maddboost

iTrader: (11)

I have never been to Sal & Carvo but I know a number of people who have and not a single one has anything but praises to say about that place. Maybe you just got a bad night.

Smearin

i suggest going west down Division and South on State St...

OH yeA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

SSPEEDY

iTrader: (4)

great minds think alike

BULLET99Z28

iTrader: (9)

Good thing you're not drivin your car,cuz the roads are terrible!LOL! I grew up about 3.5 hours east of chicago,I love it there,my aunt lived there most of her life. My buddies and I would go in the summer alot. Its a fun town,more lively than here in Dallas,and better sports fans for sure. Rush st is good,like people have said,gibsons is not bad either. Head on down to south side and hit up Leons BBQ-damn good. I have friends that live down in that area on 43rd and michigan(the real bad area),State street projects,etc. have fun and go Cubbies!!!!

LASTLS1

iTrader: (7)

That's what my wife thought! She took me there for my bday and she wanted to cry! She felt so bad, I tried every meat they had. I asked the server if he had ANYTHING that wasn't like rubber and he thought I was kidding! Oh well to each their own. All I know is that I wouldn't eat at that place if it were FREE! Sorry to go off on a rant, it was just the worst place I have ever eaten at in my life.

JUICED96Z

My brother and parents just went to a Cubs game and they parked near the airport and took the bus over. Said it was a great way to go.

Blackmagic65ss

Parked near the airport?! Thats a looong way away! I live 2 minutes from ohare and would never take a bus there... blue line all the way!

SpaZMaN

iTrader: (5)

i wore a sox shirt to a scrubs game...no problems, i saw a cubs shirt at a sox game, he almost got stabbed

JUICED96Z

I think thats what it was, LOL can't remember.....

neonblack

If you stay at Hard Rock, you'll be in a perfect poistion to hit the "Magnificent Mile" of shopping along Michigan Ave (just head north from Hard Rock). Once you get towards the end of Michigan Ave (when it turns into inner lake shore dr), head west to the rush/division area for eats (Gibsons, McCormick & Schmicks, Carmines, Palm, Tavern on Rush). However, DO NOT stay there for the drinking afterwards. I lived right around there for 2 years and at night it fills with tourists/suburbanites. Not that the scene is bad, but if your looking for more of where the local college kids go, then try up Lincoln Ave. Otherwise, my choice would be to head south down Southport after the game (Southport is about 3 blocks west of Wrigley). Plenty of cool bars (Neighbors, Justins, Mystic Celt, Hye Bar, Schoolyard) and they won't be as packed as the bars on Clark after the game.

nyteryder167

iTrader: (10)

I can see that. Their meats could be too salty for someone who doesn't like the taste.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

And here I was thinking that all the users in here lived in the suburbs.

Andy I have been to Sal & Carvao, which is a block from my office, and it was as good as Fogo de Chao. Maybe the DG location is not as good, but the River North spot is solid.

DriveATransAm

How much money you looking to spend

hardrock is a pretty good location right downtown. if you stay there, make sure you guys close the window shades in the bathrooms dont ask how i know. im working right across the street

im suprised no one has suggested staying near the airport and taking the EL down. its about a 20 min ride to the city (30 mins into union station) and you can save quite a bit on the hotel that way.

wrigly ville is an interesting place that you should check out as long as you are in the area. beers are 5 bucks and mixed drinks about 6-7 bucks though. maybe also check out lincolnpark for the bar scene. ive been there a couple times, personally it didnt blow me away with all the overdressed snobby rich people .

navy pier is unique to chicago, and while it gets boring if you live here, it might be worth checking out for you guys. they usually have some nice dinner cruisers/city tours as well there.

maybe even make a trip to millenium park and see the most expensive park ever with no swings. they usually have free bands playing there on thursday afternoons.

i dont know much about the public transportation because i rarely take it. there are tons of places to go, most of the better places are little joints that a lot of people dont know about. i think some of the bigger places are overrated with a bunch of yuppie wannabes in them. but its always good for the "experience" . also bring your jackets with. if its 70 in the day time it can get down to the 40s at night.

make sure you hit a pizza joint as well. i cant believe how much pizza sucks in other states compared to chicago. ginos east, loumalnettis and giordonos to name a few.

fastGBcamaro

iTrader: (10)

I have visited Chicago a few times and I always have a great time. The first few times I went their I was surprised by how many beggers you will run into, but after a while I think you just get used to it. So be prepared to either give up a lot of loose change, or ignore them the best you can.

GoldenBird

Thanks for the info guys, I actually just got back. We ended up staying at the Omni and it worked out well, that Magnificent Mile was a pretty good location as far as having things to check out. A lot of overpriced boutiques I wasn't really into, but I enjoyed Niketown and the g/f and I had a great time browsing. Well I have work in the morning and already lost an hour tonight, but to highlight....

- We didn't end up checking out Navy Pier, but the Aquarium was nice and we did visit Millenium Park. Interesting...I'm guessing that was like Boston's Big Dig in that it was comically over budget because the first thing anyone here or in the city says about it was that it's a "really expensive park".

- We wore away jerseys into Wrigley and did not get tossed in the urinal. Went to two local bars...forget the names but the place across from 7-11, and some place on the exact other side of the park because they had $1 drafts and a ticket broker at the bar. It was great to finally see Wrigley. Especially for someone who's home park is Fenway because they bear a lot of similarity.

- Didn't get to check out any of those nice steak places which is unfortunate. Didn't go out for much food at all in fact...just this place Portillo's, and actually Red Lobster because we suffer through their commercials all the time and there's not one for 100 miles from here. We tried some Giordano's Pizza too which was probably the highlight for me food-wise.

- Subway was fine and a lot easier than I expected to get to and from the park. I was just worried because a lot of cities have bullshit transit systems.

-Biggest disappointment, the tax was ridiculous. It was like 10.25%. WTF? Is that a Chicago thing or all of Ill? We bitch about paying 5% here and actually regularly drive 15 minutes to NH if we're buying anything expensive or doing much shopping just because they're tax-free. And the smokes were like $8-9!!! Again, we bitch paying 5.50 here considering they're $4ish in surrounding states. We actually joked how insulting it was to add that extra .25% considering how absurd 10 already was. It's as if they looked up what a typical assrape state charges and then be able to say we're "more than double". It must be brutal living with that everyday

- One nice thing- liquor seemingly all night!!!! Boston's a drinking town allright yet we're used to bars that close at max 1:30, you have to go out of your way to find a liquor store even for beer, and the good ones might be open till 11 and just within the past year started being 7 days a week. I couldn't believe you can waltz into a White Hen and buy gin at 2 am on Sunday.

Well thanks again guys!

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

We have 4 oclock bars in Chicago.

Cigarettes are too expensive, you should quit, I did.

DriveATransAm

glad to see you had a good time. and theres no way to visit everything the first time either. didnt even think about the planaterium or the museums. good call.

giordonos is one of the best pizzas ive had. if you ate at the one across from millenium park, you were right by me. Im rehabbing that tall *** crappy looking one on the west side of it.

and yes, taxes are rediculous. mostly in the city. the food tax is outragous. suburbs are about 8% i think. and millenium park was grossly over-budget. luckily we had all these "private investors" to pay the tab.

SpaZMaN

iTrader: (5)

its only due to Cook county, the county chicago is in....

DriveATransAm

only cook county within city limits.

go to other countys and its cheaper, but your property taxes are higher.

8banger

iTrader: (16)

Wow some misinformation here.

There are subways,....red line and blue line at some stops.

Hard Rock Hotel is on Michigan well south of Ontario...I want to say it's around Washington