Chicago-to-Louisville: Food Reccomendations

The trip was had. The good news is that I got to knock off a lot of items on the list. The bad news that United airlines and my colleagues illness wrecked havoc on the original trip plans.

First half of the trip was Chicago. United straight-up canceled our flight into Denver for “technical issues” after it had already pulled up the gate. The ensuing chaos got us a late flight and basically shot the first night plans in the foot. So no afghan food :(

Next step was my colleague feeling sick on the first meeting of the first day, leading us to cancel a host of meetings, so no ability to take a client out to a higher end place :(

BUT- the cancelled meetings allowed me an opportunity. Fear of the unknown lands of urban Chicago were overcame by the rumblings of my stomach, and so I first hopped the line to Chinatown.

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The spot was selected, and I sat down to one excellent lunch.

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Absolutely stunning 3-meat noodle soup, with the crispy duck being of high acclaim.

Next was a local bakery, where wife cakes (made with winter melon), bean paste pastries, and coconut tarts were sampled.

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I was feeling a little stuffed at that point, so I strolled around the area and took the sights in while my stomach did it’s job. After a short while, I decided on a walk up to Manny’s.

My god. The corned beef sandwich was divine, and watching then carve the meat was almost as good as seeing them pile it high on the bread. A potato pancake sealed the deal and I was one happy camper in the cafeteria.

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Goddamn what a place.

(Continued in part 2)

Next up was a long walk through Chicago. Wanted to get a feel of the place, and who it’s people were. Strolled for several miles to digest the food eaten.

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Pretty darn cool city. Lots of character and lots of boozy options to keep a person happy when sampling the local cuisine. This included a visit to the monks pub, which provided me with ample duval and other euro beers for rehydrate on. One was a Ukrainian golden ale that just slapped.

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Then it was on to the beef!

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A fully dipped Italian beef with the hot peppers was a highlight of the trip. The bread stayed firm despite the dunking, and almost made me more hungry upon eating since I wish I had 2 of them!

Afterwards a visit to grab a dawg was in order.

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Stuffed to the gills, I waddled back to the Palmer house to pass out. And the light display from the sunset was a nice bookend to this part of the trip.

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My fears of a trip cut short where assuaged when my colleague, fresh off a DayQuil/NiQuil bender, was feeling better. So our journey could continue!

Due to the whole rearrangement of our trip, no time was allotted for Indianapolis, which saddened me greatly. The recommendations you mags provided actually tempts me to come back, but for the most part- this state sucks.

Did stop at white castle for the first time ever tho-

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How the F do people live out here???

Our drive across the bridge welcomed us to Louisville, a city that I am still trying to mentally process. But it can be quite a pretty city at night.

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And my god was the food good once you ventured off the main path. Smoked wings, beef brisket, and hot chicken was all divine.

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And other options like pizza and tacos were well received.

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The pizza joint in particular was rad.

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Lastly, the bourbon and drinks were stellar in Louisville. Solid range of options, and you were hard-pressed to be dissatisfied anywhere you went.

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Thank you all so much for the recommendations! You mags once again show the vast collective wisdom this place has. Plenty of reasons to return to each place as well, which I very much hope to have the opportunity in the near future to do so.

You all rock.

Hell yea, Chicago rules. I love walking and stopping at random food/drink spots in that city. next time go to Weiner’s Circle for a dog, the furious spoon for ramen, and Cuba 312 for obviously Cuban food….oh and Big Star for tacos

Oh, and extra shoutout to Manny’s, that place was so good we went back the next day.

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Rueben sandwich with Matzo Ball & Kreplach soup…. Oh man.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by S_jenks

Oh, and extra shoutout to Manny’s, that place was so good we went back the next day.

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Rueben sandwich with Matzo Ball & Kreplach soup…. Oh man.

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Hell yeah. Mannys is the best. NY comes close. But not really.
Glad you added the kreplach. My best man taught me that.

Nice work. I gotta plan a trip back to Chicago. Been too long.

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Manny's is awesome. I remember going there as a kid with my dad.

Heaven on seven is also awesome. The best soup in the loop. I forgot to mention it in earlier posts. Haven't been there since somewhere around 1985.

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Had to come back to Chicago this week to help CPS get their shit ready before they fire up the bus fleets for the coming school year.

Grabbed some food while out, but a lot less spare time on this trip.

Tried deep dish from a reputable establishment:

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Fully dipped Italian beef of course:

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Mmm cheap gyros:

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And some sights to boot:

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that beef better have been from mr beef otherwise im blocking you

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Omg that pizza

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Originally Posted by tgapp

that beef better have been from mr beef otherwise im blocking you

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Mr beef was my go to when I worked at 333 wacker
I’ve heard their quality ain’t what it used to be
Portillos sold out. But it’s great mail order beef when your jonesing
And dipped is a nightmare. A spoon I of sauce is all you need.

Drove through chiraq last week to see my mom and my family mutinied and vetoed my mannys deli suggestion. Fucking heathens.

Hamburger Heaven is a classic near ohare.

Heaven on seven. You must have been to the original. On some random seventh floor in an ancient jewelers building. The new location ain’t the same. But the food is still the best outside of Louisiana. Alligator or turtle etufeé and the best gumbo. Drool.

Gino’s East wins the deep dish contest. Uno and Due were awesome before they started franchising across the country. Now it’s like portillos.

Does that beer fit together nicely with that pizza?

Jimmy's is excellent! We always hit it before going to the Art Institute.

We were in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and hit up Bartoli's. Damn fine pie.

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Going with wife on a free room from her work for a conference mid June. Marriott Magnificent Mile. Want to hit a museum or two, pizza and beer spots nearby, wife off nights for rooftop bar recommendations, spots to smoke a little green. Two point five days and three nights.

What ya got?


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Joe's Stone Crab is right next door.
Expensive, but pretty fucking good and something different than SLC.

The Lake Front trail is a fucking zoo, but if you go early, it's not too bad.
The first 30 minutes of the bike share is free. Lots of stations.
Check the bike back in and out, for 30 more. Go north, not south.

It's a really nice lakefront park , that not many cities have. It was formed by all the debris from the great fire, bulldozed into the lake.

Cindy's Rooftop on Michigan Avenue is a prime spot...I only drank there a few years ago so no opinion about the food.

I agree on Cindy's 100%, that's our favorite

around mag mile, you can walk to mr beef, that's my favorite Italian beef in the city. absolute do not miss.

for other food it just depends on what you're into, I used to work in that neighborhood and I can give you recommendations from fancy to basic

but I will die on the mr beef hill

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Cerise Rooftop on Wabash( especially at night)....and the Arts Club rooftop garden on Dearborn are also good choices

I will jump on the google maps here shortly to see where yall are sending me, muchas garcias!

If ya got time getting really high and taking the architectural boat tour is a cool way to see the city.

And tgapp that statement is very Chicago. Pick a beef and fight about it. As long as it's dipped, hot and sweet.

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Plan to take a tab and do the boat tour. Then hit museum of science and industry.
Already have the dispensary nearby scoped out.
Two full days on my own in the city will be a blast.

Go to Manny’s. Just go do it.

So good.

I’m praying my works asks me to go back to that city for a visit this summer.

I hunger for a repeat at some places.


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If you like ancient Greek and Roman statues there is a exhibit now at the Art Institute that you would enjoy.. I plan to see it the evening of June 5... See their website for schedules. Tickets .etcetera.