Chicago Recommendations by HEMLEVA

I grew up all over the suburbs of Chicago. When I was young, weekends were spent at concerts in the city, festivals and fairs. Even though I call Seattle home these days, there's something about flying back into Chicago that feels like coming home too. Luckily, I am able to visit the city a few times a year for events, and each time I am always on the hunt for the best bite of food, fun things to do, and new ways to experience one of the friendliest cities in America.

Here are a few of my favorite things to do / see / eat in Chicago.

When possible, I've linked in the Yelp listing for food recommendations along with my personal recommendations and Tripadvisor for activities.

Things to do:

• Wendella Architecture and History Boat Tours (my favorite thing to do in Chicago!)
• Garfield Park Conservatory (Free and stunning)
• Lincoln Park Conservatory (free with a timed ticket)
• Shedd Aquarium (it's remarkable) 
• Sunday Farmers Market in Lincoln Park
• Walk around Millennium Park
• Kayak in the Chicago River

Restaurants:

• Au Cheval (not Small Cheval), Burgers and Fries! Voted Best Burger in America a few years ago, I still think it's true
• Girl and the Goat, New American, Stephanie Izard is the famous Top Chef/Iron Chef that owns and runs it and several other restaurants in the area.
• Kanin for their Musubis, specifically Longainisa, new pop up turned brick and mortar
• Green Street Smoked Meats, BBQ that's so good. They BBQ underground and supply it to dozens of restaurants in Chicago. They share the space with Sawada, the coffee shop 
• Lou Malnatis, Deep Dish Pizza. My favorite is the sausage with a butter crust. It takes 45 minutes to make so the Caesar Salad is a good opener
• Cira (in the lobby of the Hoxton), veg heavy Italian, it's delicious and beautiful.
• Tacombi, tacos, Michelin rated in Mexico. They're Al Pastor was my favorite
• Akahoshi Ramen, you have to make reservations 5 weeks in advance but you might be able to get a table when they open or if there are any cancellations
• Portillo's • For a Chicago Style Hot Dog, Onion Rings and a Chocolate Cake Shake
• International McDonald’s • For snacks from their locations around the world. It rotates and it’s pretty good.
  
• ORD O’Hare Airport • Frontera for their Tortas on the way out! And the fresh chips and guacamole. You can get their app and order it ahead. They open super early too.
  
  

Bakeries & snacks:

• Kasama - for every single Filipino American pastry, and their breakfast sandwich. The wait is long, but it's worth it, and you can order ahead too. Dinner is a prix fixe, we haven't done that yet.
• Del Sur, new hot, Filipino Pastries, gorgeous bakery 
• Fat Peach Bakery, new, the guava cream cheese Danish we had was remarkable. Inspired by Mexico City with laminated pastries 
• Jeni’s Ice Cream, I love the Gooey Butter Cake, but they're all good
• Garrett's Popcorn, Chicago Mix is good but I love the Caramel with Pecans
• Mindy’s Bakery, the cookies and bagels were my favorite
• Good Ambler, great lattes and great pastries too
  
• Convenience Store, but make it local and fancier, fun & a little international • Fox Trot

Coffee:

• Sawada (it's so good, please go!) the owner is from Japan and is renowned for his lattes and matcha drinks
• La Colombe for their draft lattes

Do you have any suggestions, anything I should add or check out the next time I'm in Chicago? Please let me know! I would love to hear them.