Questions, Answers and such regarding the APA/AIA, the Site, and the City
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Any Chicago natives or residents out there who can recommend some not-too-expensive restaurants (or neighborhoods known for dining) that are away from the conference? I'd like to do a bit of culinary exploration, but have never been to Chicago!
I can recommend some places near the convention site, if that helps. It is important to remember that Chicago has an 18% non-alcohol food tax, so your meal will wind up being significantly more expensive than you think it will.
Upscale - Frontera Grill, considered to be perhaps the best authentic Mexican food in the U.S. They also make the best margaritas I've tasted. The one problem here is that they don't take reservations (at least not for the hoi polloi) and so there's a long line usually shortly after opening. Their sister restaurant, Topolobampo, is more upscale but does take reservations. Approximate price: ~$50 for Frontera, $75 for Topolobampo. Distance: About a 15 minute walk from the hotel.
Bandera: Awesome lunch place, again somewhat of a line. Their macho salad, roast chickens, and cornbread are great - new Southwestern American food? Price: $20/person lunch? Distance: About a 5 minute walk from the hotel.
Wow Bao: Hot Asian Buns, as it advertises. A good quick yummy dumpling place. Price: $5/person Location: 10 minute walk from the hotel.
Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe: For when you need some comforting and/or energy in the midst of interviews, this place has great chocolate, shakes, and hot chocolate. About a 2 minute walk from the hotel, prices comparable to Starbucks.
My big stealth recommendation on food places, esp. at lunch, is actually the 7th floor food court at Macy's on State Street, about 4 blocks from the hotel. There's a collection of infant bistros of some of the city's better restaurants, including Frontera, that serve very good, quick food at reasonable prices.
If you are looking for serious dining, Blackbird and Moto are my recommendations for new-wave scientific food. Green Zebra is almost all vegetarian and so appealing there.
Here's to hoping that classicists are better behaved!
American Philosophical Association Proceedings and Addresses November 2007 (Volume 81, Issue 2)
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I recently received my 9-year-old son's yearly schoolwork portfolio from his fourth-grade teacher, and I was pleasantly surprised to find included an account of his impressions of the Eastern Division Meeting in Washington, D.C. this past winter. In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that my family chose to accompany me to the meeting despite my warnings!
In any case, here's what Atticus had to say.
[see attached document]
Best, Charles Bolyard
"2 days after Christmas I went to a philosophy confrence [sic]. It was horrible. There were 200 philosophers. They all did weird things. They couldn't make jokes, many had beards.
In the elevator it was worse. Once a philosopher got off on the wrong floor, so said, "wait for me." "We'll take you to the 27th," said another. Nobody laughed. "Get it there are only 10 floors," said some random old guy in a country accent. You get the point it was creepy.
A few days later there was a fire. Only one person was hurt, but everyone did weird things. Like people were standing in the roads, so nonphilosophers had to lead them out. Some people went back into the hotel. Firefighters had to lead them away. Still one guy stayed and had his bags blocking the door. Firefighters told him to move his bags, so he did, but when they left he put them back. I'll never go to a philosophy confrence [sic] again."
Thanks! Glad to be of service; it distracted me during this hellish week. For more conservative eaters, there are also a large number of decent chain restaurants just west of Michigan Ave and north of the river, many of which are good for groups: Big Bowl, P.F. Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen, Rock Bottom, etc...
There are also two good Thai places nearby, Vong Thai Kitchen, which is more fusiony/upscale (but their $1 mini-desserts are not to be missed) and the more traditional Star of Siam. A good Chinese place is Ben Pao, which is also a good fallback if you can't get into Frontera.
I've made a Google Map with some of the places I've mentioned, as well as more generic places like fish and steakhouses. It's set so that anyone can edit it - think of it as a restaurant map wiki!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113724936054036198940.0004410a22e3b00873f86&ll=41.894579,-87.624292&spn=0.017666,0.03828&z=15&om=1 Hope you all enjoy good food.
Buzzcocks, "Something's gone wrong again" AC/DC, "What Do You Do For Money, Honey" Angry Samoans, "Laughing at Me" D.O.A., "I Don't Give a Shit" The Damned, "Feel the Pain" The Dickies, "I'm OK, You're OK" Fugazi, "Waiting Room" Joy Division, "Candidate" Mission of Burma, "That's When I Reach for my Revolver" The Ramones, "Swallow my Pride" Stiff Little Fingers, "State of Emergency" Subway Sect, "Ambition" Turbonegro, "Humiliation Street" Wire, "It's So Obvious"
12 comments:
Any Chicago natives or residents out there who can recommend some not-too-expensive restaurants (or neighborhoods known for dining) that are away from the conference? I'd like to do a bit of culinary exploration, but have never been to Chicago!
Hyde Park has some great restaurants.
I can recommend some places near the convention site, if that helps. It is important to remember that Chicago has an 18% non-alcohol food tax, so your meal will wind up being significantly more expensive than you think it will.
Upscale - Frontera Grill, considered to be perhaps the best authentic Mexican food in the U.S. They also make the best margaritas I've tasted. The one problem here is that they don't take reservations (at least not for the hoi polloi) and so there's a long line usually shortly after opening. Their sister restaurant, Topolobampo, is more upscale but does take reservations.
Approximate price: ~$50 for Frontera, $75 for Topolobampo.
Distance: About a 15 minute walk from the hotel.
Bandera: Awesome lunch place, again somewhat of a line. Their macho salad, roast chickens, and cornbread are great - new Southwestern American food?
Price: $20/person lunch?
Distance: About a 5 minute walk from the hotel.
Wow Bao: Hot Asian Buns, as it advertises. A good quick yummy dumpling place.
Price: $5/person
Location: 10 minute walk from the hotel.
Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe: For when you need some comforting and/or energy in the midst of interviews, this place has great chocolate, shakes, and hot chocolate. About a 2 minute walk from the hotel, prices comparable to Starbucks.
My big stealth recommendation on food places, esp. at lunch, is actually the 7th floor food court at Macy's on State Street, about 4 blocks from the hotel. There's a collection of infant bistros of some of the city's better restaurants, including Frontera, that serve very good, quick food at reasonable prices.
If you are looking for serious dining, Blackbird and Moto are my recommendations for new-wave scientific food. Green Zebra is almost all vegetarian and so appealing there.
Hope this helps!
Wow! Thanks for the list of dining suggestions. This is by far the most helpful post on this blog!
Here's to hoping that classicists are better behaved!
American Philosophical Association
Proceedings and Addresses
November 2007 (Volume 81, Issue 2)
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I recently received my 9-year-old son's yearly schoolwork portfolio from his fourth-grade teacher, and I was pleasantly surprised to find included an account of his impressions of the Eastern Division Meeting in Washington, D.C. this past winter. In the interest of
full disclosure, it should be noted that my family chose to accompany me to the meeting despite my warnings!
In any case, here's what Atticus had to say.
[see attached document]
Best,
Charles Bolyard
"2 days after Christmas I went to a philosophy confrence [sic]. It was horrible. There were 200 philosophers. They all did weird things. They couldn't make jokes, many had beards.
In the elevator it was worse. Once a philosopher got off on the wrong floor, so said, "wait for me." "We'll take you to the 27th," said another. Nobody laughed. "Get it there are only 10 floors," said some random old guy in a country accent. You get the point it was creepy.
A few days later there was a fire. Only one person was hurt, but everyone did weird things. Like people were standing in the roads, so nonphilosophers had to lead them out. Some people went back into the hotel. Firefighters had to lead them away. Still one guy stayed and had his bags blocking the door. Firefighters told him to move his bags, so he did, but when they left he put them back. I'll never go to a philosophy confrence [sic] again."
Thanks! Glad to be of service; it distracted me during this hellish week. For more conservative eaters, there are also a large number of decent chain restaurants just west of Michigan Ave and north of the river, many of which are good for groups: Big Bowl, P.F. Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen, Rock Bottom, etc...
There are also two good Thai places nearby, Vong Thai Kitchen, which is more fusiony/upscale (but their $1 mini-desserts are not to be missed) and the more traditional Star of Siam. A good Chinese place is Ben Pao, which is also a good fallback if you can't get into Frontera.
I've made a Google Map with some of the places I've mentioned, as well as more generic places like fish and steakhouses. It's set so that anyone can edit it - think of it as a restaurant map wiki!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113724936054036198940.0004410a22e3b00873f86&ll=41.894579,-87.624292&spn=0.017666,0.03828&z=15&om=1
Hope you all enjoy good food.
Sorry, the Google Map Restaurant wiki address is:
http://tinyurl.com/ys6d9k
Thank you so much for the map. I'll be in the same hotel a week earlier, for the MLA -- this will be a life-saver! (Well, money-saver, at least!)
Yeah, I'm a bit worried that waiters will be running in terror from academic types after the MLA the week before, but what can you do?
Not to slander our modern colleagues - it's just a bigger and even more stressed-out group of people.
That map made me start looking forward to this convention, which is nothing short of a miracle. Many, many, many thanks!
Git yer game face on, Classics Biatches!
The Definitive APA Playlist
Buzzcocks, "Something's gone wrong again"
AC/DC, "What Do You Do For Money, Honey"
Angry Samoans, "Laughing at Me"
D.O.A., "I Don't Give a Shit"
The Damned, "Feel the Pain"
The Dickies, "I'm OK, You're OK"
Fugazi, "Waiting Room"
Joy Division, "Candidate"
Mission of Burma, "That's When I Reach for my Revolver"
The Ramones, "Swallow my Pride"
Stiff Little Fingers, "State of Emergency"
Subway Sect, "Ambition"
Turbonegro, "Humiliation Street"
Wire, "It's So Obvious"
-for pre-interview pumping up
Hyde Park has horrible restaurants! I hope no one made a special trip for that.
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