A Foodies Guide To A Weekend In Chicago
This weekend guide will be a little different from the others. We’re sharing with you all the best foodie destinations in Chicago – enough to get you through a long weekend visit! Chicago has a little something for everybody so I hope you’ll find plenty of places you’ll want to try on your next visit.
Chicago-Style Pizza
First there’s the deep dish pizza, which has reportedly been around since Pizzeria Uno invented it in 1943, while others say it was invented as far back as 1926 at Rosati’s Authentic Chicago Pizza. You’ll want to try a deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s when you’re in Chicago. Chicago is also known for their stuffed pizza, which has been around since the 70’s. Stuffed pizza is deeper than a deep dish pizza and is piled much higher with pizza toppings and has an extra layer of dough. Giordano’s is a well-known chain based out of Chicago that has excellent stuffed pizza. Lastly, Chicago also has some great thin-crust pizza. It has a good crunch on the crust and is cut into squares as opposed to slices. You can get the thin-crust pizza from both Lou Malnati’s and Giordano’s.
Italian Beef
The italian beef sandwich originated in Chicago at least as far back as the 1930s. It’s made up of thin slices of roast beef, au jus/gravy, and an italian style roll. It is great dipped in even more au jus and topped with hot and/or sweet peppers. You’ll want to get yours from Al’s Italian Beef, one of the original restaurants in Chicago to offer italian beef sandwiches. You can also get it from Portillo’s which is a popular chain with 50+ locations around the US, including several in Chicago.
Maxwell Street Polish
This is a brand-new food hall that opened in 2020 in a renovated hospital. It features over a dozen vendors that are mostly minority and female owned. There is a huge variety of food here including Nepalese, Southern, Vietnamese, New York style pizza, Mexican, and desserts. You won’t find the traditional Chicago style foods here, but if you want to try some of the newer food trends, this is the place to go.
French Market
Same concept as before, but a little older. This one has been around since 2009 and features 30+ vendors offering old and new foods. It is Chicago’s original food hall and you can go here for any meal as well as souvenir shopping.
Germantown
This neighborhood features a traditional German dining hall and old-fashioned shops. They also have an annual festival. It is in the area around Lincoln Square and you’ll want to stop here for your German food fix.
Chinatown
Okay, this is the last one. If you’re looking for food that is completely different from the traditional Chicago pizzas, italian beefs, and polish sausages, take a stroll through Chinatown for some authentic Chinese food. There are dozens of restaurants to choose from where you can have all of your favorites or try something new!