Chicago Musts?

Thank you for the advice and re-posting for me! We are staying at the Intercontinental.

It is good to know Bayless' places are worth a trip. I'm a Top Chef fan, but after a bad experience at Craft, pre-Colicchio starting the show, I try to be cautious until I hear a positive first-hand account (because I don't think me trying tacos at Bayless' SF outpost in the basement of our Macy's counts!) :)

My plan is to keep it relatively simple/non-fussy, but fun. Based on your advice and scoping out the board, I think I figured out dinners (hopefully I didn't totally screw up the geography) and will get the deep dish at Pizzeria Due in there for lunch at some point.

I'm thinking Frontera with the alternative being Topo on Friday. I'm going to try to see if I can call in a reservation. Maybe too early? Oh well, I'll try... I Opentabled Perennial (Saturday) and the Publican (Sunday). I think North Pond's location sounds perfect, but I wasn't really feeling the menu they posted online for some reason. Maybe I'll try it for brunch on Sunday.

Thanks again!

clp in Chicago Area