{"id":25524,"date":"2013-06-26T12:15:17","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T16:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=25524"},"modified":"2013-06-26T08:20:03","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T12:20:03","slug":"15-restaurant-recommendations-for-eating-your-way-through-ala-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=25524","title":{"rendered":"15 restaurant recommendations for eating your way through ALA Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

15 restaurant recommendations for eating your way through ALA Chicago<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"ra2\"<\/a>“Hog Butcher for the World,
\nTool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
\nPlayer with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
\nStormy, husky, brawling,
\nCity of the Big Shoulders.” \u2013 \u201cChicago\u201d by Carl Sandburg<\/p>\n

Chicago. Chi-Town. The Windy City. Whatever you call it, Chicago is a fun city with a lot to offer.<\/strong> It\u2019s notorious for political scandal, great sports teams, beautiful museums and libraries, music, and food. Of course we will all be busy attending the conference, but be sure to take time to enjoy the wealth of culinary offerings.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a list of some of my favorite restaurants and must-try restaurant in Chicago. The city has plenty more restaurants to offer, but I tried to include a variety of options\u2014everything from vegan to steaks and, of course, ice cream.<\/p>\n

Ban Po Jung<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Korean \u2013<\/b> A family-owned, authentic Korean restaurant. In addition to your entre, you get a dozen side dishes. The kimchi is out of this world. I suggest the dolsot bi bim bap (served in a hot stone bowl). You won\u2019t regret it.<\/p>\n

Carson\u2019s<\/b><\/a> – Ribs \u2013 <\/b>Say \u201cribs\u201d in Chicago and the automatic response is Carson\u2019s. The secret is in the sauce.<\/p>\n

Chicago Diner<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Vegan\/Vegetarian \u2013 <\/b>One of my personal favorites. Chicago Diner has been meat-free since 1983. They offer vegan milkshakes and cheesecake, \u201csteak,\u201d \u201cturkey,\u201d \u201cchicken,\u201d and \u201cbacon\u201d made from seitan, and cheese fries made with Cheddar Teese. They also offer a number of options for those of us with food allergies.<\/p>\n

Erie Caf\u00e9<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Steakhouse \u2013 <\/b>Even non-steak eaters will enjoy this place. The service is impeccable. The food is hot, fresh, and delicious. Erie Caf\u00e9 is known for its steak, but they also serve homemade pasta, veal, seafood, and plenty of vegetarian options. Save room for dessert\u2014cheesecake, tiramisu, spumoni, and fresh fruit sorbet.<\/p>\n

Girl & The Goat<\/b><\/a> or <\/b>Little Goat Diner<\/b><\/a> \u2013<\/b> Chef Stephanie Izzard serves up fun food and craft beers and wine in a rustic and awesome environment. They work with a number of farms in the Chicago area to support local at the restaurant. The food is fresh, delicious, and offers something for everyone, but it\u2019s pricey, and it\u2019s hard to get a table on short notice. Little Goat Diner serves \u201cgourmet diner food,\u201d it\u2019s cheaper, easy to get a table, and open breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night.<\/p>\n

Harold\u2019s<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Chicken \u2013 Say \u201cchicken\u201d in Chicago and the automatic response is Harold\u2019s. The secret is in the sauce. The mild sauce. FYI\u2014Harold\u2019s has multiple locations around the city, and not all Harold\u2019s are created equal.<\/p>\n

Karyn\u2019s<\/b><\/a> \u2013Vegan\/Raw \u2013 <\/b>Karyn Calabrese owns three restaurants in Chicago\u2014Karyn\u2019s Cooked<\/b><\/a>, Karyn\u2019s Raw Caf\u00e9<\/b><\/a>, and Karyn\u2019s on Green<\/b><\/a>. Karyn\u2019s Cooked is my favorite restaurant. You can\u2019t go wrong with vegan comfort food. I highly recommend the flautas. <\/b><\/p>\n

Lou Malnati\u2019s<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Pizza \u2013 <\/b>Lou Malnati\u2019s is home of one of the best Chicago-style deep dish pizzas. The crust is buttery and flaky, the sauce is sweet and tangy, the ingredients are fresh, and the pizza is loaded with more mozzarella cheese than any human being should consume.<\/p>\n

Margie\u2019s Candies<\/b><\/a> \u2013 <\/b>Ice cream & candy \u2013 Homemade ice cream and candies since 1921. Go ahead, treat yourself to a big hot fudge sundae at Margie\u2019s. Dig into a fudge atomic sundae, mixed fruit sundae, chocolate marshmallow banana split, or chocolate honeycomb chip sundae. <\/b><\/p>\n

Maxwell Street<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Polish, Hot Dogs, Burgers \u2013 <\/b>The Holy Grail of Polish hot dogs. The fries are excellent, too\u2014greasy and fried to perfection. Guarantee you won\u2019t spend more than $5 on your meal. FYI\u2014There is no indoor seating, so you will need to eat in your car or take it back to the hotel.<\/p>\n

Mario\u2019s<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Italian Ice \u2013 <\/b>Homemade Italian Ice is the perfect treat on a hot summer day in Chicago. Mario\u2019s uses water, fresh lemons, and fresh fruit to make the Italian ice. Flavors include, watermelon, cantaloupe, mango, chocolate, and strawberry. Hearty portions and cheap prices!<\/p>\n

The Rosebud<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Italian \u2013<\/b> Chicago has a number of Italian restaurants (see Little Italy for more options), but The Rosebud is one of my family\u2019s favorites. It\u2019s classy, timeless, and authentic\u2014choose from homemade pasta, steaks and seafood, and vegetarian options.<\/p>\n

Sunda<\/b><\/a> \u2013 New Asian \u2013<\/b>Sunda is an award-winning restaurant that showcases Eastern Asian and Southeast Asian regional cuisine in the New Asian movement. It\u2019s pretty pricey, but you can sign up for coupons. Everyone who has eaten at Sunda says it is life changing. <\/i>Everyone can\u2019t be wrong, right?<\/p>\n

Swirlz<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Cupcakes \u2013<\/b> If you have any dietary restrictions, Swirlz can most likely accommodate your needs. Swirlz offers a wide range of regular, gluten-free, and vegan cupcakes. The flavors are out of this world\u2014peanut butter chocolate caramel crispie, greek yogurt lemon basil, blueberry cheesecakes, and banana nutella are just a few of the fancy flavors<\/p>\n

Taco Burrito Palace #2<\/b><\/a> \u2013 Mexican \u2013 <\/b>No bells and whistles, homemade, authentic Mexican food. The portions are massive, cheap, and the food is the real deal. <\/b><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rachael Altman, Head Editor, INALJ Alabama 15 restaurant recommendations for eating your way through ALA Chicago “Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.” \u2013 \u201cChicago\u201d by Carl Sandburg Chicago. Chi-Town. The Windy City. Whatever you…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[231,4414,4535,233,3592,3322,4536,3624,3970,4534],"class_list":["post-25524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-ala","tag-ala-annual","tag-ala13","tag-articles-2","tag-blog","tag-chicago","tag-food","tag-inalj-alabama","tag-rachael-altman","tag-restaurants"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/rachaela.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-6DG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}