Chicago with 10 teens!

I%26#39;m traveling to Chicago, June 11 - 13. I%26#39;m bringing 10 teens - I know...

We plan to stay at the Embassy Suites @ Navy Pier. We will be visiting modeling agencies for part of one day, then sight seeing the rest of the time. Can you recommend:

1. Sights worth seeing for this group

2. Restaurants - for lunch and dinner. I%26#39;d like to take them to one, fairly upscale restaurant. But it can%26#39;t be to stuffy!

3. Anything else?

Thanks so much!

Robin

Chicago with 10 teens!

www.explorechicago.org and the Visiting Chicago section of this web site have loads of ideas.

www.chicagoreader.com has a great dining search tool. Read reviews and search by location, cuisine budget etc.

Walgreens and CVS are all over downtown is case you need Tylenol or something stronger. :.)

Chicago with 10 teens!

They%26#39;d like Hub 51, I think.

http://www.hub51chicago.com/

Some ideas on things to do....Ed Debevic%26#39;s.....ESPN Zone.....Navy Pier should be busy that time of the year. Upscale restaurants, depends on what they like, your hotel should be able to help. Top of the Sears Building (charge) top of the Hancock no charge. Take the red line up to addison and see wrigley field and all to do up there. Let alone the museums and aquarium. You might be able to get a deal on Blue Man tickets also.

In the same building as Embassy Suites is PJ Clarkes for dinner, a movie theather and Lucky Strike bowling.

Actually, if you go to Navy Pier, a couple of resturants there may be a good idea. Riva and Joe%26#39;s-Be-Bop Cafe are the two that I was thinking of.

Also, if they are older teens, try either Second City (North and Wells) or IO (Improv Olympic in Wrigleyville) for some comedy shows.

Think about taking them out for pizza or for Chicago style hot dogs, Portillo%26#39;s can easily handle a group that size (hot dogs/Italian beef) while you may want to see if you can get a reservation for pizza. I don%26#39;t think they take them at Uno%26#39;s or Gino%26#39;s but they might at Giordano%26#39;s or Lou Malnati%26#39;s which are my two recommendations.

One fairly upscale restaurant, can you narrow that down to a food type or a couple with maybe a price range? Wildfire is a good place for more affordable steaks, chicken, ribs, etc. Rosebud on Rush or Carmine%26#39;s are good options for traditional Italian. Brasserie Jo is a good option for French bistro food. Quartino or Osteria Via Stato are other good Italian options, Quartino is small plates, Osteria has family style dining or off the menu options. None of those options are stuffy.

The Art Institute is free on Thurs and Fri nights (I think it%26#39;s 5-8pm but check their website).

Comedy Sportz is a good option for teens, Second City has a lot of political content so younger teens might not enjoy it if they aren%26#39;t up on current events. We combined Comedy Sportz with a restaurant called A la Turka, they have a belly dancing show on the weekend that%26#39;s a hoot.

We were in Chicago about 3 years ago with 7 teens and a couple parents and stayed at the same hotel. It was a good choice with a group and the free breakfast was great and saved some $. We went to Navy Pier and it was OK. Maybe more there now. I would go to Millennium Park and see the Bean with them. The girls liked shopping at H %26amp; M.

We ate at ESPN Zone because the girls wanted to. I would have liked to go to one of the local pizza places since I%26#39;m not a huge chain fan. Ed DeBevics can be fun. We went to Dick%26#39;s Last Resort. That%26#39;s a bit of an experience and we still laugh about that one. Such fabulous food in Chicago I hate to waste a meal on deep fried stuff and chains but you have to consider what the kids want too. In Water Tower Place there is a huge food court which I think is called Mity Nice Grill. It%26#39;s on the Mezzanine behind Macy%26#39;s. You can%26#39;t see it from the mall so you may think there is just a pizza counter and gourmet store and coffee counter but behind that is a huge food court where they seat you and then you can go up and order whatever food you want. You each get a card they swipe and then when you leave you pay at the cashier. They have EVERY kind of food you can think of.

We went to see Blue Man Group and even the crankiest hard to please girl liked it!

The food court in Water Tower is called Foodlife. Mity Nice Grill is an Italian restaurant behind Foodlife.

I had a 2 acquaintances, very recently, take their 4 daughters and each brought a friend, so a group your size...to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba...it%26#39;s a Tapas place at 2024 N Halsted St. (between Armitage Ave %26amp; Dickens Ave) and had a phenomenal time, was a huge hit with the girls aged 14-19. I%26#39;ve been there several times w/ larger groups and always had a blast too! It%26#39;d take a couple cabs to get ya all over there, but for teen girls, it might be a fun atmosphere! They have a restaurant in Vegas as well, so it IS kind of a itty bitty chain... and they have some pretty decent sangria for you to sip ;)

There%26#39;s a Spanish tapas place in the downtown/River North area called Cafe Iberico which is a another good option. Tapas are fun for a large group, that way you get to try a bunch of different things.

Foodlife is the Water Tower Food Court, that%26#39;s nice option if you have fussy eaters as there is a variety of different types of food. Mity Nice Grill is next to it and is American comfort food.

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