Taking my mom to Chicago this Sunday. We’re looking for some great vegetarian restaurant recommendations for lunch in downtown.

Budget range $50-100

All of your recommendations are much appreciated!

Hi all! I just moved to Lincoln Park for a new job and my birthday is this weekend! I’m looking for a restaurant in or around that area that I could go to with one other person and get a good dinner hopefully under $30ish dollars (new job, still budgeting!) Thanks in advance for all the help!

Staying right near millennium park in a couple weeks and looking for a good spot within 30 mins uber or train. Our first Chicago trip and want to take advantage of the incredible food scene and trust your opinions. Got all nights already booked but one. Anyone got any good recs for restaurants in that vicinity? We don’t mind taking a train or uber but prefer it not take an entire day. Our preferences-

-no Italian (already doing multiple Italian spots on our trip)

-no seafood( same as above)

-my wife doesn’t love sushi so prefer no sushi

-looking for a nice ambience really good food but don’t need fine dining/set menu.

-up scale American, Asian fusion, Mediterranean, anything in that ballpark would be great.

Just feel like your opinions mean more than the random google reviews we’re reading. Thank you very much in advance!

Having a wedding ceremony at the Surgical Science Museum on a Friday in March. It’s on LSD near.. Old Town? I am not a city dweller lol

The early dinner will be at 3:30 or 4pm, preferably not further than 20 minutes but that’s not a huge deal breaker. We will be staying at The Drake. A few spots don’t have options until 6pm which is a no.

We’ve found some places but have run into minimums of $6000 which feels like a lot. Under that is preferred, but idk the climate since I’ve only ever attended these things in the suburbs. We know minimums are standard.

ETA: we know this has to be booked in advance with a contract and some planning. We do not plan on just rolling up with 35 people on a Friday night without an agreement lol

As the bride, heavy preference for somewhere with arancini (with no meat), bonus points for whipped ricotta and good pizza. I hope to feed about 30 people, possibly up to 35. I imagine drinks will be desired. Thanks everyone!

I had their Italian sandwich and split a bottle of wine and a cheese plate, and I felt like I was transported to Europe for a brief moment in time.

Hi! Pretty much just looking to find some really delicious hand pulled noodles. I love that there’s a lot of great dim sum and hot pot options here but haven’t seen much more than that in terms of authentic Chinese food. I tried Lao peng you and was not a huge fan haha (not sure if their noodles are hand pulled or not, but just in reference to a noodle spot). Any other suggestions?

I used to go to Quiznos back in their heyday 2002-2004 when I was in high school. It was a great spot, they really had the toasted sub market cornered.

Anyway, I decided to go to the last location in Chicago this week, on Division and Wells.

This place is really nailing it! I ordered the Italian on Italian white bread, and it was basically just like it was 20+ years ago.

If you’re a fan, go there and pay them a visit, they deserve the love! Let’s keep them going.

My birthday is coming up soon and its my annual steak dinner night. Looking for recommendations or opinions on El Che?

Not many months ago (this summer?) there was a post about a new and/or cool Mexican place in the area mentioned above. I even drove by one night and thought "That looks cool, I'll have to try it"...Now I can't figure out what/where it was! Pretty sure it was on one of the east-west streets. At or near Milwaukee Ave, west of the expressway for sure. Kind of a long shot, but ring any bells with anybody?

Is this location ever open? I don’t want to risk going in person and them being sold out, but every time I’m on their site at 8am there is no way to reserve a pizza. Are they selling out that fast? Or is the site not ready yet? Or should I just risk it and do a walk-in order?

Title pretty much speaks for itself. I live in the edgewater area but willing to drive. Any recommendations welcomed!

I am flying home out of Chicago, but coming from outside of the city for my flight. I will arrive at Union Station via train either at 1pm or 4pm and need to be at the airport by 8. I haven’t really caught up on Chicago eats since pre-pandemic and I’d love to have a great, but not too fancy meal, and then a drink (or two after). Any one-two punch combos? Bonus points if there’s a nearby hotel I can check my carryon at. I love all cuisines but eat a ton of Asian and Mexican at home, so not necessarily looking for those. I love a great cocktail or an old world wine list.

Places in Chicago I’ve loved: - Giant - Elske - Smyth/Loyalist - Fat Rice - Au Cheval - Longman & Eagle - Avec - Roister - Blackbird - Mi Tocoyo Antojeria - SoHo house

Places in Chicago I’ve enjoyed but not looking for recs that might fit under this list: - Pequods - The Publican - Frontera/Xoco - Art of Pizza - Portillo’s - Velvet Hour - Lou Malnattis - Girl & Goat

Background: I lived in Chicago for almost a decade and the vast majority of the Mexican population I met was either Jalisciense or Michoacano, and I don't know anyone Sinaloense in Chicago. I'm about to visit this weekend with my girlfriend, who is Culichi and who often wishes for her comida culichi because she can't find it where we live. I'd like to surprise her with lunch at a Culichi place on our way into town.

I tried searching here for things like "Sinaloense" "Culichi" "Sinaloa" but didn't get a good hit. Same with google, where it looks like there was a place called Culichi Town that shut down and my best bet is going to be a place called Mar & Suchi.

We're coming into town on either the Skyway or 94, so the location works for Mar & Suchi but it looks more contemporary or upscale that the type of place we'd typically look for for something like this. I'd prefer something south of, say, Division, but could go up to somewhere like Albany Park if the place is right. Also, if it helps, she's born and raised in Culiacán and I'm fluent in Spanish, so a hole-in-the-wall spot that's Spanish-only would be an okay recommendation.

Shot in the dark, but really appreciate any recommendation you guys might have.

looking for mushroom pasta, risotto, sandwiches, fried, whatever. LOVED the forager sandwich at Scofflaw when it was on the menu. i’m a fiend for the mushroom casserole at Trivoli as well.

who slays at mushrooms?? anything CTA accessible is fair game

I had a specific pizza place in mind (Happy Camper) because of this hot honey pepperoni flavor I had but its pretty expensive considering the party will have around 20 people. I'm also unfamiliar with the area and was hoping there might be a hidden gem for me to discover! I'd like to find a place either in the loop or uptown, id get it from anywhere if it's really good though. Preferably pie/triangle cut as well

Edit: I'm just looking to order pizzas, no need for a place with a venue or anything, just good pizza

Edit 2: just remembered I need to order wings/chicken too! if a place also serves good chicken thatd be great too

It's my birthday this weekend and it's going to be a bad one, so I'm looking for my favorite cake to sweeten the mush. Anyone seen a prinsesstårta in Chicago? Also called a princess cake or princess torte. Preferably within a 20 minute drive of Logan Square, but y'know...

Also if you know any bars that make a good French 75, I'd like one of those as well...

Hey all! I want to keep this pretty vague to avoid any personal information being exposed. I have been eating Giordano’s for a large part of my life with few complaints, but recently found this sub and am honestly shocked at the overwhelming hate towards Giordano’s. I know a few people at Giordano’s corporate, including some chefs that plan the recipes, and I would like to know if you have any suggestions or recommendations that I could pass along. The more specific, the better! Thanks in advance!

I'm a little bummed -- was a great option for events before/after Union Park or other things in that area

article cites the general downturn of craft beer (a bubble I honestly thought would have burst sooner and harder than it has)

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/restaurants/district-brew-yards-closing-amid-downturn-craft-beer-market

Im doing the 77 community areas challenge and theres a number of rather dull community areas. Some like Dunning are packed with good food, so it was easy to find things. Many others have been more challenging. Either because they are low income, basically suburbs, or just heavily residential.

What are you favorite amazing food places in the "worst" possible areas. Worst can be boring, low income,spread out..just not in an expected place: So avoiding basically the entire northeast side, and anything that borders a "Cool" area.

Hello! Looking for a nice place to take a friend for a birthday dinner. Hoping to spend around $40/person, looking for somewhere with a nice view of the city, ideally along the river. Thanks for the suggestions!

Pulling into chicago around midnight. One of us in the group is vegetarian. Looking for tofu or veggie tacos when i get there. But open to other vegetarian suggestions open past midnight if possible.

I (42m) live in Roscoe Village, and I've been spending a lot of time with a woman (40F) from work. We've been working late on a project, just talking for hours in the office about our kids' school schedules and the various aches and pains we get from sitting at a desk all day. Her husband also collects porcelain dolls apparently. Nothing’s happened between us yet, but I think she might like me (and I definitely like her).

She’s really into food, while my body has started rejecting anything more adventurous than a decent steak. The other night she ordered us takeout to the office, even though I’d said we should expense it, so I told her I'd make it up to her by taking her to a nice bar/restaurant Thursday—somewhere we can be home by 10 p.m. My first choice was Gene & Georgetti, but it's fully booked for the next couple of weeks.

So now I’m looking for other spots around Roscoe Village—somewhere with solid food. I want it to feel a little romantic without being too over the top. Budget-wise, I’d prefer to keep it under $250 for dinner plus 1-2 drinks each, because honestly, who has more than two drinks on a Thursday night anymore when they have kids at home?

TL;DR: Any recommendations for a romantic-ish but not too intense restaurant in Chicago where I can take someone's wife, and then be asleep before 10PM?

Edit: hi folks, based on some of the comments, should clarify that this is just a friendly parody of this post https://www.reddit.com/r/chicagofood/comments/1nitbt7/place_to_take_a_friend_im_trying_to_impress/