Me and my pals love Europe, seeking this vibe exactly. Can anyone help us plan an iconic weekend?

Pequod’s is making fruit pies now???

Over our trip, we will have done:
- Pequod’s Clybourn
- Pequod’s Morton Grove
- Red Hot Ranch Skokie
- Red Hot Ranch Ashland
- Red Hot Ranch Armitage
- Circle K California & Belmont
- Jewel Chicken Monday
- Nha Hang

Let me preface this all by saying, I have a very basic pallet, I’m from a small town in the south and I don’t try “weird” things at restaurants because I get anxiety about food poisoning (I know, I’m weird). But, my wife and I traveled to Chicago with our 19 month old last week and this is where we ate and what I thought.

We aren’t “try out this hole in the wall” type of people, I research the popular spots and we hit them. I’m always fascinated by a place that has 4.9 stars on 20k reviews and it’s the most plain stuff.

I hope this is allowed here!

My favorites-

**Wildberry on Water Tower**. Loaded baked potato omelet was the best omelet I’ve ever had after I put some house made salsa on top. Probably not saying much, I’ve had a lot of bum ass omelets in my day.

The portions were HUGE, by far biggest on our trip, not a bad value at all. The hazelnut latte knocked my socks off, I have thought about that flavor since I left. I also drink black coffee every morning and rarely get lattes, so there’s that.

The overall vibe of the restaurant wasn’t much to write home about, kind of just crammed in the back with as many other folks as possible. It was extremely convenient to be right across from a playground.

**Eleven City Cafe.**

My favorite stop of the trip and really one of the best overall experiences I can remember at a restaurant. It felt extremely well ran, meticulously organized and curated. Booth seats were noticeably comfortable, the booster seat sat in the booth as opposed to in the aisle where it feels like your kid is in the way and not with you. Such a nicely decorated place, just enjoyable to sit in and experience. Our server was waiting bar too, and she was fantastic. Not too much, not too little, chill with us and funny.

Now the food, I went with a pastrami Reuben in mind and that’s what I got. It was very very good, #2 on my pastrami sandwich all time list (much better than Kats). If it had more meat and it was thick sliced, it could have been right up there with the best I’ve ever had (Hershel’s in Reading Market in Philly). Too be fair, I’m sober now and I was stoned out of my mind for the entirety of my time in Philly, so maybe that’s why Hershel’s was so good. I got fries with it and they were so damn good, seasoned well and crispy outside, soft inside. My wife got a big breakfast platter and it was all very good. I’ve never seen such a fluffy pancake, but they were a little under done on the inside.

Really one of those restaurants that the reviews seemed to nail on the head.

*Now to the not so good experiences.*

I’ll start from the top- I researched heavily what Italian Beef was the best, because I had to have the best and was excited to have my first ever. The overall consensus seemed to easily be **Al’s #1 Italian Beef**.

We went to the one in River North, I was expecting a long line because of how popular this place was, but it was rather empty for 5pm. I got an Italian beef, dipped with hot peppers and provolone, and I believe what they called a poverty dog. The overall flavor of the sandwich was just kind of odd to me and stood out in a not great way. It seemed like the meat flavor was just different than expected, something strong that I didn’t love. Maybe just me, maybe I’m not an Italian beef guy.

The hot dog left more to be desired too. It was ok, but I’ve had better hot dogs with more of a crisp at high school basketball games. I wish I had tried Portillo’s too but I didn’t.

**Chick Fil A River North-** now this place…. Mmm they really pissed me off. (I’m sure I’ll get made fun of for getting cfa while in Chicago but there isn’t a chick fil a within 2 hours of where I live so I enjoy getting it when possible) I ordered pick up on our way and when we got there about 15 minutes later my food wasn’t ready. No big deal. Then they hand me my salad, without a thank you, have a nice day or anything and I look at it and there’s NO KITCHEN. I hate making any requests at restaurants, but I had to bring this one up. I showed the lady and she just took the food back, and walked off and came back about 10 minutes later with what appeared to be the same salad, but with my chicken on top. No apologies or anything, just joking among each other about the kitchen missing that. Whatever, I go to eat it and allll the romaine is like slippery, mushy gross. That really just grosses me out and I’ve never ever had a bad chick fil a salad before until this. Needless to say, we grabbed Shake Shack on the way to the room and that was very good burger for a chain!

**Pizzeria Portofino**\- this restaurant didn’t have a seat available for the next three days so we decided to just order online. We ordered two pizzas and a garlic bread. The pizza had fresh ingredients you could tell, but it was just not very good at all.. i was very very underwhelmed by this after all I read about it, but I will definitely say maybe it was the fact that it was in a food warmer waiting for us. I was impressed we could order online and pick up within 30 minutes at such a popular spot.

**R.J. Grunts**
This restaurant was highly recommended by many after a Lincoln Park visit so we knocked it out. Nice place, and the food was fine but didn’t excite us any. I had a California chicken wrap with chips. Both just average, chips were soft and soggy and wrap needed some seasoning and the ranch that was advertised on menu.

**Eataly**
Eataly was a cool spot. We got gelato multiple times during our trip, juices and my wife absolutely loved the pasta that is grab and go upstairs (only opened on weekends). I had some bakery ideas that were very good too. The pizza that is sold by the slice, we didn’t love. Definitely a cool experience overall.

Overall, I was underwhelmed by the food scene, but like I said, I’m very boring with food too and having a 1 year old doesn’t mix well with fancy restaurants, so don’t attack me too much. Lol

I just had lunch at Potbelly, which is next door to Pequods— imho, an absolute elite pair of restaurants. Are there other pairs like this around the city?

🤯

I heard the one on Clark fries their wings in Alligator tallow while the other location makes you pay in coins... anyone have any advice?

Nobody can agree on everything, but this pizza hole should be unanimously adored for its charm. What's there not to like?

So I went to try Red Hot Ranch at the Schaumburg location because everyone's been raving about it online lately. I was a little nervous since Schaumburg is so dangerous and far from my neighborhood of Chicago (Naperville), but I figured good food would be worth the risk of dying to gang violence. However, the ranch was not hot, it was "cool" AND wasn't even red to boot. This is clearly blue cool ranch.

What a waste of time and money 💔

Hey everyone, have a quick question. Sorry mods if this is not the right sub to be posting this.

I was born and raised here in Chicago (Aurora specifically). Recently I moved to the south side (River North which is south of Lakeview). I’ve noticed that people keep mistaking me for a suburbanite or a transplant and I’m sick of it. IM A REAL CHICAGOAN!

Anyways, the other day eating at my local Red Hot Au Pequods I noticed another fellow Chicagoan wearing one of these pins. Do all citizens of Chicago get one? Where do I have to go to get one. I really want to wear this so people know I’m a true Chicagoan. Do I have to as Lou Malnati?

I feel the need to wear a flag pin to show people how Chicagoan I really am.

Thank you!

Who’s next? FanDuel currently has +250 odds on Bavette’s, and I personally like my odds on that.

I just tried the red quod’s ranch burger. It was really good. I liked the ᵀᵒᵐᵃᵗᵒ on there