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I was wondering - what would a Chicagoan thumb recommend for visiting people, in the way of sights, museums, foods and so on?

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I moved away this summer. They do architectural boat tours down the Chicago river that are really neat. I'd also recommend the top of the John Hancock Center—known as the "John Hancock Observatory"—as it tends to be less crowded than the Willis Tower.

Outside of that, go to some restaurants that serve food you love! There's a ton of stuff on the north side near the red and brown lines. For example, if you love traditional German food, there's a great Brauhaus in Lincoln Square. The really great thing about Chicago is the restaurant scene is much more competitive there than anywhere else I've lived, so all the survivors tend to be delicious. They're the main thing I miss from the city, especially being able to walk to them. :[

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Hey, thanks! I'm not actually going myself, (at least not this time,) but I'll pass on the advice. Food-wise, I understand the pizza is supposed to be particularly magnificent – is that an actual fact, or a terrible, malicious lie? And other than the aforementioned pizza pie, is there something you just gotta try in Chicago? Is there a famous Chicago shake, burger, cut of meat, soup or stew?

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It's actually just a deep dish pizza that they shoot and then have the police analyze the splatter of the tomato sauce.

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I moved away this summer. They do architectural boat tours down the Chicago river that are really neat.

I heartily recommend these, I did one of their walking tour in 2008 and it was fantastic.

Man, I really want to live their someday.

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Hey, thanks! I'm not actually going myself, (at least not this time,) but I'll pass on the advice. Food-wise, I understand the pizza is supposed to be particularly magnificent – is that an actual fact, or a terrible, malicious lie? And other than the aforementioned pizza pie, is there something you just gotta try in Chicago? Is there a famous Chicago shake, burger, cut of meat, soup or stew?

hey i live in chicago. There are a few food items that are considered iconic Chicago: the chicago style hot dog, the italian beef, and the chicago style pizza. There are a bunch of places to get chicago style hot dogs in chicago and there aren't any that are considered the definitive version so you've got lots of options. If you don't mind waiting in line for a million years, Hot Doug's offers a lot of interesting variations on hot dog style sausages, including a foie gras version. I've never been there though because the line is never ending and ridiculous.

There are also a lot of places to get an italian beef, Portilo's is a good place to grab one. I'd recommend getting the entire thing dipped (they dip the entire sandwich into the juices that the meat is cooked in).

There are a few local/regional chain restaurants that most people think of when they think of chicago style pizza (Giordano's, Gino's East, Lou Malnati's) and while those are fine, if you can make your way over to My Pie or Pequod's, that's the way to go.

Besides food, I'd try to check out a few neighborhoods because those are one of the defining features of Chicago. While every neighborhood is still very 'chicago', there's a very different feel between each neighborhood and they end up catering to different groups of people. There's the Loop, which contains all of the skyscrapers that make up the skyline and it's the main commercial district in chicago, but not a ton of people live there and it tends to be fairly dead after 7 pm or so. I'm assuming that your friends that are going are in their 20s or 30s, so I'd recommend looking into Lakeview, Wicker Park/Bucktown, Lincoln Park, River North, and Logan Square. There are a lot more areas that are great, but exploring those areas should end up taking a long, long time.

Check out millenium park and look at the bean, going to the museum of science and industry, going to the art museum, catching a play (the book of mormon is playing in chicago, although you'll have to book far in advance), go see a band play (there are a lot of great, small venues in chicago that get really great bands), go on an architecture boat tour, these are all good things to do!

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Chicago Thumb here. I second Hot Dougs. I'm not a fan of Chicago style pizza, but My Pie and Pequod's are two fine choices (though if you need a chain, I'd go with Lou Malnatis over Giordano). The rest of what I was gonna say is covered by Mr. Sex.

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Go see the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza. That's where they've got that Picasso.

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