Check out Longman and Eagle - a gastropub with a michelin star in Logan Square. It's delicious - but getting a seat on the weekend can be difficult due to the pubs popularity.

Area preferences would be West Loop and vicinity.

So I've recently moved to Chicago and discovered it has a lot of amazing wholesale food places (eg, Fulton Market neighborhood). I'm trying to find a place that has good dried chili peppers to grind down for some rubs, and also trying to find a place for things like saffron. I'm pretty broke though. Any ideas of where to find good, cheap, spices?

You know what, you're actually pretty lucky to be staying in Mission Valley. So while it is really devoid of any good food whatsoever, it's super accessible to the 8, 163, and 5, so ur not more than a 10 minute drive from a amazing million places. If u stayed elsewhere, the city would not be as accessible.

Recommendations:

Best dinner: Wine Vault and Bistro in Little Italy. It's honestly too good to be true. Best fresh/seasonal/non-seafood/new-american. Really amazing California cuisine, very knowledgable staff, prix-fixe menus for around $30 that border on molecular gastronomy. http://winevaultbistro.com/ Second Best: Kemo Sabe - really creative, fun, delicious.

Best bar: The Tractor Room. It's in the middle of Hillcrest, which is a great place to walk around at night, and a 5 minute drive from Mission Valley. Great local ingredients, super nice decor, best cocktail list in town.

Best dessert: Chocolat. It's right down the street from the Tractor Room. A great place for gelato and prosecco.

Best breakfast: Crest Cafe, in Hillcrest. Super friendly staff, a really fun diner, amazing creative menu. Also, Bread & Cie. is AMAZING. It's a bakery that services the entire city but also has an amazing outdoor seating area on the street to enjoy their fresh-out of the oven breads, pastries with a cup of coffee.

Best Lunch: George's in La Jolla. If ur visiting, and even if ur local, it's got an amazing ocean view. But don't go if it's cloudy, not worth it. If it's cloudy, I definitely second Urban Solace. Great menu.

Ahh anyways, there's a million other gems, but these are the best. (I just moved to Chicago from SD and I'm feeling a little sentimental.) Have fun!

RD

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Urban Solace Restaurant
3823 30th Street, San Diego, CA 92104

The Tractor Room
3687 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92103

Kemo Sabe
3958 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103

You're probably looking for regular snails, eg escargots. But if not, Isaacson and Stein in the west loop has Moon Snails - snails from the northern atlantic ocean.

I'm going to New Orleans for a bachelor party with my brother and two friends. All of us are from New York. We're looking for a great dinner joint to get oysters and whiskey before we head out for the night.