Martiki & Rebecca in Chicago: Sept 29th- October 2nd

Aloha Windy Tikis,

Me & the missus will be coming to your fair city for a wedding 9/29-10/2 and A) would love to see folks and B) are always looking for ideas of places to go, things to do, and food to eat!

We don't have a lot of time, and the wedding will eat up much of it. But.. here's our itinerary so far. (We were there about two years ago and saw a fair bit, but there's clearly loads more)

Thursday: Happy Hour at the Hala Kahiki (would love to see some TC ohana there.) Maybe dinner at Superdawg!

Friday: Probably The Art Institute and a follow up visit to the Robie House to see how renovations are going. Happy Hour at Trader Vic's. Rrrrromantic dinner for two at Gene & Georgetti (thanks to my "steak source" thejab for this tip). Drinks somewhere afterward.

Saturday: wedding crap

Sunday: Good brunch ideas? Does Shangri-La do brunch?

Ideas? Suggestions?

Mahalo!

I'll let tikibars handle the tiki-tips, 'cause he'll do a better job than I can obviously, but if you happen to find yourself with a dinner-shaped hole in your schedule, and you're downtownishly positioned, there's an Armenian restaurant at 157 E Ohio St called Sayat Nova that I'm dying to go back to soon. Their Raw Kibbee is nearly enough to have me hopping on a plane. And also -- when tikibars says you should spend some time at Delilah's, listen to him. :)

Right Humuhumu, Delilah's booze selection can't be beat - rum, rye, bourbon, they have it all.

Chef Shangrila served Sunday brunch for Exotica 2003 but I don't know if they normally do.

[ Edited by: thejab 2005-09-13 12:51 ]

Hey Martin

I'd be happy to schlep you and Rebecca out to Hala Kahiki on Thursday.

The plan I usually recommend is dinner at Chef Shangri-La and then drinks at HK. The Chef is a much better dinner destination than bruch, IMHO. Their drinks are second only to Trader Vic's and are cheaper!

You guys have a chauffered tour of the Chicago Tiki suburbs in the Mobile Exploraton Lab on Thursday, if you need it.

Your Friday plan sounds good, and there is also a big art festival in the Pilsen neighborhood that night. I may catch up with you at Trader Vic's and then head to Pilsen. You're welcome to come to Pilsen with me, of course.
20 to 30 galleries all walking distance from each other will have their doors open until 10 PM-ish showing new art.

Where are you staying?

How about driving a little south to the Mai-Kai Oct 6-9!?!?!? :)

On 2005-09-13 13:30, mrsmiley wrote:
How about driving a little south to the Mai-Kai Oct 6-9!?!?!?

I'm flying this year!

Did the road trip in 2003 and 2004.
Plus: with current gas prices, estimated gas cost from Chicago to Hukilau and back is almost $500!

Hope you saved up your pennies for your own trip, Jab!

I know! With gas prices up I decided I couldn't afford to do the southern tiki road trip and Hukilau and Cuba, so I'm not doing Cuba this year. It would have cost me $500 RT (non-refundable) just to fly to Cuba from Ft. Lauderdale, and with it still during hurricane season I decided to go to Cuba next year (perhaps in the Spring) probably though Cancun.

JT, what airline are you on to Florida and when do you fly back? Southwest changed my flight home on Monday Oct. 10th from Florida-New Orleans-Oakland to Florida-Chicago-Oakland. Too bad I only have time to change planes in Chicago (25 minutes). I paid only $100 for the one-way flight.

I leave Monday at 8:40 PM on Southwest, but I may change my flight, because the trains in Chicago won't still be running when I get home!

Hey, Dean send me further posts via PM, let's let Martin and Rebecca have their Chicago visit thread back!

Thanks for the tips and thanks for the kind offer JT- we'll take you up on it!

I just wanted to go to Hala early for happy hour as I was worried about the crowds on a Thurs night. If we go to the Chef for dinner, then to Hala, will it be too crowded? Otherwise, it sounds good to me.

Will probably check out Delilah's on Friday for the nightcap.

We're staying in the lap o luxury thanks to a great wedding discount rate- we'll be at The InterContinental on 505 N. Michigan. I can't wait.

Hala Kahiki does get a bit crowded on the weekends, but I think we wil be OK on a weeknight.

Give me a call when you get into town - I will keep that Thurs night open.

the intercontinental is in a great location..not far from trader vics!! and you're close to tons of shopping and dining....

Now that the cat's out of the bag on martiki's new employer, does this trip have anything to do with said employer? And maybe martiki can clear up the recent rumors about Trader Vic's Chicago possible closing. I'll understand if you can't speak or if you're in the dark on this.

I can tell you this much: AJ, the super cool manager who hatched the idea for Tabu Tiki Nights, has resigned. As he is stil at TVs employee, you'll be seeing him in San Francisco soon (hey, he might end up as Martiki's boss!), and then in the upcoming Seattle TVs (at least, that's the plan he told me).

The new manager of TVs in Chicago was brought in by the hotel, not TVs, and all reports indicate that he's as unfriendly to Tikiphiles as the early-mid 1990s staff were.

Not, at all, zazz, I'm afraid.

Perhaps Martiki, as our resident mole into the inner workings of TVs, can get us the insider scoop after this weekend.

AJ is already my boss in SF!

As for the future of the Chicago location, expect the worst.

On 2005-09-27 08:52, martiki wrote:
AJ is already my boss in SF!

As for the future of the Chicago location, expect the worst.

a Wallgreens?

On 2005-09-27 12:10, freddiefreelance wrote:

On 2005-09-27 08:52, martiki wrote:
AJ is already my boss in SF!

As for the future of the Chicago location, expect the worst.

a Walgreens?

How about "Wiggly's Field" and Sports Bar AND dance club!

We're off!

If anyone wants to meet us at Hala Kahiki for drinks Thursday, feel free to stop by. (We are having an early dinner at the Chef first.)

Mahalo!

Bon Voyage!

I am picking up Martin and Rebecca at their hotel at 4:15, we should be at the Chef around 5:15, and at Hala Kahiki by 7:00.

I have to head home by 9:00, so dont't be late!

All Chicago area Tikiphiles are welcome to attend this glorious appearance by the master mixologist of the Bay Area, whom I am barely worthy of having as a guest in the Mobile Exploration Lab II.

[ Edited by: tikibars 2005-09-28 22:52 ]

Kind words there, JT! Mahalo!

We had a swinging time in the Windy City- what a great little vacation!

On Thursday, we were met by JT and the MEL II and zipped (sorta- rush hour traffic) to Chef Shangri-La, which was as great as I remembered. The food was damn tasty and (some) of the drinks were quite good- particularly the Mai Tai. JT was right- don't mess with success- stick with what ya know! Off then to the glorious Hala Kahiki, which is even better than I remember it from three years ago. Deep in the bottom of Rebecca's purse, she found a scribbled note on a piece of scratch paper that read "Passionate Rummie - Hala Kahiki". Neither of us has been able to remember who gave us this advice on some forgotten drunken night, but it proved to be the closest thing I've found to a palatable drink at the HK. So, thank you mysterious benefactor. My second choice, The Harpoon, is best avoided and tasted suspiciously of Colgate.

After that, James returned us to our hotel, and no doubt got back to work on Hukilau planning right away. We then went to the amazing Delilah's bar, where I had some rare and wonderful Belgian & UK beers and enjoyed the hell out of the atmosphere. We staggered to The Wiener's Circle for some classic Chicago-style Char Dogs before passing out shortly thereafter.

Friday we grabbed some Italian Beef sandwiches at Al's and a cocktail at the Chicago Chop House before heading to Millennium Park and the Art Institute. Then to Vic's for Happy hour, a quick stop at Italian Village restaurant to soak up the decor, and a phenomenal steak at Gene & Georgetti. An after dinner drink at Coq D'or in the Drake and we were through.

Saturday we checked out the Robie House before spending the rest of the day with wedding stuff.

Sunday was a few more hot dogs and checking out the incredible Sam's Wine & Spirits (thanks for the tip JT!!). Many new and wonderful rums have been added to the collection.

All in all, an incredible trip- My kind of town!

Glad you made it to Sam's, Wiener's Circle, the Art Institute, etc.

Sounds like you made the most of your trip.

And... you shoulda told me that you were off to Delilah's after HK on Thursday - I prolly would have joined you (and driven you there) for a nightcap.

Next time...!

I finally saw the recap of your trip. WOW! What a whirlwind tour of some the best eating and drinking establishments in town. I can't wait to hear more tomorrow night at Vic's.

A few pix from the trip:

Me and Mr. Sunshine in front of the Chef Shangri-La.

Drinks at the Chef. Mai Tai is the clear winner here.

At the blessed Hala Kahiki

Vic's Chicago's charming new drink menu. No more classic Vic's menu- just a one page text-happy sheet full of typos. I can't think of anything sadder. Way to be lame, Palmer House.

Peach Tree Punch & TV Grog. Note the Hilton swizzles instead of Menehune sticks. Also, the peach on top was rotten. sigh. It's still a beautiful place.

I'll miss that guy. Not the girl, though- I see her all the time.