Fun in Chicago!

May 30, 2008 1:55 PM

Whats fun to do in Chicago this weekend?

My girlfriend happens to be in Chicago for the weekend and wants some fun suggestions for how to spend her spare time. She's currently being a vegan for the month, so any good vegan restaurants she should try out? Cool bars where she can go and not be seduced by better looking men than me? Umm really anything unique works, she's big into culture of all kinds.

posted by ZackTM to travel & transportation (12 comments total)

Something like this is probably better with friends, but Lincoln Square's Mayfest is #1 on my list for the weekend.
posted by asuprenant at 2:07 PM on May 30

Handlebar is both a fun bar and has good vegetarian & vegan food (marked as such on the menu). Also it's a pretty big festival weekend - a basic list. The Do-Division fest mentioned is a quick walk through a fun neighborhood from Handlebar.
posted by true at 2:08 PM on May 30

Also, here are some veg/vegan places. Victory's Banner, Lula Cafe, Cousin's IV, Heartland Cafe, and Green Zebra are all favorites. I've heard good things about Chicago Diner and Karyn's.
posted by asuprenant at 2:11 PM on May 30

Hideout is having the Gapers Block party. For a blast from the recent past, Mudhoney is in town, the Green City Market is running now (south end of Lincoln Park zoo), and probably some much more interesting stuff that I'm forgetting at the moment.
posted by aramaic at 2:13 PM on May 30

Poetry Slam at the Green Mill.
Sunday night.
Not to be missed.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:21 PM on May 30

My favorite veg restaurant is Alice & Friends [yelp], kind of far north but worth it.
posted by kpmcguire at 2:31 PM on May 30

This weekend is the Do Division Street Fest where she can hear The 1900s and Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, among others.

I see that someone already mentioned Lula. It's probably my favorite vegan-friendly restaurant in the city, although if she has some cash to blow, Green Zebra or Crofton on Wells would both be great choices. (Not that Lula is cheap, but it's cheaper than the others.) Middle eastern is almost always a good bet for budget vegan, and it's hard to do better for Persian in Chicago than Noon-O-Kabob.
posted by j-dawg at 3:14 PM on May 30

Last time I was in Chicago,everyone kept recommending Millennium Park, and I do mean everyone: cabbies, people in stores, even strangers on the street who saw I had luggage. I thought they were pod people trying to snatch my body.

But then I went. I have to say, it's fabulous, and right by the Art Institute. So at the risk of sounding like a body snatcher, tell her to go to millennium park, and then dinner in a veggie restaurant one of the nearby neighborhoods ;-) There is a good guide to veggie restaurants on urban spoon.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 4:04 PM on May 30

P.S. I'd like to second the heartland. It's just a lovely place to hang out.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 4:05 PM on May 30

Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind is always a fun option for a late weekend night.

The Neo-Futurists perform 30 plays in 60 minutes, and if they don't finish by the end of an hour, they buy the entire audience a pizza. The plays are numbered, and the audience calls out the number of whatever play they want to see next.

The show has been running for 20 years with the plays constantly changing. It's a wonderful, audience friendly fun time. The price of admission is $7, plus the roll of a six sided die. So anywhere from $8 - $13 a person.
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 4:06 PM on May 30 [1 favorite]

Jeff Koons exhibit opens this weekend at the MCA. Should be spectacular.
posted by Jason and Laszlo at 6:24 PM on May 30

Strongly seconding Too Much Light! Oh, but the pizz thing is a bit off (unless they've changed it since the last time I was there). Its pizza for a sellout ("When we sell out we order out!"). If they don't get the 30 done in the 60 its your loss, sucker, 'cause you didn't yell out those play numbers fast enough.
posted by Reverend John at 7:39 PM on May 31