@UofCparent I stay at the Marriott Mag Mile on N Michigan right by Booth once a month. You can leave at the height of Rush Hour and make it to Hyde Park in 20 minutes. Lake Shore Drive (LSD) flows well.
Try that in Manhattan and it will take an hour to just hit a tunnel/bridge.
Majority of the traffic is headed out to the burbs.
Have fun !!!
Edit : additional restaurants not mentioned above:
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ, 210 E Ohio St
Lao Sze Chuan, 520 N Michigan Ave
I did both of these last week and excellent !!!