Chicago breakfast, lunch and early dinner

[chowfun]

We are coming from Philly to see the Phil Lesh shows at the Riviera Theater. It is the weekend of the Chicago Marathon, so we are staying in Evanston. We are not renting a car, we are planning to use public transportation and taxis.

I am looking for suggestions for breakfast, lunch and early dinner. Dinner spots near the theater would be best. During the day we will be taking in as many sights in Chicago that we can fit, as my husband and I have never visited Chicago before.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. We like all kinds of food.

[nsxtasy]

Just to clarify - it sounds like you're looking for breakfast in or around Evanston where you're staying, lunch anywhere, and dinner near the Riviera Theater.

Evanston itself has some places for breakfast, but the best one is much easier to get to by car than public transportation. The very best place in the area for breakfast is Walker Brothers Original Pancake House just over the town line in Wilmette, but it's not near the el (subway) or Metra (commuter rail) stations; I believe the Pace #213 bus is the only thing that comes close. Their huge, puffed-up apple pancake, pictured below, is their specialty. Within Evanston itself (and near the el), there are lots of coffee shops, but for a real sit-down breakfast, the places that come to mind are Dixie Kitchen, for Cajun food in downtown Evanston, Clarke's (website not working), a pancake/diner house in downtown Evanston, and Lucky Platter, a funky eclectic place in the Main Street shopping district. All are pretty good (although not necessarily spectacular the way Walker Brothers is).

Lunch anywhere is too broad a question to answer, but if I had to make one recommendation, it would be to get Chicago deep-dish pizza. IMHO it's the one local specialty you shouldn't miss if you're visiting from out of town for the first time. The best chains here - Lou Malnati's and Gino's East for single-crust "pan" pizza, and Giordano's and Edwardo's for double-crust "stuffed" pizza - all serve excellent, delicious pizza, and all have locations all over the Chicago area. Check out their menus on their websites and call ahead with your order to avoid having to wait 30-45 minutes for your pizza to bake.

Other than pizza, let us know what kind(s) of food you would like for lunch and an approximate geographic area, and we can make additional recommendations.

For dinner, there's an excellent restaurant right near the Riviera called Magnolia Cafe, serving contemporary American food. They have a website at www.magnoliacafeuptown.com but it doesn't appear to be working at the moment; you can also view their menu here.

Magnolia Cafe

1224 W Wilson Ave

Chicago, IL 60640

(773) 728-8785

Also near the Riviera is the stretch of Argyle Street running east a couple of blocks from Racine, and this stretch has many Vietnamese restaurants. You could walk over there, look at the menus in the windows, and pick whatever sounds good. A bit further than these other places, but still within walking distance of the Riviera, is the Hop Leaf, a pub with a gazillion kinds of beer and food such as moules frites.

FYI - Websites for public transportation information include the CTA (subways and buses in Chicago and a few nearby suburbs), Pace (suburban buses), and Metra (suburban trains). All have the "trip planner" function which provides point-to-point recommendations using all three agencies, as does the website of the RTA, the umbrella organization for all public transit agencies in the area.

Walker Brothers apple pancake (photo from their website):

Edited September 24, 2007 by nsxtasy (log)

[chowfun]

Wow! That pancake looks good! I wonder if it is worth renting a car just to be able to eat breakfast there! Thank you for your suggestions. We love pizza and we will be sure to try at least one of your suggested places, ditto for Vietnamese food (we do have some good Vietnamese food here in Philly). The Hop Leaf looks great, their beer menu alone makes it worth a stop.

During the days I'm a little unclear about what we will be doing but I think we will be walking around a lot, and going to museums. We want to walk through Millenium park, maybe go to the Hancock observatory, Art Institute, see the Buckingham fountain, maybe see the Museum of Science and Industry.

As far as what we would like to eat, really anything that is really good. We tend to go out of our way to try something really special ranging from the best pizza, or sandwich of a particular type to ethnic food (any kind) to fancy fine dining as long as it is worth going out of our way for. Sorry to be so vague. Its not the best way to get many replies.

[nr706]

When I first saw your original post, I was going to take a stab at it, but I was pretty confident that Ken (nsxtasy) would be able to put together a much more comprehensive list.

In addition to pizza, you really should try a Chicago-style hot dog. Assuming you're staying in downtown Evanston, one of the best is an unassuming-looking place that'll be about a five block or so walk from your hotel: Wiener and Still Champion. Great fries with fry dipping sauces, freshly-made corn dogs, and other innovative things. It's discussed in depth here, with other relevant links:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=15079

If you go, ask for Gus. It's also only about half a block from the Dempster St. El stop, which will make it easy to get downtown.

[by the way, the site linked to, LTHForum.com, can be a major resource for just about anything vaguely related to food in Chicago.]

Near The Riv, any of the Southest Asian places to the north (mostly along and around Argyle St, about three or four blocks north of The Riv - not just Vietnamese, but also Cambodian and Laotian) can be very good. One that I like, that's even nearer to where you'll be, is Silver Seafood (4829 N. Broadway). It's BYOB, as are many of the Southeast Asian places around Argyle Street.

For something really different, also a short walk from The Riv, (and also BYOB) is Palace Gate (4548 N. Magnolia) for the city's most authentic Ghanian food.

Not food-related, but if you're up for a drink after the concert, The Green Mill is less than a block north. It's virtually unchanged from the days when Al Capone hung out there, and Charlie Chaplin even drank there, before Hollywood surpassed Chicago as the center of the motion picture industry. And there's usually a good jazz group playing (except for Sunday, when they have a famous poetry slam).

As far as downtown, I'd suggest skipping the Hancock Observatory. Instead, go to the Signature Lounge, on the 96th floor, for drinks and bar food (the elevators are off of Delaware St. - apart from the elevators to the Observatory).

Many of the places along Michigan Avenue are good, but frankly, probably not that distinctive from many of the better places you have in Philadelphia. Of course, for fine dining, Alinea (1723 N. Halsted St) can provide an experience that's not available anywhere else in the country. And I think it'd be an especially surreal experience to go to Alinea after getting off the Red Line subway at North & Clybourn - about three blocks away.

So there are a few ideas - let us know if you'd like any more, and please report back on your trip.

P.S. Be sure to pick up a copy of the October issue of Saveur magazine before your trip.

[nsxtasy]

And I think it'd be an especially surreal experience to go to Alinea after getting off the Red Line subway at North & Clybourn - about three blocks away.

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You have probably heard of Alinea, but just in case you aren't aware of the specifics - Chicago has a bunch of extremely creative, extremely expensive, and extremely excellent restaurants, with top chefs, places that are among the best in the country (think Le Bec Fin, maybe even several notches higher, at least in the case of Alinea). Alinea is the best of these best, but also the most expensive, figure $250-400 per person including tax, tip, and reasonable wine/alcohol; others include Avenues, Everest, Tru, and Charlie Trotter's, which are almost as expensive (Everest is often the least expensive, but still $150-275/pp). These are fancy, "splurge" places, which may or may not be what you're looking for. None of them is open for lunch (unlike in New York, where lunch is a less expensive way to enjoy some of the finest restaurants) and none is located particularly close to the Riviera.

[chowfun]

They sound more like the high end restaurants in Manhatten rather than Philly. You are right, we are not looking to do a dinner of quite that claliber, due to both the price and the fact that we are going to shows and a dinner like that takes time and should be relaxing and not rushed. I was hoping that some of them do lunch, alas!

[nsxtasy]

They sound more like the high end restaurants in Manhatten rather than Philly.

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True. Alinea is more similar to Per Se in New York than to Le Bec.

I was hoping that some of them do lunch, alas!

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Some of our best restaurants do lunch - not that handful of dress-up splurge places, but places that are more casual, but still serve spectacular food. Some of the best places in Chicago that serve lunch include:

Aigre Doux

Bistro 110

Blackbird

Cafe Spiaggia

Coco Pazzo

Custom House

Naha

NoMI

and many others, including most of the steakhouses.

[VPF]

i second magnolia cafe (my place for sunday brunch) and the hopleaf. The hopleaf has one of the best beer selections in town and as nsxtasy said, their mussels and frites are excellent.

[nsxtasy]

I forgot to mention, the Magnolia Cafe also has a nice outdoor dining area in front of the restaurant, and it's very pleasant, weather permitting.