Planned Dinners/Parties:
All students are encouraged to participate in the Friday and Saturday night arranged dinners. Home Run Inn is our ongoing sponsor and is giving us a really good deal on food and drinks.
Friday Night:
Home Run Inn: 3215 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL 60657
9-11pm $30 bracelet required. Includes unlimited salad, appetizers, pizza, beer and wine.
Saturday Night:
Home Run Inn: 3215 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago, IL 60657
9-11pm $30 bracelet required. Includes unlimited buffet (salads, pasta and more) plus, beer and wine.
Things to eat
Breakfast/Brunch
- Ann Sather’s
- Swedish-American breakfast food and the best cinnamon rolls ever, always fresh
- Stan’s Donuts
- DONUTS!
- Nookies Tree
- Hearty and healthy American
- Mortar & Pestle
- Delicious, cozy, super cool with tasty twists on old classics and great cocktails
- Chicago Diner
- Classic all american diner food. All american portions. Vegan and Vegetarian
- Kit Kat Lounge
- Sunday drag brunch!!!!! YAS KWEEN
- Batter & Berries
- Great chicken and waffles! Southern comfort food
- Original Pancake House
- Definitely not the original, not even close! But their menu is yummy, Omelettes, Skillets, Crepes, Pancakes and what not! The 49ers are amazing and I’ve never seen them anywhere else
Lunch
- Mild 2 Spicy
- Probably the only good Indian Place in Chicago — Coming from a Indian guy.
- You should try their all you can eat lunch buffet on weekends for $16.99
- Cafe LAppetito Lakeview
- Sammies, good sammies
- Aloha Poke
- Good poke bowl, try their 24oz Kahuna Bowl for $16.50.
- Maison Marcel
- Healthy and inventive world cuisine in a well lit, hip space
Dinner
- Cocina Tarascas
- Good Mexican Food and giant 16 oz Margaritas
- House of Wings
- Tastiest Buffalo wings you can find!
- Mild 2 Spicy
- Probably the only good Indian Place in Chicago — Coming from a Indian guy.
- Tango Sur
- Great place for Latin-American Food
- Crisp
- Korean BBQ Wings here is something to die for!
- Wiener Circle
- A Chicago classic, best for late night dining, do not bring the kids or the thin skinned
- Strings
- Yummiest ramen in Chicago and we’ve tried most of them. Keep slurping!
- CoalFire Pizza
- I am biased, I hate deep dish, this place has delicious thin crust italian style pizzas. Even their vegetarian pizzas are scrumptious.
- Pequods
- If you are looking for the best pizza in Chicago, this is it.
- Captain Crunch
- Pounds of seafood in a bag, Cajun style, bring your appetite.
Bars/Breweries
- BREWERIES: Chicago knows its craft beers. Check out some favorite breweries. Dovetail and Begyle are conveniently located one and two blocks away for the CCC!!
- Dry Hop
- Chicago brew pub that also serves great fries, burgers and more
- Roscoe’s
- Tons of space to dance and brightly colored drinks
- Replay
- Beercade! Beer, bourbon and classic arcade games galore
- Wilde
- Named for the Irish poet, has a drinks list to match his thirst
- Matilda/Baby Atlas
- Becki works here and recommends hitting up Baby Atlas for dancing after Friday and Saturday night dinner parties
Sweet Tooth
- Jeni’s Splendid ice creams
- Literally the tastiest ice creams in the whole wide world. Darkest chocolate and goat cheese with cherries (trust me on this one) are two favorites, but their seasonal choices are also exceptional
- Literally the tastiest ice creams in the whole wide world. Darkest chocolate and goat cheese with cherries (trust me on this one) are two favorites, but their seasonal choices are also exceptional
Places to see
- Chicago Bean
- Technically called Cloud Gate, but no one cares for that.
- A common attraction for every tourist! #SelfieTime
- Chicago Cultural Center
- The best free thing in downtown Chicago. Features rotating art displays, artists-in-residence, an NPR Storycorps booth and the largest Tiffany dome ever created (yes, Tiffany like the lamp, imagine that, but about 40 feet wide)
- Sears Towers Skydeck
- It’s a really nice view but also expensive, and takes a while to get up there. But it’s a beautiful view of Chicagoland in all directions.
- Architectural River Boat Tour
- One of the best guided tours in any city in the US. Architecture of our tall and short buildings captures the history of this beautiful city. To appreciate one of the buildings, you will have to see past the name written on it.
- Sunset Lake Tour
- It may be too cold to do this. Don’t do it! Don’t complain, as I have warned you!
- The Art Institute
- An absolutely massive and impressive art collection, home to works by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Seurat. Or pretend you’re Ferris Bueller and stand in front of A Sunday on the La Grande Jatte
- Lincoln Park Zoo
- This beautiful zoo is free to enter! Come and checkout the wild beasts in the spring.
- The Field Museum of Natural History
- This place is so freaking huge! Meet Sue, the world’s most complete T-rex!
- Adler Planetarium
- Oh boy! this one is a thing of beauty. if you are fascinated by space, then go here.
- The Signature Lounge at the 95th (John Hancock Building)
- Best way to get a view of the city from above without paying as much. A single overpriced drink here is still cheaper than any other observation floor
- Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
- Includes live exhibits like birds and butterflies! Also, one of the closest museums to where the batizado is occurring
Arts and Entertainment
- iO Chicago
- Affordable and hilarious comedy from the inventors of long form improv, many shows every night of the week
- Watch either Musical improv show by Deltones or Improvised Shakespeare or both!
- The Second City
- The starting grounds for many SNL stars and the iconic
- Music Box Theatre
- One of the only 35mm projectors in the city. Features popular films, art films and events, sometimes with actors and directors of the films
- Gene Siskel Film Center
- Small, adorable theatres that show the latest and greatest in art and indie films
- Steppenwolf Theatre
- Showing The Doppelgänger and Our Great Tchaikovsky, one of the many homes of excellent theatre in Chicago
- Broadway in Chicago
- You can enter the lottery for $10 Hamilton tickets online or see what else is in town this week
Transportation in Chicago
Public Transit
- All public transit can be paid for using a Ventra card (available at most train stations and some drug stores – locations here) and money can be added using the Ventra App
- $28 bucks for a 7 day unlimited pass.
- $2.25 for a bus
- $2.50 for a train
- Metra (which is the commuter rail to the suburbs, varies widely)
- Chicago has the El, elevated train line, which is not always elevated but usually is
- Main public transit near Gill Park is the El Red line, the 36 Broadway bus, the 8 Halsted bus and the 80
Ride Share
- Via is a ride-share service that does corner to corner pickup. Works for airports but does not go all the way to Evanston or further south than Pilsen.
- $49 bucks for 7 day unlimited rides
- Or you can buy a ride credit of $25 for a pass which charges $3.95 per ride.
- On top if you sign up with code robin9n5 OR use leah4c9 for $10 ride credit depending which of us you like more.
- Lyft and Uber has full coverage in the city of Chicago. The pricing is variable from anywhere between $5 to $14 per ride typically based on whether it is a shared ride or a private ride.
Divvy
- Divvy is a fun and affordable way to get around the city. The Explorer Pass costs $15 and includes unlimited rides in a 24-hour period, up to 3 hours each. Use it to get to local attractions or take a bike out for a ride along the lakefront.
- It’s just like renting a bike but with more flexibility – you don’t have to return it to where you started, and you don’t have to worry about finding a safe place to lock it up if you want to stop for lunch, go to a museum, or explore on foot.
- Want to take a ride longer than 3 hours? You can either check your bike in and check another bike out to avoid usage fees, or it’s just an extra $3 per additional 30 minutes to keep the same bike out for longer than 3 hours.
We are not receiving compensation or memberships from any of these locations. Choices listed are based personally and independently on preference.