Best places to eat in Chicago?

Question

We're goping to vacation in Chicago in July and I'm looking for some fun places to eat instead of just the ordinary restaurants we could see in our own hometown. We'll have kids ranging from almost 2 to 13, and a total group number of 10. We don't want to go too expensive, but we want it to be unique and fun. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Bucca di Beppo is lots of fun!

Answer 2

I used to work in the Chicago area a lot, and would eat out every night since I was in a hotel.  I personally liked Lou Malnati's the best, better than Giordano's.  But its all individual choice, I just wouldnt recommend Uno's since its chained out and you can have it anywhere now.

A restaurant I thought was cool is the Weber Grill restaurant.  Its in Schaumburg.  Yes- its owned by the company that makes the grills.  It has the biggest grill you will ever see outside of it.  You go inside, and its a nice restaurant.  Their chefs make everything on huge grills in their kitchen.  You can even request to sit up near the kitchen, where you can watch them grilling in action.  Its pretty cool.  And no, its not hot dogs and hamburgers, its a nice place, and they cook things up on those grills that Ive never imagined.

Answer 3

The Grand Lux would be fun for all! When my cousin graduated high school, our family and her bff's family all went there after graduation. It was about 26 of us and the youngest person was 3. Everyone had a great time and our waitress (they gave us 3) were quite AMAZING!!!

Answer 4

Mcdonalds is good as well as Burger King. I like Taco Bell too. Taco bell is only available in Chicago as you already know.

Answer 5

As a Chicago native, I would suggest La Vita off of Taylor St. for Italian. It's simply amazing! I thought it was even better than Topo Gigio's. Tru is really great too, but very pricy. Anything Giardano's off Rush Street is fantastic and a must-have for a true Chicago experience. Their pizza is phenomenal. Don't be swayed by Uno's or Lou Malnatis pizza. It's not the same deep dish, pie type of Chicago pizza Giardano's has. I lived in Lexington, KY for 5 months and we even had an Uno's there and it wasn't that good. Mike Ditka's restaurant has reallllly good BBQ. There are a lot of good restaurants in a squre on Rush St. close to Michigan Ave. that are super good too. You pretty much can't go wrong with anything as far as food goes. Hope this helps! :)

Answer 6

You've got to have Chicago pizza!  Lou Malnatis or Pizzaria Uno's are both excellent choices - don't settle for any others while you're here!   Another great place thats pretty local is Portillo's, italian beefs, great burgers, hot dogs, fries, outstanding homemade salads - and there is one closeby to Elmhurst.  

While you're in the city, check out Navy Pier and Millenium Park, plus the museums!  Italian Village is an excellent restaurant downtown and would be great for a family meal.  

You'll have fun - it's hot - so bring your bathing suits and head to a local waterpark or up to Six Flags in Gurnee, the waterpark there is excellent!

Answer 7

Try Pompei on Taylor great food.

Answer 8

I went to Chicago to visit my boyfriends family and they took me to Gino's East.  Definitely yummy pizza! Also we had drinks atop the Hancock and the view was amazing, I recommend going to some appetizers and drinks (meals are a bit expensive)

Answer 9

You can take the kids to the Hard Rock Cafe downtown!

Answer 10

If you are going to be in Elmhurst there is a very nice sports bar on Lake Street called the Coliseum. Very good burgers, fries etc. If you travel out toward Addison on lake street you will find all the regular places. For a real good Chicago Hot Dog stop at Portillo's, Giordano's for Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, and Al's for Italian Beef Sandwiches. You may want to travel about 8 miles to Schaumburg. The Streets of Schaumburg has a lot of very good restaurants. There are every imaginable restaurant there. Very nice mall too.

If you are downtown, a very casual place thats good is Ed Debevics. Kind of like a diner with attitude. For a nicer experience try Wild Fire. It was originally opened by Oprah but was bought out by the Lettuce Entertain You group. They operate many good restaurants.

If you want to really blow your budget and experience probably the best steak you will ever have go to Gibsons. You can see their menu on line.

There are a lot of good pizza places. Gino's East and the Original Uno's are also good. Lou Malnotis too. I would stay away from Home Run Pizza. Some locals like it but I dont care for them.

For the money, it will be in between Gibsons and Wild Fire, is Harrey Careys. They have everything from burgers to steaks. Everything is very good and fairly priced. As a matter of fact I was there last night. They have one downtown, one in Schaumburg, and even one in Midway Airport.

By the way, at Wild Fire they cook everything over a wood fire. The aroma when you enter is incredible. I understand they have opened one in Schaumburg in addition to the one in the city.

There is also one of the Medieval Times them units in the Schaumburg area. I thought the kids may like that.

Hope you enjoy Chicago!

Answer 11

With the kids your best bets are:

Ed Debevics

http://centerstage.net/restaurants/ed-de...

Unos pizza

http://www.unos.com/location.html

Rock and Roll Mcdonalds

http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/41...

Rainforest Cafe

http://chicago.citysearch.com/profile/36...

Rosebud

http://www.rosebudrestaurants.com/