Check out the usual web sites such as www.booking.com and www.venere.com we stayed at the Dana Hotel and Spa, 660 North State Street, which is a great place to stay. In the Conde Nast top 200 hotels it is a boutique hotel which while it has a young trendy feel caters for all ages. The staff are great, the rooms excellent and the location is tops for an enjoyable visit to the city.

Restaurants

Girl and the Goat, 809 West Randolph Street, is one of the most talked about places in the city and it lives up to the hype. Booking required at least four weeks in advance of your visit and even then you may only get at table at 10.15 pm but on the plus side you might score the chef’s table which cannot be reserved. The food was top notch, small plates, four between two is fine, do not miss out on a vegetable one, or the goat in one of its varieties. For the quality of food, service, ambience I thought it was excellent value for money.

Riccardo’s Trattoria & Enoteca, 2119 & 2116 North Clark Street, Lincoln Park, we only tried the enoteca as the restaurant was shut for a private party. The food was fantastic Italian and after talking to regulars we know that we would try the trattoria on a return visit. All the dishes were excellent and a great wine list, the service was slightly laid back by usual US standards but it did not detract. Reasonably priced for the quality.

GT Fish & Oyster, 531 North Well Street, is ten minutes walk from the Dana Hotel so ideal for a first evening but suspect booking would be required on any day. Again this is small plates to share with the focus almost entirely on fish and seafood. A couple of dishes stood out, the rest were good. Wine list mainly top end prices.

The Gage, 24 South Michigan Avenue, is almost opposite the Chicago Institute and is a Gastro Pub with a good range of dishes on the menu, the burgers are excellent and they have a wide selection of craft beers and wines.

The Purple Pig, 500 North Michigan Avenue, is slightly hidden at the end of a terrace running down the side of a building. Seek it out, while we were not lucky enough to eat there we did pop in for a glass of wine and seeing the dishes being prepared in the open kitchen made it a definite to try on another occasion. The wine list is incredible and a wide range is available by glass, carafe or bottle. No wonder it is so high in the ratings with top notch reviews.

The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, 1401 South Michigan Avenue, was not our first choice but the Square One wine bar we were seeking out just opposite was sadly closed when we arrived, and lunch was calling. Go for the front of the two rooms where the bar is and admire the original firehouse ceiling. The food is good and popular with local ladies who lunch.

Bijans, 663 N. State Street, is opposite the Dana Hotel, it is always busy and it does food up till 3 or 4 am each day. We had a late night club sandwich which was good and it is also ideal to pop in for a nightcap at the bar.

Corner Bakery & Café has branches throughout the city, it is great for breakfast and specialises in scrambled egg dishes with sides and a good coffee choice. Cheap and good.

Bars

The Beer Bistro, 1415 W. Fullerton & 1061 W. Madison, we only visited the latter but found a really excellent place to sample a wide range of craft beers. It seemed to be a popular place for the locals to eat and to try the beers.

Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph Street is a big modern bar where they brew there own beers but also have a wide selection of other craft beers.

Pops, 601 N. State Street, a champagne and wine bar is in lots of guides and listings but think it is over hyped and over priced, the service was not great.

Vertigo Sky Bar, is the roof top bar of the Dana Hotel, see above, a very trendy venue judging by the crowds at the weekend so worth going early evening.

Houndstooth, 3369 N.Clark Street, is the only “Alabama” bar in Chicago. A real local bar, it is situated under two lines of the El and therefore noisy is an understatement, however it is worth a visit if in the area.

Resi’s Bierstube 2034 W. Park Irving Rd., is a German Bar doing beer, with a lovely small beer garden out the back, it does German Food, There is another German bar on the same street called I think Laschet’s Inn at No 2119.

The Lodge, 21 W Division St, this is a great local bar in a street full of very loud bars, it looks like an Alpine Cabin dropped down randomly in the street and it is a very welcoming and busy bar.

The Old Town Alehouse, W. North Avenue, is called the best dive bar in Chicago, whether or not that is true it has one of the best original blues and jazz jukeboxes, good beer and a great range of customers.

Dublin’s Bar, 1050 N. State St, doesn’t look like your normal Irish bar that you find anywhere in the world. This was a real find, good beers and wines and excellent range of food, we sampled the chicken sandwich, enormous, which was very good.

O’Leary’s, 541 N. Wells St, is a more typical Irish bar, with friendly staff, the ability to have a conversation without yelling, and a good range of drinks.

Public House, 400 N. State Street, a very upmarket sports bar with a huge food menu, in a very lively bar area.

Drink

Chicago is a drinking city and there is therefore a huge range of bars from super trendy cocktail bars to basic dive bars and many great local bars in between. Chicago has become one of the major areas for micro breweries catching up with other better known cities such as Portland and San Diego. It is home currently to more than 60 small breweries so if you are into your beer it is a great place to sample a wide variety.

What is also great is the various neighbourhoods in the city and the fact that of course some are full of top end cocktail bars, others grunge type dive bars and that in all of the areas there will be some great place to try.

Check out various local web sites and publications like Time Out for updates on places to try.

Difficult to know where to start because there is so much to see but do not miss “The Bean”  by Anish Kapoor, properly known as Cloud Gate – it is fantastic. The Art Institute is a must. Walk round the Loop, there is a great walk in the Lonely Planet Guide which takes in the Lions at the Art Institute, the Picasso Statue, the Miro, the Chicago Theatre sign, the Marshal Field Clock and finally the Bean.

Go for a couple of trips on the El round the Loop or further afield.

River cruises are everywhere but the Chicago Architectural Foundation one is without a doubt the best, it may be more expensive but you learn and see more, the volunteer guides from the foundation are amazing.

If you don’t want to step out on to a glass platform at a great height at the Willis Building, do the John Hancock tower which is further north and nearer the lake and you can do this for the cost of a drink if you go to the lounge bar on the 96^th Floor.

Astor Street, in the Gold Coast area is where the great and good of the city lived, a real contrast from the big city Loop architecture.

Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, is a beautifully restored theatre dating from 1918.