Donuts, deep dish pizza, famous burgers, more donuts, and a large bean. Took a quick weekend trip to Chicago to visit a friend. The city definitely felt like New York with its metropolitan bustle, similar restaurants, and city life. But aside from that... there isn't too much to do in the city if you don't go to an expensive museum. Next time, however, I do want to check out the Chicago History Museum (since we ran out of time and had to walk 40 min to eat Portillo's before rushing to the airport).
Highlights:
-Giant donut at Doughnut Vault.
-Girl and the Goat - yes, we got a reservation and yes, it was really good. Very unique foods with well mixed flavors.
-Mariano's grocery store. Like Whole Foods, but cheaper and more exciting. Seriously my favorite part of the trip.
-Lincoln Park Zoo - a FREE zoo! It's nothing like the SD zoo, but it has a lot of interesting outdoor and indoor exhibits. Fairly extensive bird and reptile rooms, with tons of educational posters everywhere. I was also surprised there were so many animals that could withstand the cold Chicago weather. I guess that's why they got tigers from Siberia.
-Beautiful architecture and street art. I love hip street art.
-Cute store signs.
Lowlights:
-Bean-to-cup hot chocolate from Xoco. The reviews online love this place, but the actual thing was too sour and fermented tasting for me. I will stick to my fake chocolate, thanks.
-Waiting for 2 hours for Au Cheval, and they ran out of bacon. The burger was good, but not mindblowingly good. At least there were things to do while we waited (like eat donuts).
-Deep dish pizza. I guess the dough has to be a bit styrofoam-y so it doesn't get soaked.
-High tax rate.
-The cold.
 |
| A light snack. |
 |
| This McDonalds is serious business. |
