<p>Any suggestions on moving from Charlotte to Chicago? Ideal neighborhoods to live in? How to learn the L? Best place for quick but cheap eats? Anything else you can think of?</p>
<p>I will get back to this, but in my opinion Chicago is the best city in America.</p>
<p>then you and I are in agreement.</p>
<p>Quick but cheap eats: Chicago-style hotdogs, Italian beef ---- at almost anyplace you see a Vienna redhots sign. Don’t dawdle when ordering—know what you want. Ask for a dog with everything, they’ll probably ask if you want sport peppers, too. You can turn those down if you want. But don’t put ketchup on your hotdog. EVER! It’s just wrong. If you want sweet peppers on your beef, tell 'em. If you want it dunked, tell 'em. If you want both, tell 'em “sweet and wet”. Great pizza places everywhere, deep dish or thincrust.
More familiar with the west 'burbs these days, but for hot dogs: Johnny’s in Melrose Park; Tasty Dog in Oak Park; also a place at Ogden & Austin in Cicero; Kings & Queens in Berwyn; Carms, Kombs in LaGrange. For Beef: Carms in LaGrange. Giordano’s is a favorite----several branches. Connie’s in Lisle (?); Salernos in Berwyn. Many, many others.</p>
<p>^Damn right about the beefs and the hot dogs.
Doggie Diner is another pretty good hot dog place in the suburbs. There are five locations: one in Woodridge, one in Bolingbrook, one in Romeoville, one in Plainfield, and one in Aurora.
Portillo’s is really good too. Their Italian beef is AMAZING. They’re a chain (only found in Chicagoland area though), but their food is sooooooo good. You really cannot go wrong with anything on their menu.
Another really good Italian beef place is Al’s. They have multiple locations in the city/surrounding suburbs which can be found on their website.</p>
<p>[Carl</a> Sandburg Poems - Chicago](<a href=“http://carl-sandburg.com/chicago.htm]Carl”>Carl Sandburg Poems - Chicago)</p>
<p>I was severely disappointed in the Chicago pizza when I went there for the first time recently.
That being said, I know REAL good pizza since I’m a New Yorker.</p>
<p>Other than that, I have nothing to contribute. I really really liked Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.</p>
<p>Chicago has pizza wrong. Pizza is not some heavy deep dish food that you eat with a spoon and fork. It is perfect on a thin crust, fresh and hot from coal oven with high quality ingredients in the perfect proportions that you can eat with your hands. Chicago style pizza is like eating cake or something. It’s food for fat Midwesterners.</p>
<p>^ Chicago has both thin crust and deep dish pizza. I’ve heard the deep dish style called Chicago style and thin crust referred to as NY style, but as someone who grew up in Chicago, thin crust and deep dish are equally prevalent. </p>
<p>No one claimed it’s not fattening. lol Your personal preference happens to be thin crust. That’s fine and perfectly acceptable, even among Chicagoans.</p>
<p>I’ve been all over the country and it’s very difficult to find good pizza outside Chicago, which is surprising since former Chicagoans live everywhere. Some people have resorted to having it air freighted to where they live. </p>
<p>Once when I was vacationing on the Outer Banks in NC, I went into a small hole-in-wall pizza joint. The pizza was recognizably Chicago pizza. When I asked the waitress if the cook was from Chicago she said “yes” very enthusiastically. When she returned to our table with another item, she was visibly scared and clearly did not want to talk about where the cook was from. Perhaps he stole the secret family recipe or maybe was hiding out from the mob. In any case, even though there are many different pizza places in Chicago, they all serve recognizably Chicago pizza, whether thin crust or deep dish, or they wouldn’t stay in business. I can’t quite define what makes it a Chicago pizza, but I know it when I taste it. I think most Chicagoans would agree.</p>
<p>I don’t really care for deep dish, it feels like I’m eating lasagna. It’s awesome, just not what I consider pizza.</p>
<p>Chicago has the best steakhouses in the US, I can think of 5 off the top of my head. </p>
<p>Plus, Chicago is the best sports town in America, period.</p>
<p>How to learn the El: get yourself a CTA map as well as a Metra map (Metra goes out to the suburbs). Know what kind of neighborhoods the El goes thru, some places are rather seedy and can be unsafe depending on what time of day/night you’re traveling. Ideal neighborhoods is another question - depends on what you’re looking for. There’s everything from predominantly ethnic (Andersonville) to trendy (Wicker Park, Lincoln Park), mixed white/hispanic/black, mostly Hispanic, all white neighborhoods, all black neighborhoods, a real melting pot. Depends on what you can afford and where you feel comfortable.</p>
<p>There are hot dog stands all over - a good rule of thumb is that if they have a Vienna sign in the window, you can’t go wrong. And Connies thin crust pizza is my favorite!</p>
<p>You gotta pick a team—Cubs or Sox—one or the other, no hedging your bets, no splitting your love—probably depends whether you’re more northside or southside, in-between you get a choice. Of course, everyone loves da Bears.</p>
<p>Pick a new beer: Unless you drink a premium or import (no, not Coors), you need to find a local beer—Old Style recommended. </p>
<p>Pick a grocery store: Either Dominicks or Jewel—both about equal. </p>
<p>winter tip: If you live in a crowded neighborhood where on-street parking is at a premium and you see a space that is shoveled clear of snow, don’t park there unless you were the one that shoveled it out. Especially, don’t park there if you see a couple of old chairs in the space with a broomstick stretched between them. It’s not against the law to park there, but don’t do it. or else.</p>
<p>driving tip: Don’t drive on the Dan Ryan Expy. if you don’t have to. </p>
<p>Vote early, vote often. In the city, you must vote Democratic. Just do what your precinct captain tells ya (you want your garbage picked up, don’t ya?) and don’t make no waves, don’t back no losers. In the suburbs, you get a choice. (Actually, just kidding—the machine ain’t what it used to be.)</p>
<p>navigation: Streets mostly laid out in a grid pattern. Chicago has 8 blocks to the mile with a major cross street each mile. The starting point for addresses is State & Madison downtown. State runs north & south. Madison runs east & west. So, an address like 4800 west Madison St. is 48 blocks west of State & Madison. Very simple. A few diagonals here & there just to keep it interesting. The Lake is always East.</p>
<p>Best tips for Chicago: WARM boots, WARM coats, WARM gloves.
Don’t forget WARM hat.
It can be really really really cold in Chicago.
And I moved there from Connecticut, not Charlotte.</p>
<p>ps. I LOVE deep dish and stuffed pizza, but it’s very different from thin crust. Both are great, but I have to have stuffed pizza once a year when I visit Chicago!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, if you don’t know it, they play 16" softball in Chicago. They play regular softball too, but I think Chicago and Detroit might be the only places where they also play 16". No mitt necessary.</p>
<p>Chicago definitely has the best pizza. Not only can you get deep dish, but they know how to make better thin crust pizzas than New York too.</p>
<h2>Oh yeah, if you don’t know it, they play 16" softball in Chicago. They play regular softball too, but I think Chicago and Detroit might be the only places where they also play 16". No mitt necessary. ~ Zapfino</h2>
<p>No, that’s actually quite popular now.</p>
<p>But, it may have very well originated in Chicago.</p>
<p>this is good stuff. better than what i got by just googling “moving to chicago”. please keep the suggestions going. how about places to live. the school i’m looking it has it’s main campus in lincoln park, bt all of my classes would be in their loop campus. I was looking at lincoln park, but also at lakeview, andersonville, and wrigleyville (which I think is in andersonville, or something like that). Think college student budget.</p>
<p>You’re looking at DePaul from what it sounds like? Awesome school.</p>
<p>Regarding places to live–
I’d say around Wrigleyville/Lakeview. Wrigleyville is an awesome area (lots of things to do, awesome nightlife), and easy access to the Red line (very convenient).</p>
<p>We have really good pizza places here, but there are some really bad ones too. I like deep dish too and tomato pie. Be careful, its windy in chicago like you wouldn’t believe. you better get a wind breaker or a trench coat.</p>
<p>@ anotherday,</p>
<p>yeah, Depaul’s number one on my list right now. I just have to make sure I get the GMAT score to get in. How are the rates for places in Wrigleyville or Lakeview? I don’t want to have to stay in the shadiest neighborhood in the city to save money, but I don’t want to be apartment broke either.</p>
<p>@ kollegekid,</p>
<p>I tend to like pizza, period. So whether it’s deep dish or not, as long as its edible it should be fine with me. As far as the wind, I’m probably not going to find anything down here that would even remotely protect me from Chicago winters, assuming its as brutal as people say it is. If we even start to get a few flakes of snow here, the entire city seems to shut down.</p>