I participated in the A – Z challenge for the first time last year, and am back for more. This time with a different blog, however. Last year I used A Heep of Everything, this year I want to grow this new blog.
My theme will be things, people and places around Chicago that make it special, since I moved here not long ago. Mainly I am going to focus on local restaurants (no huge chains) because Tom and I are both food lovers, but there will be a few other surprises.
I’ve been here only a few months and don’t go out much during the winter, so Tom will write a few blogs too. Hey, it is our blog, after all! I hope you can follow this blog (use the link on the right side of the home page) and find out a few interesting things about where I live now.
T and A Travel Almanac 
Cool. I am the world’s worst about knowing where to go eat.
Looking forward to future posts.
Chicago is on my list of places to visit so i look forward to reading your posts. It would be great if you could include some touristy things to do in the area too.
Sharon
Hi Sharon, thanks for stopping by. I will start with a concert venue for A, and have sports stuff, and for Y I will be doing a list of a bunch of attractions that will cater to people coming here who have limited time. Hope you can stop by for those! 🙂
Hello, just stopping by to wish you luck with this challenge 🙂
Good luck to you too!
Ooh cool! I love Chicago – and I love some restaurants there!
Do you need any suggestions?
Hackney’s has great burgers and thick cut fries that are quite nice. But their burgers really are really good. There’s one north of the city near Lake Zurich and one on Harms…..but I know ther are several others, I just don’t know where they are b/c the others are the ones I go to.
Russell’s is a hole in the wall bbq place that’s been around for ages. They just closed another location and so are down to only one. Their pulled pork, especially, I think is magical. It (and the bread) just melt in your mouth. A friend I took to Chicago with me for work this time last year humored me and went there and loved it so we went twice. I think she had the brisket one day. The only one left is on Thatcher in Elmwood.
Egg Harbor is yummy for breakfast – I go to the Danada Square one. Eggclectic in Wheaton is, too.
Graham’s ice cream shop in Geneva is adorable. Well, everything in Geneva is adorable! But the ice cream is great, too!
My folks LOVE Barnaby’s Pizza (the one I know of is right near O’Hare…they plan their layovers so they can take a cab and get a pizza and bring it to the airport to eat….seriously! They love the thing crust, etc. Not my thing, but if you like thin rust pizza, apparently it’s great!)
I LOVE Grand Lux Cafe and one of the few remaining ones is downtown Chicago. Our LA and Scottsdale ones closed with little to no warning two weeks ago. Their Chicken Royale is amazing (with only carrots, not the other veggie!) and their DeLux peach bellini is magical. Oh, and you can’t miss their made to order beignets, but instead of the dipping sauces that come with them, ask for homemade caramel sauce – that elevates them to perfection. I ate my last batch in the Emergency Room at Mayo. I had a health crisis and had to leave and we took our food with. We skipped the entree and ate the dessert while they were trying to sort things out with my body!
Ok….those are my Chicago favorites (besides my love of a periodic White Castle or Portillo’s Hot Dog plus with a Steak and Shake orange free to drink!) oh, and maybe with a side of Garrett’s caramel corn – not that you were asking for suggestions! Maybe I’m just hoping to live vicariously through your blog!
Can’t wait to follow along and see what makes your list!