Thank you all for your recommendations! We had a great time in Chicago. Unfortunately, our aggressive daytime schedules proved to tucker out the girls. However, Quartino was just two blocks away from our hotel so we hit it twice. It was a solid hit with us. Can't wait to come back.

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Quartino
626 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60654

This is so wonderful! Thanks for the great tips. We'll definitely take advantage of the passes.

Thanks Hissyfit - I didn't even realize Chicago had a Chinatown. Sounds like a great area to explore and we love Asian food!

Wow - this is excellent! I can't thank you enough. We're really excited for the trip and your recos are making me even more excited! The French Market sounds perfect and I can just imagine my chocoholic daughter thinking I'm the best mom ever for bringing her there. I'm checking out the other links you recommended immediately!

My daughters (10 and 6) and I are headed to Chicago for a little Spring Break getaway Wed-Saturday of this week. I'm a big foodie and want to make sure my girls are aware of all things non-chicken fingers and french fries. They're relatively adventurous, though menu items that are somewhat familiar to fall back on are good, just in case. We're well on our way down the expanding horizons path and I see this trip as a way to help us progress further.

I know there are a number of posts from families, traveling with kids, looking for restaurant recos and I've taken note of several of those options. What I'm specifically looking for are lunch and dinner spots that have great food, but are more on the casual side than the upscale side. We like to explore different cuisines and styles of food and one of our favorite kinds of restaurants in Minneapolis are those that enable us to order a bunch of different things and share. We're staying downtown, near Michigan Ave. and will be traveling by cab or El. Cute and charming neighborhoods outside of downtown are a plus, as long as they're easily accessible by public transport.

Thanks for any help you can provide!