Chicago favorites

Last updated 27 August 2023.

🥐 breakfast at Plein Air Cafe
☕️ coffee at True North
🍝 dinner at Ascione Bistro
💦 enjoy Promontory Point with a picnic or beverage. Or, use it as a starting point to 🚲 bike the Lake Front Trail (southern end, northern end).
🐌 Snail Thai is our favorite Thai restaurant around. They’re super fast for take away, and everything is delicious.
🏛️ Museum of Science and Industry
🎓 University of Chicago has a beautiful campus, and you can walk through it to see the 📐 Robie House, the 🏛️ Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, or simply enjoy the 🦆 duck pond

visit the Chicago Riverwalk to enjoy 🍷 some beverages and snacks, or as a starting point to ⛴️ take an architectural boat tour and learn about the city and its history
join a free 🚶‍♂️ walking tour from the Chicago Cultural Center
🐬 Shedd Aquarium
explore the 🏛️ Field Museum and find 🦖 “Sue”
watch the ⚽️ Chicago Red Stars at Soldier Field

🥐 pastries and 🥖 baguettes or sourdough bread at Floriole. By far one of my favorite spots in the city, my only dislike is that I live too far away to visit more frequently.
🍕 pizza at Spacca Napoli feels like a night out in Rome; sit on the patio and enjoy some beverages and snacks before your wood-oven pizza arrives
🦁 the Lincoln Park Zoo is free to visit, and has some amazing wildlife

⚾️ watch the White Sox play (at Guaranteed Rate Field) or the Cubs (at Wrigley Field)
🛶 canoeing in the Skokie Lagoons
🌳 visit the Morten Arboretum (bonus points for 🐶 “tails on the trails” days)
🌻 visit the Chicago Botanic Garden
🥾 walk around the Palos Forest Preserve

Other favorites: Boulder / DC / PDX / SF