I moved to Chicago about a week ago, have lived all my life in Toledo/Athens Ohio. Don't start work for another month and need some things to do until then. Any advice for sights, activities, restaurants, or general advice.

Where in the city do you live? What do you like to do? Do you have a car, or is public transit the main way you get around? I moved here about 10 months ago, haven't done nearly as much as I've wanted to but have a list of things to do.

If you're looking for good eats, go to the Dark Horse Tap and Grille. Get the pulled pork nachos and/or the meatloaf sandwich. Chicago Dog House is my favorite hot dog place in the city. Rosebud Steakhouse is awesome, but expensive. Also check out the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co.

Definitely catch a game at Wrigley and U.S. Cellular if you're a baseball fan.

The Field Museum is awesome. Haven't been to the aquarium. We were going to go a few weeks ago but the line was absurd. The Lincoln Park Zoo is pretty cool, and free.

Go to a Cubs game. Or a White Sox game.

Living in Lakeview I live about a 15 min. walk to Wrigley...haven't caught a game sure I will soon tho...I like whatever ..I have a car which is nice and I like going out and am pretty down to do anything

Gameday around Wrigley is unlike anything else I've ever experienced. A good time.

ernest_t_bass;828276 wrote:Gameday around Wrigley is unlike anything else I've ever experienced. A good time.

Really? It's okay, nothing special. Better than around GABP, but that's not saying much.

Giordano's pizza to eat and visit the Chicago museum of science and industry.

idontwannawork;828275 wrote:Living in Lakeview I live about a 15 min. walk to Wrigley...haven't caught a game sure I will soon tho...I like whatever ..I have a car which is nice and I like going out and am pretty down to do anything

My best friend lives on Roscoe, in Boystown. Looks like it cuts through Lakeview as well.

idontwannawork;828275 wrote:Living in Lakeview I live about a 15 min. walk to Wrigley...haven't caught a game sure I will soon tho...I like whatever ..I have a car which is nice and I like going out and am pretty down to do anything

Nice. I also live in Lakeview, about 15 minutes from Wrigley (Belmont & Broadway).

There are a ton of cool little restaurants around the area. Wrigley is a must do. Try to get a rooftop seat (there's a Groupon for them today, FYI). There are free concerts at Millennium Park on Mondays starting at 6:30pm. Some good acts come through there. It sounds corny and touristy, but architecture tours (especially ones that are on the river) are nice.

Spend a day in the following neighborhoods checking out bars: Andersonville, Wicker Park/Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Rogers Park. Some are more established areas than others but all have a good scene. If you like particularly good beers head to the Map Room in Wicker Park (cash only, FYI).

Wrigleyville is good but it can be a little collegiate; I'm starting to move on from that scene at 26, but if you're into it there are good places to be had there. I did like Southport Lanes, a billiards and bowling bar on Southport that has manual pinsetters.

Museums ... personally I like the Art Institute for world-class exhibits, but MSI, Shedd, and the Field Museum are nice too. A smaller but pretty cool museum is the Chicago History Museum on North and Lasalle. Bonus for these, if you're a Bank of America customer a lot of them have free days each month.

I'm kind of a foodie, so here's a bit of food advice ...

If you want decent food at home, check out the Green City Market on Saturday mornings at the far end of Lincoln Park. The 151 bus heads down Sheridan to there.

As far as restaurants I've been to and enjoyed in the immediate area ... Chilam Bilam, Buena Vista, Home Bistro (HB), Crisp, Will's Northwoods Inn (this is strictly for Packer games. Best Packer bar I've ever been to), Sheffield's, Flub A Dub Chub's.

Do yourself a favor and go to Hot Doug's ASAP. http://www.hotdougs.com. Arrive early, the line gets long quickly. You can get there on the 77 bus going West or just drive. It is, hands down, the best hot dog experience you will ever have.

Deep dish, it's a preference thing. I like Lou Malnati's best, but Gino's and Giordano's have plenty of fans.

The hot restaurant, if you're into that sort of thing, is Next Restaurant. You need to be on top of it to get tickets (yes, you have to buy a ticket) to get in though. Haven't been there yet but Grant Achatz is a wizard with food.

That's it for now ... PM me if you have any questions.

Oh, also, welcome to the OC.

Where did you hear about it?

Rocks, I didn't realize you were that close to my friend. I'll be coming up (hopefully) the weekend of Lollapalooza and staying at his place. Will you be around?

Navy Pier

Medieval Times

justincredible;828330 wrote:Oh, also, welcome to the OC.

Where did you hear about it?

Mens restroom wall, of course. Same place everyone else caught wind of the OC.

Moving to Chi town in three weeks myself. If you're into the bar scene then hit up Bucktown on the Damen blue line stop (I think Rocks already touched on that). Great place for bars.

Forgive me..I don't really know the bus routes yet. It's probably going to be my biggest learning curve.

Belly daughter lives in Lakeveiw also close to gorock99
hey! I will be in Chicago on the weekend of the July 28, 29, 30, 31

Is there going to be an OC gathering in Chicago? Seems more and more ppl piping in from there.

justincredible;828330 wrote:Oh, also, welcome to the OC.

Where did you hear about it?

You're welcome...

It was easy to get him here I just told him about our little issue of teachers coming here to hook up with students

You need to check out Westminster Hot Dogs. It has already been featured in NY Times and is less then a year old. They have certain dogs every day and then two special dogs like buffalo, ostrich, deer, and other types weekly. Since you got a month you could check out a Citipass which will give admission to 5 places for about half price. You have 9 days to visit the five places. The shedd can take almost a day on its own. Right down from wrigley is a Places that was on Man vs Food (Luckys I think) They have some huge sandwichs for like 7 bucks. You could also do a wrigley stadium tour which is like 25$ and takes you in the locker rooms press box and such. I would also recommend the water taxi if you wanna visit Chinatown. It is only 6 bucks and gives you a different view of the city and is cheaper and faster then driving or using a regular taxi. There also a website that sells the tickets that havent been sold for different shows and you can usually get tickets to things like the blueman group for half price. I would take a stroll thru grant and lincoln park.

Not a fan of the new Comisky. It seemed sterile and bland.

Practice sitting in traffic.

WebFire;828441 wrote:Practice sitting in traffic.

You got that right. It seems they have flash traffic jams at odd hours.

justincredible;828330 wrote:Oh, also, welcome to the OC.

Where did you hear about it?

I heard about it from Sportsandladies, he was my roommate for 2 years...ohiochatter is like crack to that guy

justincredible;828277 wrote:Really? It's okay, nothing special. Better than around GABP, but that's not saying much.

I just like it.