mike geary: My husband and I will be in chicago this christmas, i would like to ask for some great places to see, I have been told Navy Pier, Parks, Towers, but Are there any great Chicago shows? example cirque de soliel, blue man group...something very good to see during those days? I would like to experience the best of chicago, ohh and the best chicago pizza restaurant, what would be the MOST GO place? Must take picture of? Let me know! Thanks|||Hi! So glad you're visiting us! :-) Here are a list of must-see hot spots: 1.) Blue Man Group playing at the Briar Street Theater 2.) Skate on State - ice skating located on State St. --or-- Millenium Park Ice Rink (it's free!!) 3.) The King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum - will only be available until December 31, then it returns to Egypt, never to leave their country again! 4.) Shedd Aquarium - beautiful aquatic animals 5.) The Museum of Science and Industry - home to the world's largest dollhouse, as well as an underground coal mine (very cool experience!) 6.) Adler Planetarium - if you're into stars, the planetarium is a cool place to go with fun little exhibits inside. It's not on as grand a scale as the other museums, but it's definitely worth a visit. 7.) The Art Institute of Chicago - I haven't yet been, but I've heard it's amazing 8.) Lincoln Park Zoo - open 9 to 5 (buildings close at 4:30) 9.) There are also several different walking and bus tours. My favorite is the architectural tour. (Contact the tourism center for information about that.) 10.) Current Broadway in Chicago shows: Wicked (FANTASTIC!!! I absolutely LOVED this show!!) and Spelling Bee (I hear it's very good). Coming soon: The Color Purple, Riverdance, and Mamma Mia. There are more shows, but these are among the most popular. As for fabulous restaurants, here are some of my favorites: 1.) The Cheesecake Factory - built like you're inside a cheesecake! 2.) Lou Malnotti's (fabulous pizza) 3.) House of Blues (stop in see a show and catch a bite to eat!) 4.) Ed Debevic's (50's style restaurant, complete with rude servers! Always a laugh, and a good burger!) 5.) The Rainforest Cafe - now this place is an experience. You walk in, and it's as if you've jumped into the Amazon, complete with hanging animals and a light rainshower here and there. This website is a compiled list of some of Chicago's best restaurants. It's divided by the style of dining (breakfast, Italian, Mexican, etc.): http://home.comcast.net/~wadenorton/best鈥?/a> I hope this lengthy list helps you out. Feel free to drop me a line, and let me know how your visit was. Thanks and welcome!! The Chicago Tourism Center is located inside the Cultural Center at 72 E. Randolph St. (312) 744-6630 if you would like some more info.|||Might I suggest Portugal. Also, if you want to stay in the Chicago area, visit 1,004th street intersecting 1,677,465th street. very nice resteraunt called "lil' Pannucci's" check it out|||You have to Millenium Park! They have a big, shiny shape dubbed the "Bean". You can take a picture of yourself looking in it and see your reflection. It's pretty!|||You must go to the museums---the aquarium is great!!! I highly recommend the art museum--all terrific!|||Definitely make sure you walk down the Magnificent Mile at night-- it is so pretty all lit up for Christmas. Go shopping and just enjoy the atmosphere. Go up into the John Hancock building or the Sears Tower... this is fun and offers cool views. Visit Millennium Park as well, and go ice skating there. You can rent ice skates. It's better to go during the day, since it will be less crowded. Going at night is fun too, if you don't mind waiting in line for a little while. :) As far as shows, it depends on what your taste is. My recommendations would be "Wicked" (visit broadwayinchicago.com for tickets and information on other shows) or go to see "Romeo and Juliet" at the Lyric Opera (depending on when you are going to be here exactly... check out lyricopera.org). You absolutely have to visit UNO's pizzeria on Ohio Street. This is the original deep-dish pizza restaurant in Chicago. It's so warm, cozy, inexpensive, and has such a Chicago feel to it! Have fun!! Chicago is so wonderful, especially at Christmas-time!|||Chicago has a great theater scene. For listings, check out the Chicago Reader website. I think it's www. chicagoreader.com. The Art Institute is fabulous; the aquarium is impressive; the natural history museum is great....And my favorite thing is the Early Skyscraper Tour conducted by the Chicago Architecture Foundation; I'm sure they have got a website. Chicago was the birthplace of the skyscraper and a hotbed of architectural creativity in the late 19th-early 20th centuries; you've got these really cool buildings by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and others....it's a really great walking tour; you should do it. (Just bring your gloves, warm boots and your woolies to keep warm!)|||I'd recommend Second City - a very classic comedy club with very funny, often politically oriented skits. Several of the Saturday Night Live and Mad TV members got their starts at Second City (including some huge names like John Belushi and Bill Murray.) The best pizza restaurant, in my opinion, is Lou Malnati's - but you'd get a lot of votes for Gino's East or Giordano's. If you go to any of those, you won't go wrong. The thing you probably have to take a picture of is the Bean in Millennium Park, just north of the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue. The Art Institute itself is also well worth seeing.|||Go eat at this little brunch joint called Orange. Great brunch. Get the french toast kabobs, soaked in coconut milk and served with roasted strawberries and pineapple. They also have green eggs and ham. Awesome coffee. Filled with locals. My hubbie and I go there often. Also, you must eat Italian food, pizza, hotdogs and steak while you are here: I recommend -Lou Malanati's for pizza. The butter crust is to die for. -Taylor Street for Italian food. Tuscany or Mia Francesca are always great. -Gibson's Steak house on Rush Street. Pricey, but a Chicago tradition. -Hot Dogs- Venture out to Hot Doug's or Portillos. No ketchup, remember Now that food is covered, our museums are awesome, as well as our theatre or comedy. If you haven't seen Wicked, I recommend that. Second City is far cheaper for some improv and laughs. The best museums are the MCA and Art Institute in my opinion. Steer clear of the Navy Pier, it's boring.|||if you go to navy pier, towers, shopping..blah blah blah. it's very very busy during holidays and very touristy. check out some of the shows such as blueman group which is about $50 per ticket, but an awesome experience. go watch the musical, wicked, it's about $60 up. do not forget to check out comedy clubs such as second city, great shows and all range from $10-$20. gino's east or giarodano's is pretty good. john hancock's dinner is completely not worth it and really expensive, so you should go during lunch. it's cheaper and better food. cocktails are great there and don't skip out on dessert. check out local bars, if you're around the area of state street and grand. go to rock bottom bar and grill, great beer~!! best tip at this time of the year, wherever you decide to go, book your appointments now~!! check out metromix.com and chicago-scene.com for tickets to shows just go to ticketmaster.com or their home website. good luck and have fun~!|||Wicked is a big hit here in the theater district. Tony and Tinas Wedding is a good one too. I would shoot for those. Blue Man Group is a good one too. Sears Tower observatory...or the Hancock one - cheaper and less crowded at Hancock. Heven on Seven for Cajun Food, Ginos East for pizza. Definitely need a hot dog...find any little hot dog joint and enjoy a Chicago Style Dog....no ketchup! Superdawg on Devon is a landmark! Navy Pier is a must, Millenium Park ice skating is a must. State Street Christmas windows are a must. Lincoln Park Zoo...lighted for holiday at night....a definite must see. Very cool!|||The place for pizza is debatable, I like Unos, Giordinos is good too. Try a chicago hot dog or an itialian beef. There are several shows to go see, as you listed, Blue Man, Cirque de soliel are both in town, and also Wicked. But a best for chicago, try Legends for blues. People will say Kingston Mines, but I say legends. Food at the Hancock is way over priced, but you can't beat the view. For night life, most people go to Rush and Division. But I like the bars further north. Less crowded and cheaper. If you like scotch, look up Duke of Perth. Check out the Chicagoreader.com for more info.|||Go to the Chicago Cultural Center on Michigan and Washington. Why? Its a Chicago landmark. Beautiful stained glass, including the worlds largest Tiffany dome. World class live music and art...and its all free. Walk north on Michigan Ave. over the Chicago River and stop by the Tribune building. Beside the stunning architecture look carefully at the building and there are over 100 stones from famed sites around the globe (my favorite is the Parthenon). If you keep walking soon you'll be ensconced in the Magnificent Mile shopping experience. They turned the Water Tower (the actual one that survived the Chicago Fire, not the mall) into an art gallery, again, Free. There is so much I could go on for days. Giordano's pizza is good, but get the stuffed. My choice would be Gino's East (again, get the stuffed) an original experience and some great pizza. It's hard to go wrong with Pizza in Chicago. For a show, I would recommend Second City. John Hancock has the best view. Maybe skip the traditional trip to the top and go to the Signature Lounge for a cocktail on the 95th floor instead. Expensive but worth the view. Hope you have a wonderful time, it's a fabulous city. Chicago Native|||giordono's pizza has probably the best pizza in chicago by my standards. they are fairly inexpensive too (about 8 or 9 dollars a person). if you will be in the south suburbs, there is great pizza place called "Beggars". i believe that there are about 5 or 6 of them around the south subarbs. dont be frightened by the name, they have very good pizza. they are a little bit more pricey than giordono's but are just as good. also there are many good museums in the city. for example: the field museum, the alder planetarium, the museum of science and industry, and if you have kids that are fairly young, they will love the shedd aquarium. another thing that is always fun is the macy's windows. i heard that they are in the theme of "mary poppins" this year. michigan avenue is always decorated very nicely during the holiday season. there are some great shops that cover a range of topics on that street. enjoy your time in chicago!