Mark, we maintain a great list of Chicago BYOB restaurants in the BYOB section of WB. You can find it here.
Of these, I agree with Ryan that Chez Simo Bistro is great French food.
Hey Mark,
It’s cool to hear you’re looking beyond the obvious for your next trip to Chicago. Seeing as how we’re a city of over 70 neighborhoods, I highly recommend exploring some that are easily accessed by public transit or a short Uber from where you’re staying. A couple great areas to walk up and down include 18th Street in Pilsen, Clark Street in Andersonville (north of Lawerence), and the Logan Square portion of Milwaukee between California and Kedzie). Tons and tons of independent businesses throughout these areas including but not limited to restaurants, craft liquor stores, brew pubs, bakeries/coffee shops, art galleries, record stores, book stores, smoke shops, vintage/resale, etc. etc.
In good faith, I can only recommend one restaurant no one has mentioned: Check out Lost Larson bakery on Clark in Andersonville. It’s reasonably priced and has an ever-changing pastry menu overseen by the former pastry chef of Grace (closed 3 star restaurant).
It’s not really my bag, but if you’re big on “natural” wines, Diversey Wine is a small shop that just opened last year next to Cellar Door Provisions. They now curate their wine list which means you can usually purchase a bottle after your meal if you really like what you had by-the-glass during lunch or dinner.
As far as nature is concerned, we’re lacking in that department. The lake is the crown jewel of the region. The Indiana dunes on the south of Lake Michigan are quite far and a poor use of time if you’re only here for a few days. We have plenty of parks scattered throughout the city but they’re really just grass and trees with a few walking paths, nothing worth going out of your way for. If you’re into walking and/or jogging, the 606 is the elevated former railway turned biking/skating/walking path above some nice neighborhoods. It’s east end is not super far from the the northwest part of downtown.
If you’re visiting during the day on a Saturday or Sunday, just wanted to throw out my roof deck is great for drinking wine and has killer views of the entire skyline.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Adding, for weekends, it can be fun to head to the Green City Market on Saturday morning (until 1PM) in the lower portion of Lincoln Park. There are vendors with hot food - crepes, donuts, etc - and all sorts of produce and more from the area. It can be a fun stroll and you can grab a snack and then easily walk over to the beach to sit and eat - or head into the zoo or have brunch at the Hotel Lincoln. Nearby is the Spice House which is a superb spice source if you cook.
Thanks again everyone. Will definitely post up some offline stuff once I confirm dates.
Mark,
Remind me where to get Montrachet for $60 a btl again? 
Go on a Tiki bar crawl!
Three Dots and a Dash.
Chef Shangri-La.
Lost Lake.
Halakahiki.
Then, Google a route for the others.
Yeah, baby!!!
I believe those were $40 per if I remember correctly. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
I’d add Goosefoot on the north side to the list of very good byob restaurants.
last time I was in town I had booked to go on a walking tour with Second City improv, was really looking forward to it, but it was raining. I still think it sounds like a fun way to kill a few hours in Chicago.
FWIW, I had the architecture tour recc’d to me at least 20 times when I asked for advice. several people I talked to said they do it every time they go. not my cup of tea so I decided it was a no go, but the sheer number of people recommending an architecture tour seemed worth mentioning.
I resisted the architecture cruise for years until a client wanted to do it - now I happily go several times a year when the weather is nice.
The Architecture Foundation does other - non boat related - tours all the time of historic or interesting buildings and neighborhoods. Really worthwhile and interesting view of Chicago.
I concur with going on at least one of the Chicago Architectural Foundation activities. The river boat cruise is excellent. Another good one is the “Devil in the White City” bus tour that they do, which traces the areas of the city noted in that book.
All very good tips. I might come over from Europe in the beginning of may for my wife’s reunion weekend in Chicago and will consider these. Would be great to meet up. I did the same thing 2 years ago with someone from this board. It was a fun evening!
I’ve done both the architecture boat cruise and walking tour. Both were pretty cool. But I like architecture, so take that into account.
Yah I’ve done the boat and a walking tour from the foundation as well. 
that’s why I was hoping for more obscure stuff. But It does remind me they have a bunch of tours. I will check them out too.
Love the orchestra idea too. Thanks!
There are evenings of Salsa dancing near Buckingham fountain I believe … a neighbor used to go and have fun. And tons of localized neighborhood fairs etc. I live in Old Town and we have an Art Fair June 8&9 which can be fun … think upscale craftspeople etc plus a great tour of like 30 gardens and a lot of street food. http://www.oldtownartfair.org
dang sounds like I shouldn’t have skipped the architecture tour!
One of the problems with Chicago is you can drive 2-6 hours in any direction and you’ll be in the middle of a corn field. It’s not like the coasts…