In September I will be visiting a friend doing his exchange semester at U of Illinois : Urbana-Champaign for about a week. Looking for some recs for:
- Chicago - will probably get a hotel and spend a long weekend in the city - where to eat/drink/see/go out? (Big fan of house music so would love tips for this)
- Urbana/Champaign or Illinois in general - will probably rent a car for a few days as well, any trips worth doing in the state?
We are both from Northern Europe in mid-late 20s. I’ve spent a good bit of time in the US before but mainly in California/South
All tips and opinions would be helpful and very appreciated.
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^^^you are savage
came here to say this
of course, this is a given
Absolutely raving reviews on Google Maps, highly recommend
Lmaooo the google reviews are hilarious
Yeah, especially if you're a bad mother from 63rd who's smoking on Von lmao
Saw this late but definitely the Riverwalk. Also, I had some great fucking food at a restaurant in West Loop (courtesy of my firm lol shoutout intern perks). Lotta great foodie places in general and of course their deep dish pizza is crazy. It's like deliciously chewy (not sure if thats the best description) and there are two super well known pizza places. Can't remember the names though. And of course, go see a Cubs game. Fucking baseball games are so fun dude one of the funniest things I saw there was people stacking the beer cup snake (not sure if thats legal lol). But yeah baseball game atmospheres are so sweet definitely something I will go experience again.
He two iconic deep dish pizza chains are Giordano’s and Lou Malnatis
Lou’s and Giordano’s get all the hype but I’m an Uno man myself.
"Chewy pizza"
Going to a real jazz/blues club
If you like house music then go for it, I'm more of a techno guy myself so no recommendations there.
If you want to live like a cold-blooded American for a weekend you should go watch a baseball (cubs) game at Wrigley and drink copious amounts of beer.
I think Deal Team Six is from/lives there and would have great advice. Generally WSO loves Chicago and for good reason imo, it's a great city, especially when comparing costs relative to NYC, SF, DC, etc. Here's some stuff I checked out when I went earlier this year:
Sights:
Events:
Eating:
Drinking:
This is fire. I'd add some stuff to do in Old Town and Lincoln Park:
- LP has the free zoo that you can walk through in like an hour and is near the water.
- The J. Parker is a chill rooftop in LP you could hit for a drink after walking around the zoo.
- Bars on N Wells in Old Town. There are several good ones. I like Benchmark & Woodies but you should just hang out wherever U of I ppl go.
- Second city for improv comedy if you're into that.
Not mentioned in Millennium Park is Cindy's rooftop, its touristy AF but the view/scene is good.
Can't believe I forgot about that, the zoo is really good, +1. After being there and especially the DC zoo, both of which are free, I've really been spoiled and can't go to a paid zoo.
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How are you going to say that the most authentic Chinese food is at The Peninsula and completely ignore Chinatown?
If you're lucky, you can get 800 LBs of poop dumped on you while on the architecture boat tour by the Dave Mathews Band tour bus.
Appreciate the call out Pierogi Equities, hope all is well on your end.
Couple disorganized thoughts from a sleep deprived local:
U of I Urbana Champaign is nowhere near Chicago and there isnt much to do aside from party at UIUC. As a student abroad, I imagine you are strapped for cash. My advice is to enjoy the house parties and hit the bar scene. If your friend who is abroad is friends with guys in fraternities, this will help tremendously. Why?
1. They probably know of somewhere to have fun every night of the week, including "dead" nights
2. They likely know AT LEAST 1-2 bartenders who will hook you up with the cheapest drinks you will have at any bar during your entire time in Illinois. I went there multiple times and visited different friends who were all in Greek life, and they each knew 3-10 bartenders. UIUC is the biggest greek life school I know of (something like 80+% of students are in houses). If you have a connection with a bartender, you will be paying $1-5 for every drink you order. I dont want to date myself but when I was there a few years ago I dont recall paying over $3 for anything, courtesy of fraternity / sorority connections.
3. The talent at UIUC is as good as it could be given it is a cornfield in Illinois. A ton of beautiful girls and the bars are pretty packed with them.
Chicago is fun but I need to know your price range for better advice. The house artists typically play at the more expensive places. Look into who is DJIng / performing at sound bar, spy bar, TAO (super douchy and clubby where drinks are overpriced, but great house artists), or maybe Joy? Not really my scene so I am not super close with that.
Wrigley Field. If youre looking for a good touristy attraction when the weather is solid, you should definitely go to Wrigley. You can buy tickets for next to nothing. Get a dog, beer, and enjoy a mediocre sports team. Go with a few friends and you cant have a bad time regardless of the game itself.
Cheaper Bars. Much less close with the night life scene than I used to be, but a couple fun cheap bars by location:
1. Halligans - Lincoln Park. Not exactly a popping night life scene in the general area, but many low key bars in the area. Last time I was on there on a week night they had $2.50 beers, meaning in order to pay with a credit card you need to buy around for the boys ($10 minimum). You are easily a $20-30 uber away from any good place to actually go out.
2. Galway Bay -Lakeview / Lincoln Park border. Top notch dive bar with cheap drinks, and every drinking game you could want. I am talking golden tee, darts, pool, all the way through Mario Cart on N64. Not a good scene to meet girls but a great place to start a night out.
3. Woodys on Wells - Old Town. Underrated bar that is less crowded in one of the most popular areas to go out for early 20-somethings. One of the only bars I a surprisingly high number of girls come up to me and started hitting on me at. If you want to go to a more "popping" bar you can easily walk to Pour House, Benchmark, Fireplace, etc., all bars within 1-2 km. Those bars were when I went in my early 20s and will likely be more your scene.
4. Cindys - The Loop (heart of Chicago / financial district). One of the best views of Chicago. Extremely cool layout and very fun to grab a drink at. Drinks are costly, but the view and environment is worth it.
Suburb Beaches (North not South of the city): Suburb beaches > city beach any day. Beaches in the city are mobbed and underwhelming. Google maps some beaches about ~20-40 miles north of the city to find some really low key spots with better sand, better company, and in general, one fifth as many people. If you PM me I can name my absolute favorite beaches, but dont want to advertise them to the local public as they are super low key. Most importantly, dont go south looking for a good beach as that will take you toward a less desirable / dangerous part of the city.
If you have any other interests just lmk and I can recommend other things to do, but thats my general advice. Many may disagree on some of the points but I guarantee most locals who have been to the places I recommended will agree.
This is amazing, thank you very much.
In terms of budget - I am working in IB atm, and just got a decent bonus and will be moving to the buyside after my trip, so I def have some cash to spend. My friend may be on a lower budget given he is in school, but has also worked full time for a few years before and alongside his degree (European things lol) so he has some wiggle room.
Yep, aware that Urbana-Champaign is in the middle of nowhere but we’ll probably just chill and go out a few nights and then go to the city for a few days as well.
Noted on the Greek life, will let my friend lead the way and hopefully has a decent network by then (not sure what the perception is of someone who is a couple of years out of college and hangs out at college bars lol)
Galaway Bay is a dope dive bar! Highly recommend it. I used to live right by that place. Good memories.
Its this but it's also called Chi-Raq... How can it be both?
The south side is where most of the crime is. The city as a whole is pretty nice
This is a fantastic list. I lived in Chicago for a few years and will probably share this next time somebody asks for recs
I'll add one other thing. During the summer / when it's warm, rent a bike and ride along the lakefront trail. I'd usually suggest starting near navy pier (it's easy to get bikes there) and riding south, either to Northerly Island or further and back. The lakefront bike trail is really top notch -- it's well-maintained, scenic, and super flat / easy
definitely agree on the bikes, I did that last time and forgot to mention that too. With a nice breeze and low humidity, there's nothing better.
The field museum is superb.
The architecture foundation that does the boat tour also does great walking tours if that's your thing.
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