Visiting Chicago
 

It was my birthday last Sunday and the lady wants to take me to a city bigger than KC (as I'm from LA) for a museum hop/public artgasm. Any routes or eateries you guys recommend? We will both be on bikes and more or less couch surfing through our stay. 13th-17th inc. the drive to and from KC.

Suggestions aweigh!

When I was out there, there was a long bike path by the water that a cousin of mine took me to. It's famous, so I'm sure somebody here will chime in on it.

I know we went to Portillo's, and some other fast food place that had the italian meat sausages as far as chains went for some pretty good (cheap) food.

Then she took me to an area of Chicago that reminded me of SF, lots of wall graffiti, and more unique food choices.

... I am no help here.

I'm cutting and pasting this from my answer to an Ask Metafilter question, but here goes:

Restaurants:
Kuma's Corner
Publican
Purple Pig
Longman & Eagle
Owen & Engine

Mixologist bars:
Whistler
Sable
The Aviary

Mircobreweries:
Revolution

Good beer bars:
Hopleaf
Map Room

Hot dogs:
Hot Dougs
Franks n Dawgs
Bangers & Lace (also has great beer list)

Neighborhoods:
Logan Square
Bucktown/Wicker Park
Andersonville/Edgewater/Uptown

As far as biking goes, yeah the Lake Front Path is great, though can be pretty damn crowded on the north side on nice afternoons. A lot of Chicago is pretty bike-friendly. Google maps bike directions are usually pretty good, and there's a free Chicago Offline Bike Map app for iPhones that is great because it doesn't require a data connection. It doesn't, however, do routing; it's just a map.

ETA: The Chicago Architecture boat tour/cruise is awesome. I love when friends/family come into town so I have an excuse to do it.

Also, the museum campus (which houses the Field Museum (natural history), Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium) is right on that Lake Front Path. The Art Institute is just a few blocks in from the lake.

Chicago has a bike path right on the edge of Lake Michigan. Runs about 18 miles. 36 round trip. No cars.

Back in the late 1800's the city turned the entire lakefront into a long park. The path is somewhat crowded on weekend mornings, after 8am, especially north of the river. It's just as pleasant south of the river. Bring a lock and your bathing suit. There are fine sand beaches along the route.

Art = Art Institute, Mexican Fine Arts Museum (a real gem), Museum of Contemporary art, Smart Museum on the U of Chicago Campus, Renassiance Society Art Gallery also on U of Chgo campus.

Museums: Museum of Science and Industry, which is right off the lake front path at 57th street. Oriental Institute on U of C Campus has a great collection from the middle east. Museum campus at 12th street = Field Museum of Nat History, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium.

Just got back. The Art Institute has an AWESOME collection. The lady works at the Nelson-Atkins here in KC, this is important because we got into all the museums mucho la gratis. The Shedd Aquarium had a music thing going on during our last night so we wandered around that for a few hours, this ended in fireworks. Went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, rode the trail thing.


Ate at:
Arturos's - Western x Armitage
Toast - Webster x Halstead
The Lockdown - Division x Webster
Some three syllable Thai + Vietnamese place on N. Argyle between Winthrop and Kenmore.
Downtown Dogs - Chicago x Rush
Bacino's - Lincoln x Webster


Drank:
Great Lakes - Commodore Perry
3floyds - Alpha King
3floyds - Broo Doo
Goose Island - Honker's Ale
Flying Dog - Snakedog
Dogfish Head - Raison D'Etre