Chicago food favorites…
As a life-long (and I do mean long) resident of this great city, I have sampled so much from where there is much to sample. For three decades I was fortunate to have a job that encouraged me to eat my way through most of this city, and on top of that, my father made his lifelong career in the restaurant business beginning in the early 40's. This gives me the confidence to share my experience with you. I encourage you to share your opinions and suggestions by submitting a comment or commenting in the guest book.
Bon AppetitHot Dog
Gene & Jude's (River Grove) Don't worry the constant line moves fast.I was weaned (no pun intended) on these skinny wieners that come with fresh cut fries. Hot dogs, fries, tamales and soda. That's all they have and it's really cheap, too!Eat in the car: no tables or chairs & No ketchup allowed within 100 feet of this place! Anyone else remember when they served Kayo in bottles? Mmmmm!Runner up's:Nana's in Streamwood (somehow related to Gene's & Jude's?)Jimmy's (Grand & Crawford) This is the dog that made Moon's famous in the 40's.Byron's (This one shows up on so many other best of lists I had to include it. Probably because they make them Chicago STYLE. It is a great dog)Poochies in Skokie (Char Dog!) Really... cooked on a grill.Superdawg (Milwaukee & Devon) It's the presentation here. Drive-up, too.Franksville (Harlem & Addison) My brother John wouldn't eat anyplace else as a kid!Great dog's but just not extrodinary...Portillo'sBuona BeefClark Street Dog (3040 N. Clark)Tasty Dog (Oak Park) 701 Lake St. Garden style.Tast-e Hast-e (Niles) Garden on a bun style.Fluky's (6821 N. Western)Parse's (Higgins near Harlem) (for Danny & Ed) Late night little stand. A little too over cooked for me but great tomatoes & very green relish!Vienna Factory (Yes the actual factory and they serve dogs!) 2501 N. DamenThe Chicago hot dog cemetery: May they rest in peace...Demon Dogs: Diversey under the EL tracks. A Chicago landmark, closed in 2005.Moons 5 cent Hot Dog. Way before my time but the legend still lives on.Our Dogs Make Friends: Just a little trailer on Harlem at Addison, but...Pizza
Lou Malnati's (Deep Dish) Lou is the originator of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza!Barnaby's (Thin Crust)Runner up's:Rosati's (thin)Just about any place in Norridge (thin)Uno's or Due's (Deep) (Downtown) If you can handle the wait and crowds.* This is where Lou Malnati invented the first Chicago Deep Dish pizza!Pequod's (Deep) (Chicago-Linc. Pk & Morton Grove) Different, like a burnt flavor!Gino's (Deep) Hit or miss though.Italian Beef
Johnnie's (Elmwood Park & Arlington Hts) Chicagos best sweet peppers & Italian Ice too!Unfortunately the sausage is hot and the fries and dogs are only so-so.Portillo's (Chain but still it is a great beef) Great sausage, too.Mr. Beef (On Orleans Downtown)Al's (on Taylor Street) You have to go to this location. No seats. It's a real beef stand.Buona Beef (Chain but a good beef) Great Sausage.Jay's (for a big beef sandwich)Barbeque
Russell's (Elmwood Park & Rolling Meadows) It's all in the sauce. Great Ribs too.Ribs
The kind that fall of the bone...Gale Street Inn (Chicago - Jefferson Park)Runner up's:Brandt's Little Cafe (Palatine)Biasetti's (Chi-Wrigleyville)Arbor Inn (Belmont just West of Harlem)The Assembly (Hoffman Estates)The kind you gotta' work on...Carson'sMill Rose (South Barrington)Any Chinese Resturant. They all under cook the ribs.Steak
Gene & Georgetti's (River North, Under the EL tracks since 1941)Runner up's:Gibson'sMorton'sChicago Prime Steakhouse (Schaumburg)WildfireSmith & Wolensky's (Marina Towers)Gyros
Central Gyros (3127 N. Central)Runner up's: Any place with two or more skewers going at a time. Anything else beware.Chicago Diners (Greasy spoon's) - no offense intended
Moon's Snack Shop (Chi-Western and Madison)Close to my heart. My Father and his cousins worked for Moon's in the 40's. This location is still open for business (7 days a week).Runner up's:Harlo Grill (Somewhere on North Ave far West of Chicago-near the seedy strip clubs)Great place to people watch from a stool while enjoying a real shake and burger.Jim's Chicago facts & favorites!
(Just for the fun of it)
I (like so many others I know) love this city, the history, architecture, the people and the food. Whether you are new to Chicago, planning to move here soon, or an old-timer like me, I hope you enjoy my little spin on it all.
Please let me know of your favorites. Click here or post your comments by using the guest book...
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Favorite Chicago facts and other tidbits...
Favorite book about Chicago: "Devil In the White City". It's about the Chicago Worlds Fair of 1892, how it was built and also about the worlds first serial killer (yes, right here in Chicago during that time). This is a true story and the historical content is awesome. Three thumbs up!
Favorite tourist attractions:
Museum of Science and Industry: Hyde Park on Chicago's South side (actually one of the only buildings left standing from the 1893 Worlds fair). The model train exhibit features a 14 foot high scale model of the Sears Tower and models the actual train that extends from Chicago to Seattle! This exhibit is directly under a real Boeing 747 hanging from the ceiling. Then there's the WW-II submarine (you can walk thru), several locomotives and the famous coal mine.
The Field Museum of Natural History: Loaded with historic and ancient exhibits, featuring "Sue" the largest full skeleton of a T-Rex in the world.
Do you know...
Why is Chicago Called the "Second City"? (A: The first one burned down)
Why is Chicago called the "Windy City"? (A: The local politicians at City Hall)
What is the Loop and what are it's borders? (A: The EL tracks "Loop" the downtown area)
Wells St, Wabash, Jackson, Lake St.Here's a little (my favorite) history: Think about this... In the mid 1800's Chicago grew so fast because of it's perfect location (being the transportation capitol of the world with Lake Michigan, it's rivers and all the train traffic), that it could not build enough quality infrastructure to accommodate the incredible growth. So, you had dirty sooty old frame buildings, terribly inadequate sewage, poor water, roads, etc. Kind of like a very smelly western boom town on a gigantic scale. At the time it was called the "Black City".
Then, came the great fire. Because of the conditions above, the city burned like straw. The vast majority of it was left in cinders. In addition to the ashes what the city was fortunate to still have left were lots of people, money and plenty of pride and ambition. So now there is opportunity and this is what Chicago is all about. The architects and big money people of Chicago all got together and made a plan. They built a city from the ground up, totally planned out. The biggest, most beautiful city of their time. Exciting buildings, parks, museums, lakefront and even well planned streets (at least for the times). Since then Chicago has always been known for their skyscrapers (until very recently), always being the home of the worlds tallest buildings. Now, all that was left, was to show it off. So after much lobbying effort, Chicago was the countries choice to host the Columbian Exposition, The Worlds Fair of 1892, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the discovery America. So the area just South of Hyde Park was where they built "The White City".
This Worlds Fair (Chicago had another Worlds Fair in the 1930's) introduced the world to among other things: Electricity, The Hot Dog, The Hamburger (remember Chicago was home to the midwest's famed stock yards) and the Ferris Wheel. Now doesn't Chicago history and food fit well together?
2007 PGA Schedule (announced 1/14/06)
1/4-1/7 Mercedes Championships
1/11-1/14 Sony Open in Hawaii
1/17-1/21 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic
1/25-1/28 Buick Invitational
2/1-2/4 FBR Open
2/8-2/11 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
2/15-2/18 Nissan Open
2/21-2/25 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship
2/22-2/25 Mayakoba Classic at Riviera Maya (Mexico)
3/1-3/4 The Honda Classic
3/8-3/11 Tampa Bay Championship
3/15-3/18 Bay Hill Invitational presented by MasterCard
3/22-3/25 World Golf Championships-CA Championship
3/29-4/1 Shell Houston Open
4/5-4/8 The Masters
4/12-4/15 MCI Heritage
4/19-4/22 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
4/26-4/29 EDS Byron Nelson Championship
5/3-5/6 Wachovia Championship
5/10-5/13 The Players Championship
5/17-5/20 BellSouth Classic
5/24-5/27 The Colonial Invitational
5/31-6/3 the Memorial Tournament Presented by Morgan Stanley
6/7-6/10 Stanford St. Jude Championship
6/14-6/17 U.S. Open
6/21-6/24 84 Lumber Classic
6/28-7/1 Buick Open
7/5-7/8 The International
7/12-7/15 John Deere Classic
7/19-7/22 British Open
7/19-7/22 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee
7/26-7/29 Bell Canadian Open
8/2-8/5 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational
8/9-8/12 PGA Championship
8/16-8/19 Carolina Classic at Greensboro
8/23-8/26 Barclays Classic
8/30-9/3 Deutsche Bank Championship
9/6-9/9 Championship Series (Chicago)
9/13-9/16 The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola
* additional fall tournaments to be announced later
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