Spent a lovely weekend in Chi- caaaaa-go! It’s a nifty city with friendly folk, yummy food, waterfront activities and adorable “towns” (with fantastic boutiques I might add) to wander about. The best part of course was the quality time with the Chelin’s (my wonderful hosts) but here are a few additional highlights/observations from my whirlwind visit to the Midwest.
- Bricks Chicago (Old Town): Really, really excellent gourmet pizza joint with an enormous beer menu featuring an impressive array of micro brews . Perfection. Our party tried the Brickhouse, Popeye, BBq chicken & creole shrimp pies and they were all excellent. I must also recommend the baked goat cheese though next time I’m gunning for the “slutty ravioli”. Ultimate reason to return – 7 people, 14 beers, 2 appetizers and 2 large pies (toppings half/half) came to a shocking $125. Yeah. Really. Reason to love the Midwest.
- The “towns” (this trip Bucktown, Wicker Park): The surrounding Chicago neighborhoods remind me of Brooklyn. A little rough around the edges, but speckled with hip boutiques, art galleries, vintage stores, al fresco dining and indie film theaters. I could easily call any of these “towns” home. The only downside, as the spoiled I-need -everything –accessible-now New Yorker in me will point out, is that other than a street or two with a concentration of bars, restaurants, shopping etc, everything else seems a little spread out. Walking around at night seems a little shady…
- Photo Hunt: Not Chicago related at all but we had a lot of fun playing it.
- Cheap beer ($4 pint). If you come across Goose Island 312 give it a try. ML recommended.
- ·Superdawgs!: I had to do one touristy thing while visiting. Though I have been to Chicago multiple times over the years (catching all the tourist sites & food stuffs at one point or another), my last item to check off the to-do list was a visit to Superdawg—the nostalgic car-hop serving drive-in often featured on the Food Network. What exactly is a Superdawg? It’s an uber-delish “pure beef hot dog (no pork, no veal, no cereal, no filler), formally dressed with all the trimmings, escorted by our often imitated, but never equaled, Superfries™. Served with all the trimmings - golden mustard, tangy piccalilli, kosher dill pickle, chopped Spanish onions and a memorable hot pepper on poppy seed bun”. NO KETCHUP NEEDED. Get one.
Next up, observations from O’Hare…