Another traveler looking for advice

Hello, all. I've recently found these forums via eGullet, and I have to say, they rather make me wish I lived in Chicago. Currently I'm a resident of Pittsburgh, but I'll be visiting Chicago from May 10-13 this year (never been there, found a cheap airfare, decided to go for it). My primary interest when I travel is, of course, food, so I thought I'd ask for your help.

I've been paging through the many, many threads, and there's such a wealth of information available to me it's really sort of overwhelming. I wondered if anyone might be able to make some specific recommendations.

First, I will be staying at the HI Hostel, which I hear is somewhere downtown. I don't have a car, and so will be limited to public transportation, though I'm willing to walk probably up to 2-3 miles each way from the nearest public transportation (depending on sidewalks, weather, and safety of the area). I will be travelling by myself and am of the female sort of person.

One of my primary wishes is to go to a really, really nice place. I was thinking of Matsumoto, which I read about with great delight, and then equally great sadness when I saw that it had closed. I may try Chiyo but it seems to me that the food is not considered to be as... hm, artistic? I have also considered Alinea but would prefer somewhere with Japanese food, hopefully in kaiseki style; if not, as traditional and well-executed as possible. I am also generally interested in good Japanese places. I can speak marginally passable Japanese, if the other party is willing to tolerate it.

Also, Korean, Mexican and Chinese food; it is difficult at best to find good examples of these where I live. Dim sum would be very welcome indeed. I am considering the suggestions posted in joby's thread (I started another thread because my budget and party size are so different from joby's).

Any other food-related suggestions? I do plan to visit the Asian minimall in Chinatown; I'd love to go to Mitsuwa but can't quite tell if it's accessible via public transportation. Are there other good Japanese grocery stores? Any must-see spots that I haven't specifically asked about?

All thoughts appreciated. In exchange, I promise to bring my digital camera and post back with my thoughts on the various restaurants/destinations.

If you can spare the money, go to Alinea. It transcends nationality, it is its own thing. You will not find anything to compare.

I highly recommend Kuni's for sushi. Kuni was one of the first sushi guys in the US and trained a LOT of sushi chefs around the country. Sit at the bar and talk to Kuni-san

If you go during rush hour you can take the Purple line El up to Main street, otherwise take the Red to Howard then change to the Purple. Main is in Evanston, which is the first suburb N. of Chicago.

Exit at Main, walk 1/2 block N. to Main, Kuni's is 1/2 block E.

The cooked food is fine, but the sushi is phenomenal.

Kuni's
511 Main St.
Evanston 60202-4540
847-328-2004

You know what I like about this question when we get it here (as opposed to other food boards I could name)?

One, that it's four paragraphs long and full of specifics. Two:

I've been paging through the many, many threads

It makes it so much easier to answer when you give some specific interests and requests like this...

Well, for Mexican, since you're downtown, you could certainly try Frontera Grill, even with the recent caveats about execution; when it's good it's good and good or less good it's just not that expensive, about the lowest-cost place with a name-brand, TV-famous chef there is. (Otherwise, Mexican downtown is to be avoided.) For more neighborhoody Mexican, I'd go down to 18th street (it's near the blue line, right?), have lunch at almost any place along there (start with this and this thread) and have dessert from Bombon.

If you're going to the Chinatown mall, right there either in the mall or within a block or so you have many places talked about here, Lao Sze Chuan, Little Three Happiness, Spring World, Phoenix or Happy Chef or Shui Wah for dim sum, etc., so search on those specific restaurants. Really good Korean is a little awkward to get to by public transportation, especially with the Kedzie stop on the brown line closed, but I'd suggest Thai anyway; TAC Quick is right on the red line and Spoon is a block from the brown line, so search either of those.

As I recommended to Joby, try using the RTA trip planner:
http://tripsweb.rtachicago.com/ or 312-836-7000; all you need is a starting address and a destination - with the caveat that the trip will be longer than they say, and IMHO, any trip with more than 3 bus transfers is a grind.

There's also a Mexican neighborhood with excellent food in Chicago just south of Evanston: look up "Rogers Park" - though there are other Mexican neighborhoods to the south and west as well. I heartily second Spoon for Thai.

So you can travel all you want or have to travel intra city (and Evanston)

Somehow we got into the business of assuming this person wants to go to Evanston. Evanston's fine, but it'd hardly land on my must-see list for a first-time, three-day trip. If she's in the center of the city, she should stick with things that have a relatively short and direct travel time from there.

Oh, and to her earlier question, no, Mitsuwa really isn't accessible by public transportation. In theory there's probably some combination of suburban buses that'd get you there, but you'd spend a long, long time in transit.

What about Meiji, in the West Loop? Easily accessible by public transport, Omakase menu by request...

I, unfortunatley, recently had the worst Ahi I've ever tasted at Meiji. If you are only in town for three days Meiji can be hit or miss. Now, Avec and Blackbird next door is a completely different story, I wouldn't miss eating at least one of these restaurants.

binkin wrote:First, I will be staying at the HI Hostel, which I hear is somewhere downtown. I don't have a car, and so will be limited to public transportation . . . I'd love to go to Mitsuwa but can't quite tell if it's accessible via public transportation.

The Hostel is at Congress & Wabash, a pretty good location and very well situated for getting around by public transportation. As soon as you can, call 1-888-YOUR CTA and ask them to send you a map (you can download it at transitchicago.com but the official one is nice). Ask for the CTA System Map and, if you plan to go to the suburbs, the RTA System Map. If you don’t get it in time, try to get one at the CTA train terminal at the airport (either O’Hare or Midway). Be sure to get your day pass at the airport before you board your train to downtown. Single day passes are $5, a 3-day is $12, and allow unlimited travel even on suburban buses.

I don’t have a car and have taken public transportation to Mitsuwa. It will take some time but it’s quite simple. Mitsuwa is great fun to visit and it sounds right up your alley so I’d say do it if you have the time. Just get on the Blue Line train (subway on Dearborn) toward O’Hare and get off at Rosemont (about 30 min). Then catch Pace bus 606 (these usually run every half hour) and get off at Algonquin & Arlington Heights (a 20 minute trip). Be sure to ask your driver where to catch the return bus (stops in the suburbs aren’t always marked). Pay attention to the schedule and you shouldn’t have to wait too long to catch the bus back to the train. You can download the schedule at pacebus.com.

If you don’t feel like going to Mitsuwa, a trip to Chicago Food Corp might suffice and it’s easier to get to. CFC is a large Korean supermarket that carries some Japanese products, often with a Korean twist. The little cafeteria in the store can be fun (there’s much better Korean food in Chicago though) and they have a decent kitchenware section and a nice panchan bar. Just take the Blue Line to Belmont and walk north on Kimball about a block (just past the overpass).

Thanks to all for your kindly considered (and detailed) advice. I'm digesting (har, har) it now, and will be trying to come up with an itinerary of the places I'd most like to go. First, however, I have to finish this hideous beast of a project on syntactic theory (the completion of which the Chicago trip is, at least partially, a reward for).

At the moment I'm thinking either Alinea or Avec; LTH or Spring World; Frontera or a visit to 18th Street; Bob-san or Katsu or ???; Spoon; and certainly Hot Doug's, if only because it is a legend among a particular group of friends. I really do want to make the trip to Mitsuwa, if possible, and definitely the Asian minimall. Since my recreational life revolves largely around food (cooking and eating), I hope to squeeze as many places in as possible.

Again, thank you all for the links and information (so much of it!).

I've posted a message in the Events board, in case any LTHers would like to join me and eat dinner.

I do have a couple other questions. On Thursday, I'm planning to make a day of the lakefront and the museum campus area. Is there anywhere nearby to pick up reasonable picnic provisions, or any noteworthy foodstands, etc. in that area for lunch?

Also, are there any good bars near 24 E Congress Parkway (i.e. downtown)? For reference, when I'm in Pittsburgh, I usually frequent places that are... well, sort of divey. Gooski's is my favorite - it has a good selection of beers but is cheap and unpretentious; still, I feel safe there.

Eleven City Diner (1112 S. Wabash St., 312-212-1112), a new deli-diner much spoken of around here, is slowly getting its act together, and you probably could get a sandwich and some fixings to go (call first, tho; when they first opened they weren't set up for much carry-out).

Down the street is the Bongo Room at Wabash and Roosevelt, best known for its breakfasts (particularly if you like designer pancakes), but it's open for lunch, too.

And just across Roosevelt at Wabash is a Jewel supermarket if you want to explore a basic supermart for picnic fixings. They also have a deli counter.

binkin wrote:I do have a couple other questions. On Thursday, I'm planning to make a day of the lakefront and the museum campus area. Is there anywhere nearby to pick up reasonable picnic provisions, or any noteworthy foodstands, etc. in that area for lunch?

For gourmet style picnic fixins, visit Fox @ Obel on Illinois. It's a high end (in both foodstuffs and price) grocery store. Their baugettes are outstanding and they have a large selection of deli items and cheeses as well. Located near Navy Pier. Here's a map.

Fox & Obel Food Market
401 E. Illinois Street
Chicago, IL 60611
312-410-7301

binkin wrote:Also, are there any good bars near 24 E Congress Parkway (i.e. downtown)? For reference, when I'm in Pittsburgh, I usually frequent places that are... well, sort of divey. Gooski's is my favorite - it has a good selection of beers but is cheap and unpretentious; still, I feel safe there.

I recommend Kasey's Tavern: walk west to Dearborn, turn left (toward the old train station tower), and walk 1 1/2 blocks south. Kasey's is on the east side of the street.

When Antonius and I lived in the neighborhood, Kasey's was like another room in our apartment...

Here is a post by Antonius which also gives a round up of other bars, and of bookstores in the neighborhood:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=27759#27759

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll check out the Eleven City Diner and perhaps Fox & Obel's for lunch on museum day.

Amata, Kasey's sounds just about right. Also, thank you for linking to Antonius' post; I am also a bibliophile and I hadn't realized there were BOOKSTORES so close to where I'm staying. This could be dangerous.