Some Chicago eats: Must try and other dining options

Chicago

With so little time and always being on the go, we did not have much time to explore a lot of dining options in Chicago. I do have below must try dishes and then some:

1. Deep dish pizza—Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s, Uno: take your pick. Each one has line ups and will be 1-2 hour wait times. Cheesy-tomato goodness with the crust up to three inches tall at the edge. Each dripping slice has huge amounts of cheese and chunky tomato sauce. Yummmmm. We were only able to try Giordano’s.  I’ve heard some good reviews about Pizzeria Uno but that was not recommended by our hotel concierge. Stuffed pizza is another option if you want something different from deep-dish.

Giordano's pizza

2. Garrett’s popcorn—must try! Chicago mix/Garrett mix: mix of crème brûlée caramel popcorn and cheese popcorn with freshly-melted, sharp cheddar. Greasy, cheesy fingers are evidence of its yumminess. Expensive, though, at $30+ per tin of 1 gallon

Chicago mix: Garrett's

Off of Michigan Ave: Garrett's

3. Portillo’s--Chicago-born chain for hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches in retro 2-storey structure! Antiques and neon signs along with a vintage car adorn the interiors. I loved the chili cheese dog and actually prefer it over the Chicago dog which has pickles. They offer pastas as well from Barnelli’s in the same building. The Fetuccine Carbonara was so good, we had our leftover for breakfast! Hubby said the Italian beef was great as well!

Portillo's Chicago

 Three other dining options

1. Foodease/Foodlife-- Like Marche, once you are seated, you can go around the different kitchens, order and hand over your foodlife card to the server. Everything gets charged to the card and you pay at the exit. They have sushi, pizza, Mexican, Chinese, pasta among other cuisines.

2. American Girl Café—pricey and the menu was not so exciting. You pay for the experience, though

American Girl Cafe, Chicago

 3. Corner bakery-pasta, Panini and other baked goodies

Lunch at Corner Bakery, Chicago

  Happy Eating!

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Exploring the Museum Campus @ Chicago: Field Museum

Field Museum, Chicago

 Good thing we went to the Shedd Aquarium first before the Field Museum. The line ups were not as long but we only had a few hours left before the museum closed. 

Main Hall, Field Museum, Chicago

 The come-on for the girls to move quickly to get to the museum was to see the world’s largest, most complete and best preserved (how's that for credentials?!) T-Rex fossil ever discovered. And it was grand! Called, “Sue,” this imposing 42-foot skeleton greeted visitors right at the entrance. Its head, which was too heavy to put on top of the rest of the skeleton, was displayed separately. A replica sits in its place.

Sue (TRex)@ Field Museum

We first explored the Underground Adventure exhibit, where we looked at the world from, well, underground. We saw giant, animated grubs and ground moles and all sorts of creatures as if we really shrunk from the “shrinking machine.” We were “zapped” as we entered the underground.

Underground Adventure @Field Museum, Chicago

 My little scientist, DD#2, was fascinated by the Inside Ancient Egypt exhibit with actual mummies! It was also one of my favourite exhibits. 

Ancient Egypt Exhibit @ Field Museum, Chicago

We breezed through the Evolving Planet exhibit which took us through the evolution of life (and mass extinction events) over billions of years. 

There were also working laboratories where we could see fossils being prepped. 

The DNA Discovery Centre was empty at that time but apparently visitors could talk to actual scientists if available.

Other exhibits they had (which we missed) were the Gem and Animal Exhibits. We did see a similar version of these in Ottawa’s Museum of Nature.

Animal Exhibit @ Field Museum, Chicago

 It was a great museum with a lot of hands-on learning for the kids. Suggest you allocate about 3 hours minimum to explore all the exhibits.

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Exploring the Museum Campus @ Chicago: Shedd Aquarium

There were a few Hop On Hop Off stops in the 57-acre Museum Campus by the shores of Lake Michigan. This is where you can find three of the most notable museums in Chicago-- Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum of Natural History.

Adler Planetarium, Museum Campus, Chicago

Field Museum, Museum Campus, Chicago

 We only had time to go to a couple and the kids chose Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum.

Shedd Aquarium, Museum Campus, Chicago

The line-up at Shedd Aquarium was just crazy! Even if we had a so-called “Skip the Line” perk from the Go Chicago pass, we still had to line up at the “Will Call” door. There were some protesters advocating against the dolphin shows at the aquarium wherein they claimed the dolphins were sourced from inhumane practices in Japan. The aquarium, in response, has put up signs saying they do not support these practices. 

As we entered, we got our group photo taken, which you can purchase upon exit. We only had time to tour the exhibits and no longer the shows, Stingray touch experience, and 4D movies. The exhibits were beautiful! 

Amazon river exhibit @ Shedd Aquarium

 Good thing we had just gone to Ripley’s Aquarium this year so we really did not need to go all the way with the other exhibits which had additional fees. For example, while I think the jellyfish exhibit at Shedd would be awesome (as I saw from some photos), as we did not have time and did not want to pay additional admission, we no longer went. We had seen a beautiful, albeit smaller exhibit at Ripley’s. As well, the girls already had a Stingray touch experience at the Toronto Zoo, so again, we did not have to do it this time. We also just came from Marineland a year or so ago where we saw shows and touched Beluga whales so we were covered on that end as well. 

Beluga whales @ Shedd Aquarium

 But if you only have one chance to check out an aquarium (vs going to three different locations like we did), then this is the place to go! You would have the jellyfish exhibit, dolphin show, and Stingray touch experience under one roof! 

We managed to catch the dolphin show from the bottom of the tank where there was a viewing area. 

Underwater Dolphin show @ Shedd Aquarium

 We also were able to touch starfish and sturgeon—and got my sleeves wet from having to reach down! 

Starfish touch experience @ Shedd Aquarium

Sturgeon touching experience @ Shedd Aquarium

We especially liked the penguin exhibit which fascinated the girls—like a scene from Happy Feet!

Penguins @ Shedd Aquarium

 The aquarium was well maintained and there were so many learning experiences for the kids. We could have spent the full day here (after all, we lined up!!!) but we didn’t have enough time.  So, we had to make do.

The restaurant was way bigger than Ripley’s. They had pizza, tacos, burgers and dogs. There was also a patio outside where you can eat your lunch. Like Ripley’s, the gift shops/kiosks were all over. You can get your souvenir at practically every point. 

The girls had an awesome time but were quite ok not to spend the whole day there. They were excited to check out Field Museum! Shedd Aquarium is an attraction that must not be missed— for anything aquatic, visual and experiential, under a majestic structure from the 1930’s!

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