My husband and I are going on a culinary adventure to Chicago next weekend. Most of our meals are set - Alinea for dinner, Frontera for brunch/lunch, and Graham Elliot for dinner. I still need a quick lunch spot near our hotel for the day we arrive. We'll be taking the rail into town (blue/pink). Is there a hot dog joint nearby? I figure we'll need something light in order to be ready for Alinea that night!

Then I've heard great things about the Bongo Room for breakfast but I fear that will be too much before a lunch at Frontera. Which Bongo Room location would be the closest and easiest for us to get to?

And lastly, what's the best cupcake place that's closeby. I know that's relative and I also know I will get 15 different answers as to which is the best.

Thanks in advance.

-----
Alinea
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

Bongo Room
50 E Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL 60605

Graham Elliot
217 W. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60654

My husband and I recently returned from our first trip to Boston too (also sans children). I had started a thread to get help and the people on this board didn't lead me astray! It's a little long, but here's my review of the places we ended up trying. I've noticed that most, if not all, are mentioned by previous posters above as well. Good luck and happy eating!!

I'm back from our trip and I can't thank you Chowhounders enough for your spot-on suggestions! While the food was really quite good at Ten Tables, the experience of sitting at the chef's table was second-to-none. Since I love to cook, this was right up my alley and I easily could have sat there all night watching them and taking notes.

Friday morning we went to Charlie's for breakfast. Despite the fact I'll probably lose several readers right now, I wasn't that impressed. The service was borderline rude (keep in mind I'm from the south and we love us some hospitality) and the food was mediocre. We did sit at the counter and I did enjoy watching the team work like a well-oiled machine. My husband had the "award winning" turkey hash and not overly thrilled with it. It lacked salt and flavor. I had the raspberry pancakes, after hearing that their pancakes were the best in town. Had it not been for the raspberries, I would have stopped after the first few bites. They were bland and heavy. So, Alwayscooking, I agree with you that this one doesn't deserve the hype.

Thank you Pollystyrene for suggesting I swap out Santarpio's for Regina. Granted I haven't tried Santarp's but Regina was killer. Greasy, yes, but that's part of a great pizza. It was packed on game night and the line was 20 deep outside. Worth the wait!

Masa for brunch on Saturday was stellar. And at a price point of $7.95 for a pre fixe menu, are you kidding me, what a steal?! The plaintain empanadas aren't to be missed. The complimentary cornbread with accompaniments were a fantastic start to the meal! I ordered the chocolate chip pancakes with mango butter. They were flavorful enough on their own without the addition of syrup. My husband opted for the scrambled eggs with chorizo and farmers cheese. The eggs seemingly melted in his mouth (probably the ton of butter that was dripping from them!).

We saved the best for last at Neptune Oyster. Holy wow, that lobster roll with butter is to die for. My mouth is seriously watering right now just thinking about it. My husband got to sample several different oyster varieties for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Although it was quite crammed in there and we had to sit at the counter, the food more than made up for the lack of space.

Somehow we managed to stuff in a few cannoli's after dinner at Modern. The cannoli was good but the Napoleon left a lot to be desired. The layers were not flaky, rather cardboard-like. The cream filling was sparse and the icing on top tasted of stale smoke or some other chemical. I believe they were at least a day old, if not more.

We also managed to get over to Flour. Again, not impressed overall. The brownie was good but the scone, apple cake, and oreo were all hard and dry. To be fair, we did go in the middle of the afternoon after these pastries had set out most of the morning. I would have loved to have made it to Hi-Rise for comparison but I guess there's always next time.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in your lovely city. It's definitely on our list of places to return to someday. One ending comment that we noted that seems to be the trend in Boston is the size of the restaurants. With the exception of the burger joint by Fenway, every restaurant we dined in was very narrow and essentially half or a third the size of the restaurants we're accustomed to. Lucky for us, we're early eaters and this wasn't an issue, but I can only imagine what these places are like in prime dinner time!

Thanks again to everyone for your very helpful advice. My husband noted that we didn't eat a bad place the whole trip and I owe that all to you guys!

For a splurge, I HIGHLY recommend Boca! Hands down one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at. They have a sister restaurant called Nada downtown that served Mexican fare. It's good in a different kind of way. Boca is white-tablecloth good and Nada is gourmet-Mexican good (if that's even possible).

For a cheap breakfast eat, I'd recommend First Watch. Their pancakes are sinful and as big as a dinner plate! (numerous locations)

Wick's pizza is a legend in the area. I haven't had it but I've heard a lot of good things about it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Oh I couldn't agree more and that's what makes me so jealous of Louisville. I live in Lexington and would kill for just 2 or 3 of your alls fantastic independent eateries. But for now, I'll just suck it up and take the drive up 64.

While I've never been to Patti's, I know it's absolutely legendary and my friends from there RAVE about it! It's definitely off the beaten path, from what I understand.

Oh and if you're willing to drive the 30 miles to little ol' Midway, there are 3 GREAT restaurants there. Holly Hill Inn is in an old victorian-style house and is a great choice for Sat/Sun brunch, lunch (weekdays), or dinner (Wed-Sat, I think). The chef was recently featured in Southern Living magazine. They are also the owners of Wallace Station that I mentioned in my previous post. www.hollyhillinn.com

The other two are Heirloom and Black Tulip. I prefer Heirloom but I don't think you'd go wrong with either.

Good luck and happy eating!

I agree with some of the posters. I'm not sure where you're from and therefore not sure what you're used to, but Lexington does not have the best dining scene. I once asked a regional restauranteur why they didn't set up shop in Lexington and I was told Lexington had proved to be more of a "chain-restaurant, meat-and-potatoes" scene. Boo! With that said, there are still some very fine eating establishments around town - both expensive and inexpensive.

Breakfast: I'll second the Spalding's Doughnuts. They've been around for decades and are an absolute Lexington mainstay. It's a serious must - nothing fancy, just plain country people.

Magee's is decent but I've definitely had better for pastries.

Ramsey's does a decent breakfast on the cheap. It's certainly plentiful for the money but it's also definitely a greasy spoon.

Lunch: Stella's Deli downtown. It's in a quaint old house and features mostly, if not all, local ingredients. Their sandwiches are all fantastic, as are the burgers (choose from beef, bison, turkey, lamb...) This could be one of your inexpensive meals.

Wallace Station - actually in Midway (about 30 minutes down a beautiful, farm-lined road) is a superb spot for lunch. It's in an old country store so there are no frills but the sandwiches speak for themselves. All of the sandwiches have horse references since you are in horse country! I love the turkey with brie and Granny Smith apple slices. The bread is all baked in house too. The desserts are huge and sinfully delicious!

Dinner: Azur - hands down the best restaurant we have in Lexington, The duo chef team are young and as cutting edge as you're going to get around here. The scallops are to die for, as is just about anything else I've ever sampled. They are open for lunch too, so that might be an option for you.

Jonathan's is another good one. He puts a Southern twist on traditional fare. He rarely changes his menu so I often get bored but you wouldn't know the difference! I agree that the setting is really nice.

Summit - A new restaurant that is struggling due to lack of publicity. The main entrees are a bit pricey but they also offer a sandwich section on their menu that is much more affordable ($10-14). The burger, which is made from ground steak on site, is one of the best in the area. Don't expect a crowd though because it's basically on the skirt of a neighborhood and somewhat unknown.

I'm not as big of a fan of Malone's and Sal's as other posters (and most of Lexington). I feel they've gotten too big for their britches and their food has suffered as a result. The steaks are hit or miss but the atmosphere is nice - typical dark wooded steakhouse. Both of these restaurants will be PACKED no matter when you go. Like I said, I'm probably in the minority here but I've just had better and don't buy into the hype.

Joe Bologna's is a definitely a unique restaurant having been built in a converted church, but the food has never impressed me. It's a pizza place with a few pasta dishes intertwined.

I'm sure there are others that I'm leaving out and I'll continue to think. If you have any specific requests, I'd be happy to address those.

Oh and I second the Woodford Reserve tour - beautiful countryside down there. Even if Keeneland is not in session while you're here, it's still worth the drive out there just to look at the beauty.

Have a great trip!

There's a local pizza place in G'town, FatKat's that has received top honors. Their pizza has been chosen 2 years in a row for a national pizza contest. Unfortunately, I've never tried it so I can't really give you a review.

I'm in no means an expert since I've only eaten a few local places, but I'd stack the short ribs from Ten Tables up against any I've every had!

I hadn't even been to this board prior to this trip and a friend's great suggestion to check here first. I will definitely be coming back for every other trip I make to find the hot spots, so to speak.

By the way, I'm from KY, so I doubt you'll be needing my expertise anytime soon! If I'm wrong though, I'd be more than happy to return the favor. You guys are the best.

I'm back from our trip and I can't thank you Chowhounders enough for your spot-on suggestions! While the food was really quite good at Ten Tables, the experience of sitting at the chef's table was second-to-none. Since I love to cook, this was right up my alley and I easily could have sat there all night watching them and taking notes.

Friday morning we went to Charlie's for breakfast. Despite the fact I'll probably lose several readers right now, I wasn't that impressed. The service was borderline rude (keep in mind I'm from the south and we love us some hospitality) and the food was mediocre. We did sit at the counter and I did enjoy watching the team work like a well-oiled machine. My husband had the "award winning" turkey hash and not overly thrilled with it. It lacked salt and flavor. I had the raspberry pancakes, after hearing that their pancakes were the best in town. Had it not been for the raspberries, I would have stopped after the first few bites. They were bland and heavy. So, Alwayscooking, I agree with you that this one doesn't deserve the hype.

Thank you Pollystyrene for suggesting I swap out Santarpio's for Regina. Granted I haven't tried Santarp's but Regina was killer. Greasy, yes, but that's part of a great pizza. It was packed on game night and the line was 20 deep outside. Worth the wait!

Masa for brunch on Saturday was stellar. And at a price point of $7.95 for a pre fixe menu, are you kidding me, what a steal?! The plaintain empanadas aren't to be missed. The complimentary cornbread with accompaniments were a fantastic start to the meal! I ordered the chocolate chip pancakes with mango butter. They were flavorful enough on their own without the addition of syrup. My husband opted for the scrambled eggs with chorizo and farmers cheese. The eggs seemingly melted in his mouth (probably the ton of butter that was dripping from them!).

We saved the best for last at Neptune Oyster. Holy wow, that lobster roll with butter is to die for. My mouth is seriously watering right now just thinking about it. My husband got to sample several different oyster varieties for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Although it was quite crammed in there and we had to sit at the counter, the food more than made up for the lack of space.

Somehow we managed to stuff in a few cannoli's after dinner at Modern. The cannoli was good but the Napoleon left a lot to be desired. The layers were not flaky, rather cardboard-like. The cream filling was sparse and the icing on top tasted of stale smoke or some other chemical. I believe they were at least a day old, if not more.

We also managed to get over to Flour. Again, not impressed overall. The brownie was good but the scone, apple cake, and oreo were all hard and dry. To be fair, we did go in the middle of the afternoon after these pastries had set out most of the morning. I would have loved to have made it to Hi-Rise for comparison but I guess there's always next time.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in your lovely city. It's definitely on our list of places to return to someday. One ending comment that we noted that seems to be the trend in Boston is the size of the restaurants. With the exception of the burger joint by Fenway, every restaurant we dined in was very narrow and essentially half or a third the size of the restaurants we're accustomed to. Lucky for us, we're early eaters and this wasn't an issue, but I can only imagine what these places are like in prime dinner time!

Thanks again to everyone for your very helpful advice. My husband noted that we didn't eat a bad place the whole trip and I owe that all to you guys!

I am in NO way an expert, seeing as how I've only been to Boston 1 time, but I can tell you a couple of great restaurants we ate at that seem to fit your bill. Additionally, all of my selections were based on the great posters to this site! For the seafood, Neptune Oyster! You don't have to be an oyster conniseur to appreciate this place but you do HAVE to have the lobster roll. Wow, that's all I can say.

For brunch on Sunday, Masa in Back Bay. This place is an absolute steal at $7.95 for a pre-fixe menu. It has sort of a southwestern flair and every bite was delicious. You may want to consider making reservations here, as the place was packed 10 minutes after opening their doors (10:30am). There appeared to be some decent parking in the area but since I'm not a local, so take that with a grain of salt.

Enjoy!

Wow, your review alone has sealed the deal for Neptune. Neither of us eat oysters either so I was afraid that would limit our menu selections. Not the case it seems from your review. My mouth was literally watering with each entree you described. Now it seems the problem will be trying to make a decision!
Thanks for the advice on Ten Tables but I've already booked it, as that was one of the first places I came across during my search and it just won my heart. I hope I'm not disappointed. I did see where Bon Appetit gave Craigie a nod for their brunch in the most recent issue.

C. Hamster, thanks for your helpful post. I will gladly mark Zaftig's and Center Street off my list since they are farther than I'd like to travel, especially for breakfast!

While I would love to add Chinatown to my list, we're only going to be in the area 2 1/2 days and I'm just not sure we'd have time. I did look up the Myers & Chang that someone recommended previously and while it looks good, there are others that sound better to me. Thanks though.

Thank you all for your input, it's greatly appreciated. No one mentioned whether any of my dinner choices would require a reservation (keep in mind we are early eaters, i.e. 5:30 or 6). This trip is a surprise for my husband and I wanted to wait until we got there to let him pick the dinner choices. I do know to call Ten Tables to request the chef's table but what about the others? Oh, and keep in mind we'd be hitting the North End restaurants the night of a Celtics game.

I'm not sure how I'm going to pull off 3 big meals in one day either but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for good food! Food is one of our primary loves associated with travel so we like to try as much as possible each trip. Mind you, we won't be dining on 5-course meals at all feeding times! Thanks for your concern (:

You mentioned that some of my choices, particulary breakfast, were not that close to my hotel. Could you tell me which breakfast places you were referring to? I'm not as concerned about dinner choices but I am pretty hungry in the mornings and don't want to have to travel far. Thanks!

You guys have been SO helpful! I wanted to run my list (greatly narrowed thanks to you) by you now and see if anyone has any compelling arguement either for or against any of these. As you can see, I still need to narrow the list so definitely feel free to be as brutally honest as you'd like!

Also, I saw a recent post for fried fish recommendations and based on the overwhelming response, I wondered if one of these might be a better seafood option - better than Neptune of B&G. The ones I saw mentioned were Moulton's, Pescatore, The Barking Crab and Sail Loft. I also have no idea where these are located and whether or not they'd be even feasible for us.

So here's my list broken into breakfast/lunch/dinner.
Breakfast:
Charlie's Sandwich Shop
Masa (for the pre fixe Sat. brunch)
Centre St Cafe
Sound Bites
Zaftigs Deli

Lunch:
Parish Cafe
Umberto Galleria
Mr. Bartleys
Chacerero
Santarpio's Pizza
Hi-Rise Bread Co.

Dinner:
Ten Tables
Neptune Oyster
B&G Oyster
Via Matta
Prezza - is this close near The Garden?
Taranta - is this close to The Gardne?
Radius

Do any on my dinner list require reservations for something as early as 5:30? And do any require a sports coat for men? We'll be coming the 2nd weekend in April so I think we'll be avoiding Restaurant Week.

Thank you all again for all your imput. It has been invaluable to me!

Wow, thanks for all the advice! One name that seems to keep coming up is B&G Oyster. I've also seen quite a few votes for Neptune. I've seen many of the restaurants mentioned here on other "favorites" lists and I guess I just don't comprehend how small Boston really is. So is the Garden close to Jurys, relatively speaking? I have it pictured practically in another city. How long should I expect it to take to get from Jurys to the Garden? And is Harvard Square pretty close as well?
Joanie, you mentioned the bus, is that a safe method of transportation in Boston? And is it pretty easy? There's also the "T", right? Please excuse my niavity but I'm from a city that doesn't readily use either.
For the record, I had intended to go through an intermediary for the Celtics tickets. They are crazy expensive though ): That does help to know that I shoudn't wait until the day of to but them.

One thing I forgot to ask. Is there anything close to the arena where the Celtics play (the name escapes me right now)? I'm debating treating him to a game and I wanted to know what food options might be nearby.
Also, is Mr. Bartley's "the" place for burgers? Is this the best hole-in-the-wall place?

I'm surprising my husband with a trip to Boston for his birthday in April. He's been once but didn't really get to experience any of the Boston cuisine. He and I are both foodies and love a good meal, from dives to 5-star restaurants, we just appreciate good food. In starting my search for must-try restaurants in Boston, I've found the task to be a little daunting. It seems if you asked 5 people their top 3 restaurants, you'd get 15 different answers. While that's great, it's also makes it very difficult to narrow my search. We will be in the city for 2 1/2 days and will need to find 2 breakfast spots, 2 or 3 lunch spots, and 3 dinner spots. The one place I've found thus far that looks right up our alley is Ten Tables. I understand the Chef's Table is the place to sit and the Tasting Menu is the way to go. I don't mind to pay as long as the food merits the cost. I'd love to have seafood at least once, if not more. We're not big on oysters or clams but we do love all fish, shrimp, crab, and lobster. We don't do chains, although I've heard good things about Legal. For breakfast, I prefer pancakes/french toast and my husband prefers more eggs/bacon. As far as location, I'd love to find at least a few places within walking distance of our hotel, Jury's, but I realize we'll probably have to cab it to get to others. I know there have been other posts regarding your favorite spots but hopefully you can narrow in on your favorites based on my criteria. Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing your responses.