<p>We visited last year at the end of march. Cold and windy, my ears were feeling frozen. After buying a fleece headband I was fine. Our favorite place is the Hancock tower observatory.</p>
<p>We got a great deal at a hotel downtown, $120 per night, a block from Michigan Ave. Shop around</p>
<p>Indiana91, let’s go in together on one of those brownstones on the north side. I figure $1.5 million apiece could get us started!</p>
<p>Any recommendations for places to eat with the whole family?</p>
<p>You have to be more specific. Places to eat with the whole family, across from the Jefferson Park CTA/Metra stop, where you might run into a Blackhawk (Patrick Sharp)
have a magician at your table, great food and service: Gale Street Inn.</p>
<p>Any recommend for real Chicago pizza?</p>
<p>Pizza should be a lively discussion - Chicagoans LOVE their pizza. If you’re talking deep dish or stuffed, I prefer Lou Malnati’s to Giordano’s, Pizzeria Uno or Due. I’m not a big fan of that buttery crust. If you like thin crust and find a place with an Italian Beef pizza, go for it. Italian Beef, onion, green pepper, lots of cheese and hot giardineira (sp?)</p>
<p>“Lou Malnati’s to Giordano’s, Pizzeria Uno or Due”
I love and miss them all.</p>
<p>1moremom^^^ knows what she is talking about.</p>
<p>Gino’s East</p>
<p>Any opinions about Bacinos in Lincoln Park (near Depaul campus)
Was taken there on “food tour”- the tour ended up here, and guide told the group that Bacino’s double stuffed cheese pizza most popular ticket sold at the annual food show in Chicago. </p>
<p>My son takes everyone there because he lives a couple blocks away.
I’ve only been to Chicago twice, so listening to wise CCers.</p>
<p>Bacino’s is very good, as are Gino’s East and Lou Malnati’s. I’m partial to Giordano’s stuffed spinach. But really, you can’t go wrong with any of these. I’ve always though Uno and Due a bit overrated, tourist-trap type places.</p>
<p>Chinatown on Chicago’s South Side is fun and family-friendly. We try to get to Moon Palace, on Cermak near Wentworth, whenever we’re in town.</p>
<p>On the far north side, Devon Avenue is said to be the largest “Desi” (Indian/Pakistani) business strip in the nation. Lots of excellent Indian restaurants.</p>
<p>Chicago also has a huge Mexican-American population and some excellent Mexican restaurants. There are high end places like Topolobampo and its sibling Frontera Grill, and mid-range places like Las Palmas on North Avenue, but also lots of authentic down-home neighborhood eateries, especially in the Pilsen/Little Village area on the near southwest side. For the latter try Nuevo Leon on 18th St. in the heart of Pilsen.</p>
<p>^^ Bclintonk- about the famous pizza places as tourists spots. I remember a Seattle couple staying in the Northside hotel I was in last spring, so disappointed with Gino’s pizza, after a long 2 hour wait.
That’s why I asked about Bacino’s.
How can any pizza be worth a 2 hour wait ?Too much pressure, uber high expectationsl </p>
<p>FYI- it was Bacinos double crusted spinach - cheese pizza served at the end of the Food tour. Pics are on Pictures of it are on Yelp.</p>
<p>Subscribing, for those four years of upcoming visits to D in college.</p>
<p>Free indoor spring flower shows going on at both Lincoln Park (north end of the zoo) and Garfield Park. Well suited to second and third weeks of March.</p>
<p>Pizza: Just tell the locals which kind you want.</p>
<p>^ in the Botanical gardens ? Went there on last visit. Looks like it’s a gorgeous spot in the wintertime with all the lights.</p>
<p>^No, the Chicago Botanic Gardens are in Glencoe, many miles north of the city.</p>
<p>The Lincoln Park Conservatory is on the near north side of the city.</p>
<p>The (larger) Garfield Park Conservatory is on the west side, about 10-15 minutes west of the Loop via the Green Line el - in a sketchy neighborhood, but mere steps from the Central Park Ave el stop. There’s nothing else to do in this neighborhood, but if you happen to like flowers AND Frank Lloyd Wright, continue west on the Green Line el about ten minutes to Oak Park, the first western suburb (Oak Park Ave stop). You can tour the interiors of the FLW Home and Studio and his Unity Temple and/or do walking tour of exteriors of many nearby FLW homes. (Btw: on the U of Chicago campus, there’s also the tour-able FLW Robie House.) </p>
<p>For architecture fans, I agree that the architecture boat tour down the Chicago River is tops, but also agree that it requires cooperative weather (usually uncommon in March).</p>
<p>great info astonished–TY
My bad, we walked to the Lincoln Park Conservatory , adjacent to the Zoo, north end of park. </p>
<p>Also, the NearNorth (Lincoln Park/ Old city) food tour was enjoyable. Couple from Northwest, said that the Wicker Park/ Bucktown tour was bit better than Nearnorth.
The best way to see Chicago fast, was on the Open Air Bus Tour, which has a variety of tours, tickets are good for three days, and you can hope on and off at their stops. Great!</p>
<p>Did you know that the Oscar statues are manufactured in Chicago?</p>
<p>Thanks for the pizza info. Although we are from NY, love thin crust pizza but will try the deep dish, maybe we will love it too.</p>
<p>Hotels. From the pictures, we are so excited about the hotels in Chicago. They all look beautiful. Now, I love the James, my H loves Drake and S wants W hotel… So, any suggestion about hotels? We won’t drive in the city so the hotel must close to metro station.</p>
<p>I stayed at Palomar- Northside, it had just opened and I got an insanely good deal for couple of days. So nice- now pricey. Boutique style, if you like that atmosphere.
Second visit stayed at Ambassador East, across the street from the original Playboy Mansion, in a lovely Gold Coast area.
Again, they offered a super rate, it’s older, more worn, but was perfect for my stay.</p>