Difference between revisions of "Traveler's Guide to Chicago"

Latest revision as of 08:04, 14 July 2017

See also: Chicago and Pokemon Go Fest Chicago

Introduction

I’ve lived in the suburbs of Chicago all of my life, and my incredibly biased opinion is Chicago is the greatest city in the world. I’m sure everyone feels that way about their city, but I’m hoping trainers from outside Illinois will be able to enjoy aspects of the city other than Grant Park during your visits. I’m planning to bring my three year old son with me, but we don’t have tickets to Go Fest so we may just hang around downtown and hit up some Pokestops. Maybe we will get lucky and find a scalper who isn’t charging the prices on eBay right now.

I’m making this post to help trainers find things to do in Chicago. Anyone else who is familiar with the city, feel free to contribute and I’ll add to this post.

The first thing I want to address is the violence in the city. It gets a lot of media coverage, but there are just a few pockets of the city that are extremely violent. It’s a tragic situation that needs to be addressed, but if you’re traveling to Chicago as a tourist there isn’t anything that would bring you to those areas anyway. If you want to help, Cure Violence is a fantastic organization that I've donated to in the past that has had some concrete success stopping violence in Chicago neighborhoods.

Traveling to Chicago

If you’re driving, you might be better off parking in the suburbs and taking public transportation into the city. There is plenty of parking in the city, but it can be expensive. Chicago is also a pretty walkable city, and I think most Pokemon trainers are pretty used to walking.

Metra: Metra is my favorite way to travel into the city. It is clean, fast, and not as crowded as the L, which I’ll discuss later. It’s more expensive, though, and it doesn’t run all night. This is a good option if you’re in the Midwest or from even further out since it connects the entire country. You can use the RTA’s trip planner to figure out how to use Metra and other transportation options to get to Grant Park.

RTA Trip Planner

The L: The L is Chicago’s local train/subway system. It’s called the 'L' because most of the tracks are elevated above the city. This is a great way to get around the city quickly, and it is $3 a trip so it is fairly cheap. The Loop is the section of the L that loops around downtown, and Jackson is the closest stop to Grant Park. It will be a four block walk from there to the park. The CTA has a list of popular tourists destination with instructions on how to use public transportation to get to them. You can buy a 1 day pass for unlimited rides for $10 or 3 days for $20 u/evoslevven.

CTA Popular Destination

If you do want to drive in the city, there is plenty of parking around Grant Park. Millennium Garages has an early bird rate of $16 if you buy ahead of time. You can also park at Soldier Field, which is closer to the museums and around $20.

Where to Eat

One of my favorite aspects of Chicago is the food. There are classy, high-end restaurants just like any other world-class city, but Chicago is also well-known for food that probably isn’t good for you, but tastes delicious.

Deep Dish Pizza: Whether you think it’s pizza or not (it is), there are a few really good places to get great deep dish pizza. My favorite is Lou Malnati’s, but Pizzeria Uno, Giordano’s, and Gino’s East are just as good. Pizzeria Uno has history going for it since that is where the deep dish pizza was supposedly first created. It was created by the founder of Lou Malnati’s, though, before he started his own chain. Art of Pizza is a great deep dish suggestion from u/evoslevven. Pequod's Pizzeria is not close to downtown, but can be reached via the L Brown Line (u/brzozowszki). Keep in mind that deep dish takes a long time to bake so be ready for the wait.

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs: You can get these anywhere in the city, and as long as they use Vienna beef they are pretty good no matter where you go. A Chicago-style hot dog has mustard, chopped white onions, relish, tomatoes, sport peppers, a pickle spear, and celery salt. A fun place to go is the Wieners Circle, where the employees insult customers during the late-night hours. Superdawg is a great suggestion from u/andygchicago. It's unique, but still Chicago-style.

Italian Beef: This is my favorite Chicago food creation. It is simply slices of seasoned roast beef dripping with meat juices on a long roll. Typically, they are topped with hot or sweet peppers, but I prefer them without the peppers. You’ll have to walk a bit to get to a good beef place from Grant Park, but Mr. Beef on Orleans, Al’s Beef (the original location on Taylor Street), and Portillo’s are all great. Roma's is a suggestion from u/evoslevven. Mario's Italian Lemonade is near Al's Beef and a great suggestion from u/newage2012dotorg.

Garrett's Popcorn: Garrett's has fantastic popcorn and the Garrett's Mix (formerly called the Chicago Mix) is a mix of caramel corn and cheese popcorn. Don't knock it until you've tried it. There are a number of locations near Grant Park.

Other Food Options

Buffalo Wings - Crisp and Bird's Nest period. These are considered the best 2 places in Chicago with no hype or buzz but only a reputation for serving the best. Bird's Nest also serves beers and is highly accessible by public transportation while Crisp doesn't serve alcohol (but pretty easily accessible) but is in a foodie spot so pick your poison! u/evoslevven

Philly Cheese Steaks - Philly's Best and they have 2 locations. When you get a Philly Cheese Steak get it served on garlic bread with mushrooms for extra love! This is a great diet for anyone who eats healthy, mentally because it's all about mental health of course! u/evoslevven

For those looking for a unique twist in sushi may also want to try Yuzu Sushi and Robata Grill. u/evoslevven

My favorite sushi place is in Chicago, Kai Zan. Get the omikasse. u/masterm

For pretentious coffee, check out The Wormhole (1462 N Milwaukee) in Wicker Park. There's an SNES, board games, and an entire Delorean in there. Blue line to the Damen stop. u/brzozowszki Izakaya Mita (1960 N Damen Ave) has got old school Japanese bar food down. It's North of the Blue line Damen stop. u/brzozowszki

The Donut Vault (401 N Franklin St) is a literal hole in the wall with delicious goodness. Get there early though, they'll sell out. Kinda close to the Franklin Brown Line stop. u/brzozowszki Places that are close and close-ish to Grant Park that are also must stops IMO is Exchequer Pub for the best pound for pound pan pizza (cost effective) and Manny's Delicatessen (best corned beef by a mile). Miller's Pub is also pretty terrific and has killer navy bean soup. u/NeenerMcNeener

Chicago’s Museums

Grant Park is located next to the Museum Campus, which houses some of the coolest museums in the world. They are all a short walk from Grant Park. You may want to invest in a CityPASS if you plan to go to multiple museums. Most big cities have CityPASS, and Chicago’s covers the following:

• Shedd Aquarium
• Skydeck Chicago (The Sears/Willis Tower)
• The Field Museum
• Museum of Science and Industry OR 360 Chicago (The John Hancock Building)
• Adler Planetarium OR Art Institute of Chicago

The Field Museum of Natural History: The Field Museum has a lot of interactive exhibits for kids, but the coolest exhibit right now is the traveled Jurassic World exhibit. They have animatronic dinosaurs that look incredibly lifelike. Basic admission to the museum is $22, but the Jurassic World exhibit is an extra $15 ($10 for kids). The museum also has the world's most intact T-Rex skeleton in the main lobby.

The Art Institute of Chicago: The Art Institute is technically in Grant Park, not on the Museum Campus, so it is closer than the other museums. It has some iconic works such as American Gothic, Seurat’s La Grande Jatte, and Picasso’s The Old Guitarist. Admission is $25 for adults, but free for kids 14 and under.

The Adler Planetarium: The Adler is my favorite museum on the museum campus, and even if you don’t enter the planetarium, you should walk to it to check out one of the best views in the city looking back to the skyline across the lake. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for kids. The Adler also has a great variety of Pokemon spawns so it's a great place to play outside Grant Park (u/MakeRickyFamous).

The Shedd Aquarium: The Shedd is consistently rated as one of the best aquariums in the country, and it is Chicago’s most-visited museum. It’s super expensive, though, with tickets costing $40 for adults and $30 for kids 3-11.

The Museum of Science and Industry: MSI isn’t within walking distance of Grant Park, but it’s the best for kids, in my opinion, and my favorite museum in the city. Almost everything is interactive and it is the largest science museum in the Western hemisphere. Tickets are $16 online.

Museum of Contemporary Art (220 E Chicago Ave) is amazing, and a bit cheaper than the other museums, and has got an amazing Murakami exhibit up right now. You can drop by the Water Tower place, take a dang selfie or whatev', and then walk East down Chicago. u/brzozowszki

Best Views of Chicago

Chicago has some breathtaking views. You’ll get some of those views from Grant Park, but here are some great places to go for great views of the city.

The Adler Planetarium: I said this before, but the Adler has one of the best view of the city. You don’t even have to go in to check out the view so this one’s free.

Architecture Water Tour: There are a lot of water tours in the city, but I’d recommend the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Chicago’s First Lady tour. You have to buy tickets for a specific time and tickets are anywhere between $20 and $45 depending on the time.

Sears Tower: Chicagoans typically don’t call it the Willis Tower, but the views are pretty good and you can see four states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan) on a clear day. It’s pricey, though, at $23 for adults and $15 for kids 3-11.

The John Hancock Building: The observatory is called 360 Chicago, and is just as pricey at the Sears Tower at $20.50 for adults and $13.50 for kids 3-11. Another option is eating in the Signature Room at the top of the building. The food isn’t that good, but the views are great.

Other Entertainment

Wrigley Field: Wrigley Field is a great place to see a baseball game, but tickets may be hard to come by since the rival Cardinals and White Sox are in town during Go Fest.

Lincoln Park/Lincoln Park Zoo: Lincoln Park is huge and not normally as crowded with tourists, and Lincoln Park Zoo is free. I prefer Brookfield Zoo, but it definitely isn't free and will take you out of the city u/sokoteur).

Theater: Hamilton plays at the PrivateBank Theater, and it is well worth the price of admission…if you can get tickets. The secondary market prices are pretty rough.

More likely options are the Goodman Theater, which always has great productions and is currently showing Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill; Steppenwolf, where David Schwimmer is a company member; and Aladdin is playing at the Cadillac Palace. Hot Tix is a great site to get last minute theater tickets at a discount.

A favorite comedy spot of mine is Second City. A lot of famous comics have emerged from Second City Chicago including Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, John Belushi, John Candy, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Jeff Garlin, Bonnie Hunt, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer, Tim Meadows, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Catherine O’Hara, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, Joan Rivers, Amy Sedaris, Martin Short, George Wendt and Fred Willard.

I'd also say for a few other attractions try Laugh Out Loud Theater and, while a bit cliche, I think Blue Man Group is still worthwhile to go pending on funds of course =| u/evoslevven Neighborhoods and Bars Chicago is a city of distinct neighborhoods and there are plenty of cool ones to visit outside downtown. Wicker Park, Logan Square, Ukrainian Village are some popular ones (u/djmagichat).

I hope this helps all you trainers who are making the trip to Chicago in a few weeks!