I visited Chicago the last weekend in November and today I am finally sharing my Chicago travel guide. I spent 3 days in the city and did plenty of sightseeing along with visiting bars and restaurants. I am happy to share my experience for anyone who may be visiting the city and is looking for ideas for their trip.
Hotel
Chicago is a large city and there are so many different neighborhoods and areas to stay in. We opted to stay in the West Loop because it is a very hip area with tons of bars and restaurants and because of its proximity to the United Center. Another great thing about staying in the West Loop is you get the benefit of being near hot spots without being in the hustle and bustle of downtown and touristy areas. We stayed in the Hyatt House Chicago West Loop during our stay and were not disappointed. The Hyatt House has clean, renovated rooms with plenty of space, and the hotel has great amenities such as a bar and restaurant. If I were visiting Chicago again in the future I would definitely stay at the Hyatt House West Loop again.
Things to Do
There isn’t a lack of things to do or see in Chicago. There are so many landmarks and famous sites throughout the city and we definitely did a few “touristy” things while we were there. The first thing we did was make reservations for the Willis Tower (formerly the Sear’s Tower) on Saturday morning. The Willis Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the Western Hemisphere and it features a sky deck you can visit. Honestly, I can’t tell you how many observation decks on tall buildings we have visited over the years: The Empire State Building in NYC, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Space Needle in Seattle, and the Calgary Tower in Calgary. I’m sure I’m missing a few others, but once you’ve visited a few the novelty wears off a bit. I will have to say though that the Willis Tower offers some great views of the Chicago skyline as well as Lake Michigan. The ticket for the Skydeck is a bit pricey, but if you have spare time and are visiting the city for the first time it is worth it. And the building has a Shake Shack on the first floor so that makes the trip worth it in my opinion.
After visiting the Willis Tower, we talked down to Millenium Park, which is about a 1 mile walk. Millenium Park is the home to The Bean, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city. Despite being very crowded with people all around, it is a fun spot and a great place for pictures. We walked around Millenium Park where there also was an ice skating rink and other things to see. Afterwards we headed to the next touristy destination, the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile is a long street in downtown Chicago that features tons of high-end and designer stores. If you are in the market for a designer item, this is the place to be, although I personally find that the minimum of 10% sales tax in Chicago to be too high to make any significant purchases. I did not do any shopping but just walked around instead.
Downtown Chicago also features the Riverwalk, which is probably my favorite part of the city. The Riverwalk weaves through downtown along the river and offers so many scenic views along the way. During the warmer months, there are bars and cafes along the Riverwalk but most of them close down during the winter. There are a lot of different photo spots along the Riverwalk and it features steps up to street level at different points along the way. Make sure to head up the steps to DuSable Bridge to get the best photo in the whole city with the river and buildings in the background.
Sharks / Blackhawks Game
If you are new around here, my husband and I are huge fans of the San Jose Sharks, and our goal is to see the Sharks play in every NHL arena. We have been working at this goal for years now and Chicago was our 28th arena we have visited. Chicago is one of the more famous places to see a hockey game because it is an Original Six team and a really popular market. Chicago is also a must-see arena for its rendition of the national anthem and I must say it does not disappoint. The arena is nice and we didn’t have any issues with the home fans, and I definitely would see a game there again. It also was a bonus that the Sharks won in a 2-0 shootout.
Where to Eat and Drink
Chicago is such a big, bustling city that there is no shortage of bars and restaurants. Chicago is best known for its deep dish pizza, so I made it a point to get Lou Malnati’s. I got delivery and didn’t eat it in a restaurant so maybe that is skewing things for me, but I have never been so disappointed with a pizza in my life. The deep dish crust lacked flavor and the crust taste takes over the whole pizza. Maybe I am just not a deep dish fan in general, but I really found the pizza to be bland and honestly no different than the chain restaurant Uno’s.
For a quick, simple meal, we walked to Nonna’s, an Italian pizza and sandwich shop, which was close to our hotel. Nonna’s has plenty of sandwiches to choose from along with some pastas, salads, and pizza. We ordered the meatball subs and they were really good and really filling. This is a great spot for a quick but good meal. Another interesting spot nearby our hotel is a global McDonalds, which features menu items from other parts of the world. We stopped in to look at the menu but only saw 3 “international” meals which were all sold out, so we moved on. Another quick dinner spot we went to is Velvet Taco. Velvet taco serves you guessed it, tacos, along with margaritas and beers. The restaurant isn’t sit down but instead you order at the counter for take-out or to eat casually at a table of your choosing. They have multiple different kinds of tacos. We tried the Buffalo Chicken, Rotisserie Chicken, and Brisket tacos. They all were good, although if I were to ever return I wouldn’t order the Rotisserie Chicken one again. Aside from that, this spot is worth going to if you’re looking for something quick but good.
Now on to bars. When we travel, instead of seeking out restaurants to try, we seek out great bars and Chicago has plenty of them. My husband and I very much appreciate a quality-made cocktail, so a great cocktail bar we went to was Lazy Bird. Lazy Bird is in the basement of The Hoxton hotel and has an intimate setting with some great decor. Interesting bird figurines are all over the bookshelves in the bar and really play up the name. Lazy Bird features live music throughout the week and has a menu featuring 52 different cocktails. No matter what your liquor preference is, you will find a drink that suits you. Another bar we visited was Nights and Weekends. Nights and Weekends is a somewhat large bar and features funky decor and a disco ball. The bar was a regular hangout in the earlier hours, but around 10PM or so a DJ started playing music and people were dancing on the dance floor under the disco ball. This is the kind of bar that appeals to different people as you can hang out and sit at the bar or go for a night of dancing. Their drink menu features $13 highballs and one of them was a vodka and cream soda. They make their own cream soda which is delicious so I really enjoyed this drink. We went to Nights and Weekends on a Saturday night and ended up going again on Sunday night after the Sharks game. One other bar we went to which is not as noteworthy as the other two is Black Barrel Tavern. This bar is a much more traditional pub/tavern type of bar. They offer beers and cocktails and I would say their cocktails lean more to the average side, but it was a good place to go on a Friday night that wasn’t too crowded. All of these bars are in the West Loop so we were able to walk to all of them from our hotel easily.
Overall, our trip to Chicago was busy but really enjoyable. There are so many different things to do and see in the city and there is something to cater to anyone’s interests. The fact that we went over Thanksgiving weekend made the trip even better with the Christmas decor around the city. Chicago is a great city to visit and to see a hockey game in and I definitely want to plan another trip there in the future. I hope you found my Chicago Travel Guide helpful..until next time!
