OH NO YOU DIDNT!! *snaps* haha jk . yeah ive been there too, good stuff. i prefer superdawg. And for italian Beef, the best beef sandwich is Johnny's Beef, that i think is on North Ave.

 

We tried to do that a couple years ago, but the owners were not too keen on us filling up all their parking spots during the spring or summer months.

If anyone knows a Chicago area drive-in type place that doesn't mind 20 or 30 MINI's hanging out, let me know!! A drive-in drive would be fun.

 

Mmmm... Johnny's beef .

There is one not too far from Patrick too! Just take Golf east and take a right on Arlington Heights, and it's just a little ways down on the left.



Okay... this hot dog/beef thing has cause quite a discussion, but can we agree that Lou Malnati's is the best for pizza?

 

ooo i love their deep dish sausage...mmmm...

 

Dengeo's is pretty good (At least I think so) down on Main and McCormick.
Or you can check out the sweet Rock n Roll McDonalds in downtown. Best McD's I've ever been to. Mhmm.

 

Better yet, the Portillo's across the street from the has a good choice of dogs, italian beef, and pasta! (I like the decor there better than some of the other ones.)

That whole block has a pretty good selection. Aside from the above, there's the Hard Rock, a Rainforest Cafe, and several other independents nearby.

 

That's a great idea. I'm all for that if anyone has any ideas .

 

Well if you don't want to deal with the hot dog wars, get some Uno's or Lou Malnati's (sp??) pizza

 

Dengeo's now you're talkin !!! Any takers for the Pita Inn ?

 

I'll be coming from O'Hare to Patrick MINI (in Schaumburg) and then into downtown. The next day after visiting downtown a bit more I'll be heading out on LSD (I think).

I'm open to suggestions on how to miss the nasty traffic..

(good to know about I-90 construction)

 

As long as you don't head south on 90 (towards IN) from downtown, you'll be fine. The Dan Ryan is supposed to be a nightmare. We're going to avoid that mess when we roll towards the Dragon next week.

Depending on when you decide to leave downtown... maybe we can gather a few CMMC MINI's and give you a proper sendoff. Any CMMC out there looking for an excuse to motor???

 

I'm not CMMC but will be in town.

 

if its a nice day out, let's meet up @ portillos across the street and have a MINI meet!! i'd be down if it was in the afternoon, say around 5-6ish.

 

even better!!!

 

ah i wish i could join the gang for a cruise but as my sig suggests, i will be out of town. not that im complaining about going to the Monaco GP, i \ts just that i havent been to a drive in a while. maybe next time peeps.

Yeah the Dan ryan is a mess outbound. last friday there was an accident blocking both lanes of outbound and man was it terrible, but inbound isnt bad. i say if youre going out east take 294 south(not much better, and tolls, but it is much better if you had I-pass.)

 

A new MINI party would be cool. I could make it, it depends on which day of the week it will be.

 

Aw man! All this talk of dogs and pizza is making me want to head out to the "land of aromatic onions".

Coincidentally, for about a week now, my 4-year-old son has been declaring he wants to go to Chicago- and he wasn't even born there! His mom is from Back-of-the-Yards, so we visit pretty often. The last time they were there was back in December. The Auto Show back in February was my last visit. I've only gone in my MINI once (L.A. to Chicago and back!)

I've a wild hair to visit a wild onion.
Goose Island! Mmmmm!

 

although my plans are still up in the air, my best guess is i'll be in chicago tuesday evening / wednesday morning (May 24th / 25th)

A meet-up would be awesome!

 

hey, if I stay in shaumburg (cheaper and safer parking for my car!) is it a b**ch to get into the city from there? is there a transit (the el?) that i can take from there? i guess from there we can walk around town?

Thanks

 

Easiest is probably head north to Arlinghton heights or Palatine about 15 min. and hop on Metra (in-out of city commuter rail) take that into the city then walk and use the L or Pace, to get around in the city.

 

let us know closer to the actual date, hopefully we can set something up.

 

Yeah give us a date, and where are you driving back to, because you said you wanted to drive north. If your going north then you dont have to worry about the Dan Ryan construction, thats only if you are going to Indiana. So more details o-ron. And for those who dont know http://www.gcmtravel.com/gcm/home.jsp great travel tool.

 

Stay in Schaumburg. There are many good hotels in the area. Schaumburg is sort of a shopping district.

The best way into the city sans-MINI is by Metra, our suburban train system. There are 3 stations in the Schaumburg area - Schaumburg, Roselle, and Medinah. You can find maps to their locations here. The Schaumburg and Roselle stations have good sized lots, but they tend to fill up during the week with commuters. Best bet is to leave the MINI at your hotel and and ask them to transport you to/from what ever Metra station is closest to the hotel. Any hotel with a shuttle should be able to accommodate.

1) Hancock Observatory (I like the view better then the Sears Tower)
2) Millennium Park and the lake front
3) lake front boat cruise is nice or if you like architecture, take an architecture river cruise.

Food:

1) Pizza - as already mentioned, go to Lou Malnatis. I take all out of town friends there. Be sure to order your deep dish pizza with their butter crust!
2) Italian Beef - if you get an Italian Beef, tell them to make it juicy, or dipped. Also, only Scalas Italian Beef brand will do.
3) And lastly on the food front, a true Chicago style dog is generally made with Vienna Beef on an S.Rosens poppyseed bun. Good hot dog joints will proudly display huge signs of both products in their windows

I personally recommend Fluky's (even though they don't use Vienna Beef). They have a location in Buffalo Grove, very near Schaumburg.

Leave before 3pm or after 7pm to avoid traffic on both the expressways or local streets. All the back roads west and north west of Chicago are fun. Especially once you get into WI.

Just west of Schaumburg is a road called Shoe Factory Road. It's not too bad, especially the first turn just west of Higgins Road.

And you mean the 'L'. I'll let it slide this time... since you're not from around here

Yes - o-ron, if you have time I sure we'd be happy to do a CMMC send off! If you like, maybe the night you pick up your MINI we could all meet at Prairie Rock Brewing in Schaumburg for some grub and a pint.

 

Okay, I just wrote a huge list of things to do but my connection freaked out and I lost it... but Gene and Jude's is a must and so is Lou Malnati's. I don't even eat hot dogs but everyone I know is obsessed with Gene and Judes - my parents, boyfriend, friends, etc.

Second City as someone else said is a good place to go too.

I'm not a Sox fan myself but if you want to see the defending World Champions in action, there's a game at 7:05 on the 24th of May. They don't play on the 25th. The Cubs are out of town that weekend or I would've suggested that since I'm die hard and no ballpark can ever compare to Wrigley.

Also, if you don't want to stay in the city but would rather not stay in Schaumburg, there's a hotel near the airport that I highly recommend - the Westin O'Hare. Great beds, nice pool/work out area. They have basketball courts and it's a pretty nice place. The beds, though, are my favorite. They have a parking lot there - but they do charge something like 16 bucks to park there. In Schaumburg, they probably won't charge you anything to park.

Well, that's about it! Let us know how your trip goes and what you decide to do.

 

Great tips and suggestions everybody!

Well, it's official because I just bought the plane tickets. I'll be arriving at O'Hare at 3pm on Wednesday, May 24th. The dealer will be picking me up and I'll probably be there until around 6pm and then head over to the hotel to check in (probably also in Schaumburg).

A meet up that night would be great!