So, here is how the 3 day trip turned out..
Nite 1:
Dinner El Ideas. Wow. Worth going to Chicago for the weekend just to eat there. It's a single seating, small dining room (maybe 25-30 total covers) with an open kitchen, 14 courses, all dishes come out with one of the chefs explaining what it is and why. First course you're instructed to eat with no utensils and no hands, just lick your plate. There was a dish that's on the menu everynite, a potato leek soup with little cubes of fried potato and nitrogen-frozen cream ontop to replicate dipping your french fries into your frosty. I'm a forward eater while my date was much more conservative but there wasn't a single dish we didn't both love. Can't say enough good things, it was my top meal of 2015.
Day 2:
Pizza at Giordano's. ***, this is the famous Chicago deep dish pizza? We split a small deep dish for lunch, we both barely ate 1 slice before abandoning it and going somewhere else. I was told by several local friends it was their favorite, I told them that if this was their favorite, I've got another brand they'll love, and they can find it in the frozen food section of most supermarkets.
Drinks at Three Dots and a Dash. Touristy tiki bar that may initially seem like a speakeasy, but really is just a hard to find entrance cause it's in an alleyway. WAY overpriced ($140 for 5 drinks and an app), WAY too crowded, and drinks were "meh". Tried 5 different signature cocktails, all were underwhelming, but they do have great presentation
Dinner at Bottlefork. great menu with larger than normal tapas sized dishes. Will be eating here again next time I go to Chicago
Day 3:
Breakfast donuts and coffee at Firecakes.
Lunch at Bottlefork (was craving those kettle chips!)
Snack maple glazed bacon crawler and chai tea at Glazed and Infused
Early dinner and drinks at Purple Pig before flight. Huge wine selection by the glass, great tapas dishes, but on the small side and a little crowded happy hour time. Would come back.
Made a note of everyones selections and planning a longer trip back once the city thaws out...after moving to miami I don't have much tolerance for the cold!
Alright, I am back from the dead and have been living in Chicago for 2 years so I figure I'll add a few that I think got missed on the lists. GT fish and oyster, Sunda (good food but kind of a scene), Fat Rice is a good option, Since you mentioned Donuts... Do-Rite donuts and Stan's are some great options, Deep Dish is ok but Coal fire pizza and Stella Barra are great pizza places that don't make deep dish. There are some restaurants that I enjoy that haven't been mentioned yet.
-Chuck
Only tourists eat deep dish (more or less); even Pequod's is thick pan pizza, not really "Chicago deep dish", and delicious.
please explain
what's real chicago deep dish
I am not a tourist and I happily crush Lou Malnati's deep dish. That said, Pequod's, Coalfire, and Spacca Napoli are also awesome pizzas.
If you guys are interested in having a Chicago get-together, let me know. I may be able to host.
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