningly beautiful. A bike path/jog path along the lake covers most of the length of the city. Cycling on the Northside in the Summer sucks due to overcrowding and people with poor cycling skills. But the South Side is always fun.

Some spots along the path.

Promontory Point - 5491 South Shore Drive
Nice place to have a picnic and some wonderful views of the lake and the city. You can venture into Hyde Park, home of the University of Chicago. It's been said that there are more Nobel Prize winners per square mile in this neighborhood than there are any where in the world. This is also the location of the previously mentioned Museum of Science and Industry. If you're interested in architecture you can visit Robie House 5757 S. - Woodlawn Ave. If you go a little farther North into Kenwood you can find Barack Obama's house.

31st street beach
Spending some time here is worth it just for the delicious smells of BBQ.

Lincoln Park Zoo - Fullerton and Lake Shore Drive
One of the best things about the Zoo, is that it's free. Parking is expensive. But if you walk there, it won't cost you anything and the bus is only $2.00. The big ape house is great, along with the africa exhibit, the children's zoo, the small mammal and reptile house and the bird house. Unfortunately, if you're looking for elephants, you won't find any. It's illegal to have elephants within the city limits.

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum - 2430 N Cannon Drive
Right next to the zoo. Check out the Butterfly room. You can watch butterflies hatch from their cocoons year round.

The Chess Pavilion
If you enjoy chess and gambling this is where you want to go.

The Totem Pole - Near LSD and Waveland
It's just kind of cool that there's a totem pole in the middle of the park. It's a nice place to meet friends and play some hacky sack. If you head back to the lake, you'll find the big boulders that maintain the shore integrity. There's a long standing tradition of graffiti on these rocks. Some of the graffiti has been dated back to the 1920's.

I'm a Cubs fan, but it's a lot easier to get Sox tickets. The food is better and on Saturday Nights they have a great fireworks show after the game.

Historical Sites

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb and Memorial - E 35th Street and S Cottage Ave
Nice looking place. I just enjoy the irony that the pro-slavery Democrat is buried and memorialized in an African American neighborhood.

Biograph Theatre - 2433-43 N. Lincoln Ave.
This is where John Dillinger was killed by the FBI. Sadly it's no longer a movie theatre. They show stage productions there now. But it still looks a lot like it did back when Dillinger was a guest.

Pullman Historical District 11151 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
Originally a company town for the employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company, it was eventually annexed into the City of Chicago. The place has kind of an erie medieval feel to it.

Haymarket Memorial Corner of Randolph and Desplaines
Takes you back to the good old days when the terrorists were European Christians.

Graceland Cemetery - 4001 N Clark Street
Elvis isn't buried here, but many prominent Chicagoans are. Including: George Pullman, Louis Sullivan , Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Allan Pinkerton. Make sure the Cubs aren't in town when you go, as the ballpark is close to the cemetery.

For more on Chicago's History, you can go to the Chicago History Museum - 1601 N. Clark St. It's located in Lincoln Park close to the zoo and old town. So you can park/cab/bus there and spend time at all locations.

a great BYO I would highly reccomend is Cotes Du Rhone in Andersonville off of broadway. Free Corkage(at least for now until they get their liquor liscense) and really good food at a solid price(most entrees will be around $20-30) and a really good staff. I was there for a birthday dinner with some friends last week and the entire staff was great. Hell, they even had Foie Gras almost right after the ban got lifted

I completely disagree. If you are looking for molecular gastronomy, Alinea is the best option in the city and indeed in the entire country (probably world) from all Ive heard ( I cant afford to go there just yet .) But it certainly is not fine dining imo. Its an event onto itself, and you dont really go there cuz youre hungry. Thats not to say that you wont be satiated, but it takes something like 3 or 4 hours to complete the 24 course tasting menu...

and by "intriguing" Im guessing you mean "doubtful" ? I mean seriously, you cant have had anything that resembles a good slab if you think these are the best. Its simple schematics. An italian place does not sell enough ribs to warrant the equipment and time needed to make truly amazing ones.

If you are interested in some really amazing bbq though, check out smoque. http://www.smoquebbq.com/

BLASPHEMY!

Wrigley bleachers > *

Who needs "good food" when you have foot long brats?

best french food in the city can be found at Old Town Brasserie. And Im not just saying that because I work there. The chef previously ran La Francais in its heyday and also Les Nomades and Carlos'. Prices are really reasonable too, with entrees falling between 24 and 30$.

boom,

multiquote bro!

that is indeed what i kind of meant by "intriguing." i haven't had a chance to check out smoque yet (even though they did a joint even with one of my favorite places in the city: Juicy Wine, on Milwaukee). apparently the suburbs and such are littered with great bbq places.

on juicy wine bar: totally unpretentious wine bar, owner is on site almost always, prices are great. bottles i believe are $20 + retail price (or something very close to that), which sure beats out 100-200% markups on a decent bottle of wine. they have no stove in house. closest thing is a panini grill. they have paninis, cheese, charcutri (sp?), assorted other things, and most people's favorite, a trio of butters with salts. relaxed, good music, frequent interesting events, and i believe they now have brunches on weekends (food brought from harolds chicken, i think). http://juicywine.com/

i also wouldn't really debate alinea being either fine dining or an event unto itself. in terms of fine dining, they certainly have excellent preparation, great taste, fantastic service, great wine list, etc. i don't know many "fine dining" places that don't take >2.5 hours to sit for a 3+ course meal. that the food is molecular gastronomy, or that the largest meal takes a long time, i don't think DQs it from being a fine dining establishment.

will have to check out your brasserie sometime soon.

points well taken

oh and smoque isnt in the burbs, just not downtown.

Maybe Ill check out juicy, but I honestly dont know much about wine. I like it, but I couldnt tell you the difference between... err.. I cant even think of two red wines off the top of my head... Map room is more my cup of tea

A type of food that doesn't get a lot of press and is definitely worth trying is Ethiopian. Chicago has at least one great Ethiopian restaurant, about 6900 N ish on Broadway, called Diamonds. It really is terrific. There's also a newer one, a couple of miles, south of Diamonds (also) on Broadway. I don't remember the name but it's at the intersection of Broadway/Lawrence, so you basically can't miss it.

I noticed that Andersonville was briefly mentioned, and it's a great area for some hidden gems as far as restaurants go. There's also a cool bar, Simon's, which is close to everything.

For live music try Schuba's or Martyrs (both in lakeview), or Subterranean (Wicker Park).....

I like to go to Mama Desta's Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant - 3216 N Clark. It's another place near the ball park so don't go on game days. It is however, a nice place to go after the game if you're already there.

If you're unfamiliar with Ethiopian food, it's similar to Arabic and Indian food. They use a flat bread similar to pita or naan. Although it tastes much differently. Wonderful service and the staff is happy to explain the various foods to you. It's been a few years since I've been there. But if I remember correctly, you don't get any silverware. The bread is used instead.

I could be wrong but I think you mean "Ethopian Diamond", not "Diamonds"?

My freind works a schubas and I went to school with the schuba kids, never been myself though. Sub T is a pretty cool concert venue though, they have some good underground hip hop.

I don't know if they still do it, but Schuba's used to have a pretty nice spread for breakfast on the weekends.

Let's keep this thread going please as I'm moving to Chicago at end of summer.
My job is based out of Aurora but I'll most likely be living in the city.
Most of my friends live in Lincoln Park so I can echo Taylor's recommendation of the bars around there. Pretty fun time, much different vibe than LA.

If you'll be commuting to Aurora a lot, you might want to live on the near west side rather than Lincoln Park. Greektown, Little Italy and the UIC campus are all closer to the expressway. Or the Metra station if you're taking that route.

Chalk this up as the kind of information that is invaluable when need arises:

http://www.chicagos-pizza.com/

This place delivers pizza until 5:00 AM. Not the very best but serviceable, and let's be honest -- at 5:00 AM when you need a pie, it's not because you're writing "5 Best Pizzas" for TimeOut Chicago, amirite?

Others have mentioned most of the stuff you need to do already. Lou Malnati's is somewhat of an acquired taste in terms of pizza. Their deep dish sausage is absolutely my favorite pizza, but i used to prefer Unos/Dues (they are the same restaurant FYI, just different locations by one block) and Giordanos. Lou Mal's sauce has a stronger tomato taste. If you like sausage, they lay a thick layer of sausage patty on the top.

Signature Room - If you want to avoid some of the priciness and get a similar experience, go to the 96th floor for drinks instead of dinner.

Steaks - I won't get into a debate about what the best place is. A less expensive yet delicious option is Tango Sur on Southport and Grace. It is BYOB and doesn't take reservations.

Lincoln Park Zoo - As mentioned free, but also really close to the lake. You can walk through the zoo and then proceed to North Ave beach for a walk along the lake and then end up at castaways to drink some overpriced can beer, listen to music, people watch and hang out.

Cubs games - Tickets will probably cost some money. I heard the Wrigley tour is pretty good too if the Cubs are out of town. There are only about 200 bars within a 3 block radius of the stadium, so you have plenty of options there.

Breakfast - If you're in the suburbs, Walker Bros. Original Pancake House in Wilmette is solid. If you're in the city, there are plenty of options in every neighborhood.

Late Night Food - Burritos: I like Taco Burrito Palace #2, Allende's and a few others. Wiener Circle has good cheese fries, hot dogs, burgers, etc. It also has incredible people watching/interactive entertainment post-midnight on the weekend nights.

I'm sure I left out a ton.

This thread is great. I am moving to Chicago from Boston in a month.
I will be living in Hyde Park and am a vegetarian. There has been a lot of talk about restaurants, anyone have any recommendation's for the best veg(an) places in the city? And I don't really mean great restaurants who have a couple options on their menu. More restaurants who are a little more animal/eco/politically aware. I understand Chicago is meat oriented, so no need to bash, but some tips would be wonderful.

I'm definitely not a vegetarian, so take this with a grain of salt. But I know vegetarians like the Chicago Diner.

http://www.veggiediner.com/

Me and my friends go there a lot before heading to the annoyance or the green mill (both right across the street). They have a band come in that plays pretty cool background music, sort of similar to Mulatu Astatke (don't be afraid of the guys with the horns, they don't blare in your ear).

The improv community around is pretty significant, if that's your thing. Not quite the same as second city although the folks overlap. Too Much Light is a classic production, right around the corner from the Hopleaf. Buy your ticket, go around the corner for a beer, then come back for the show.

The volleyball scene is ridiculous here, both indoors and at the beach. We get no respect being in the midwest but the caliber of players here is definitely better than anyone else north of LA.

I live kinda close to this, never eaten there, but its definitely popular. It's also in boystown, which is the most densely populated gay area in Chicago (Country?). Not that there's anything wrong with it, just a heads up.

The Chicago Diner is really way better than I expected. Best vegan milkshake I've ever had. It's pretty typical diner fare, done with fairly typical fake meats and stuff, but they do a really good job of making it not taste like reformulated soy. I love me some meat, but I have to admit that I liked this.

For higher end dining, consider Green Zebra. While I mostly don't like places with small plates of any type, Green Zebra is really good, and vegetarian (possibly vegan, I don't know). Great chef (same chef as Spring, and Custom House), good feel, and the food is creative, seasonal, and tasty.

Further south from Hyde Park, consider Soul Vegetarian (I believe on 75th). They do "soul" food, but vegan. Again, heavy on the fake meat products, as opposed to just well done vegetables, but this stuff is great. Fake meat burgers, and sloppy joes, etc. They also do "roasts." Fried okra, onion rings, etc. You won't come out of this meal feeling like you've just eaten health food. Also, Soul Vegetarian I believe has a variety of options offered at coffee shops around campus (University of Chicago).

There is a pair of restaurants (Karyn's Cooked and Karyn's Raw, I believe) that do vegetarian stuff that people talk well about. I've only done the cooked version, and was "eh" on it. Some stuff that I didn't think would be done well was, but the milkshakes were really depressing after the Chicago Diners'.

Blind Faith in Evanston is quite good. Don't really have much else to say about it.

Ethiopian offers great variety for vegetarians (as do the plentiful Thai places in Chicago) that are not offered in many cities.

Also, the Devon area (not convenient to U of C at all) is plentiful with Indian and Pakistani places that are vegetarian friendly (some are vegetarian restaurants, some are not).

I'm not going to make any comments about the "animal/eco aware"ness of any of these places except what I've already said about the availability or 100%ness of their vegetarianness.