One thing I don't miss about Marietta.. the food. Chicago has you beat my friend. The last time I was here with my mom over my spring break, we went out to eat for almost every meal. Our trip was strictly about the food. I wanted to share my favorite food places because who doesn't love going out to eat and looking at food pics? It's my favorite thing to do honestly. Now, this is not every place that I've been to because this would be a never-ending post, so I think I'll keep making similar posts for more places that I try and recommend! Hope you enjoy! :)
Quartino
This is my favorite restaurant in Chicago. It was my favorite even when I was going through the "I hate all Italian food" stage. Good thing I got the memo that Italian food is actually good because that's all I can cook. We first came here when it was my mom's first time in Chicago. It's meant for sharing and all of their dishes are small-plates (tapas style) and come out whenever they're ready. My favorite dishes are the cavatelli, linguini and clams, calamari and margherita pizza. Their pizzas are soo reasonably prized and they are wayy better than any other pizza I've had. And you can't forget about dessert.. I think we've pretty much tried em all but my favorite are the doughnuts.. I forget what they're called in Italian. It comes with warm chocolate sauce and honey.
Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co.
My mom and I were very hesitant about going to this place when my brother and Grace told us about it. Pizza pot pie to us sounded not so appetizing especially since we don't like much sauce on our pizza. But it's not what you would expect.. it's so difficult to explain, but you gotta trust and just try it! Make sure you get a salad and a flatbread for starters. Their dressings are house-made and the flatbread is SO huge it doesn't even fit on a plate. Each pot pie is made to order and takes about 30 minutes to bake, but it doesn't even feel that long when you're busy enjoying the salad and flatbread. Don't leave Chicago without stopping here.
Grange Hall Burger Bar
I've been here about 4 or 5 times now.. I absolutely love everything about this place. I came here with Corey and Grace when I was staying with them when I first moved and we've been back since then. I can eat my entire burger! For those of you who know me, this is truly an accomplishment worth sharing. The burger in this picture is not what I ate, but mine didn't look this cool! I also came here with Anna and we shared a burger so we could try their chocolate banana milkshake and homemade tart cherry pie. Both were delicious.
I love sushi, but I'm very particular. I like quality ingredients when I'm consuming raw food and this was some of the best sushi I've had. Although nothing compares to Orient Express in Vinings near Atlanta. This place is super tiny and get full really fast. My brother has waited for a table for 2 hours!! Insane.
The atmosphere in this place makes the food even better. I love the colors and the decor, but the food was also equally worth the trip. We got a full rack of baby back ribs and split it with one person. Their cornbread was my favorite and comes with honey butter. Yum. We got a brownie sundae for dessert.. can you believe this actually exists?! And most of that is ice cream, not whipped cream. Between 4 people. we almost had her finished.
We came here for empanadas and had to wait an hour on a week night. So now you know it's good. Make sure you try the Oatmeal milkshake.. I know it sounds gross, but it's really not! Their empanadas were also really good as well as their yellow rice. I definitely would like to come back here again. Sorry for no pictures.. We came here before I knew that I wanted to write a post like this.
Molly's Cupcakes & Sweet Mandy B's
I love cupcakes and these are the best I've had compared to other cupcake shops. My favorite is the cookie monster. It has cookie dough in the middle and a real chocolate chip cookie on top!
Garrett's Popcorn
You can't come to Chicago without grabbing a bag of Garrett's Popcorn. It's the best. The caramel crisp is my mom and I's favorite. It's really only good the first or second day, so make sure you eat it up!
Butcher and the Burger
I came here with my mom, Corey and Grace when we were visiting last summer for Grace's bridal shower. It's not as good as Grange Hall Burger Bar, but it was still pretty darn tasty! The burgers and fries come on a wooden butcher block - so fun!
Hot Chocolate
We tried this place over my spring break here this year and I really enjoyed it! It's owned by a famous pastry chef and they don't just serve hot chocolate and dessert. We came here for dinner and actually didn't even get hot chocolate! I'll have to come back for sure.
Crab Sandwhich with handmade chips
Macaroni and Cheese. Classic.
An assortment of cookies.
Chicago Bagel AuthorityI've been coming here since my first visit with my brother and at first I hated it, but now I don't. For breakfast I get an egg bagel with an egg, cheese and cream cheese. Yumm, the perfect comfort food! I used to make bagel sandwiches like this all the time, but this is so much better. Their rice krispie treats are great. You get one for free if you check in on Yelp.
Sam's Sunrise
Sara's Secret
Tom & Wendee's Italian IceYou've never had Italian Ice quite like this. They have chocolate flavored ice and it's surprisingly not weird at all. I'll add in a picture the next time I go.
Cozy Noodles
This is right down my street and I am so glad my brother showed me this place! It's the absolute coolest/craziest restaurant I've been to in Chicago. You would never know it's a Thai place from the way it's decorated. It's also really cheap. I forget to take a picture every. single. time. And I eat here almost once a week!
Potbelly
Just a normal sandwich place, but you know I love my sandwiches! These are soo cheap but so delicious! I always get the turkey.. it's toasted and it's just the perfect sandwich for lunch. They also have really good sugar cookies and rock their social media! They even tweeted me back once :)
Pannenkoeken is a Dutch pancake.. it's like a crepe but not exactly. I'm not sure what the difference is really, but that's ok it was delicious anyways. The place is extremely small.. I think there was a total of 5 tables in the whole place but it was cozy and there was even a wait and we didn't go at a regular breakfast time. I would highly recommend this for anyone who is a fan of crepes/pancakes! They have sweet and savory pannenkoekens.
This is a super cheap hot dog place on the same street as my brother's apartment. They have the best milkshakes and in my opinion, hot dogs. I don't like Chicago dogs because they always have too much stuff on it, but I get them with just celery salt and it's perfect. This place is open really late, too.
Oh, doughnuts how I love you. These are special though. The flavors are so original and out-there. We got toffee crunch, banana cream cheese (my fave), pistachio passion fruit and blackberry goat cheese. I went back with my dad and he got one with an entire piece of bacon on top!
This sandwich shop is amazing! I ate my entire club sandwich and is was worth every penny - it was a little over $10 just for the sandwich but it does come with some chips. Just writing this makes me want one so bad.. I loved it. I went here with my brother during our lunch breaks. I'm so lucky I have him here, I don't know what I'd do without him and Grace.
This is Giuliana and Bill's restaurant and I absolutely love this couple. I'm a sucker for reality TV as you all may know. The food was delicious and this place was beautiful! Be sure to book a reservation wayyyy in advance. I booked a reservation for 5pm almost 3 weeks in advance and that's the only time that was available besides 10pm!
Giuliana's Italian Salad
Mama DePandi's Pasta
Lobster Ravioli
This is the best ice cream I've ever had. That I can remember. The line is wrapped around the entire inside and sometimes comes out of the door. I've never been when there wasn't a line. Their ice cream is homemade and they have some pretty unique flavors. I always get the Cubby Crunch, which is vanilla with oreos, sprinkles, crunch bar pieces, and more candy pieces that taste so yummy. I eat my entire waffle cone every time. It's walkable distance from my apartment so it's pretty dangerous.
That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed it! :)
xoxo