Where to spend a couple hours waiting north of Chicago at night?

July 7, 2011 11:01 AM

Please help me find some place pleasant, close to a train station, to pass the time from 10:00pm-12:00am north of Chicago, IL.

My friends are attending a concert tonight (July 7, 2011) at 8:00pm at Ravinia Park, Highland Park, IL. I am flying down to spend time with my friends, but I will not be able to attend the concert. I am landing at Chicago Midway Airport this evening, about the same time the concert starts. My plan is to take the train from the airport and head in the direction of their venue. Then, after their concert is over, my friends will pick me up from wherever I am on their way to our hotel. However, I expect that after I arrive at my final station, I will have to wait 1 or more hours until they pick me up. I don't know when the concert will end, but 11:00pm doesn't seem unlikely. So, where's a good place to wait? I'd rather not just hang out at the train station.

If you know of any, could you please suggest a place where I could wait that meets the following criteria:

1. Is roughly between Highland Park, IL and Skokie, IL (where we'll be staying after the concert).
2. Is within reasonable walking distance of a train station that I could access from Midway Airport
3. Will be open between 10:00pm and 12:00am this evening

I'm thinking coffee shops, restaurants, book stores, places like that would be ideal. Some place I could sit with my laptop and write e-mails while waiting. I'd prefer not to wait in a bar. I've called a few Starbucks and similar places that I found on Google but none were open past 10:00pm. Do you know of any good places?

Thanks Mefites.

posted by Vorteks to Travel & Transportation around Chicago, IL (4 answers total)

Best answer: There's a 24-hour convenience store/coffee shop/deli called Bob's that's literally across the street from the Braeside Metra station (two stops south of Ravinia). It's clean, safe, and has pretty good milkshakes, if you can put up with local high school kids filtering in and out every thirty seconds. I think they even have WiFi.
posted by theodolite at 11:09 AM on July 7, 2011

you could relax at the King Spa, it is 24 hrs.
posted by Jason and Laszlo at 11:26 AM on July 7, 2011

Response by poster: I think @theodolite nailed it. I just called Bob's and they said they're open until 2:00am today. Thanks!!
posted by Vorteks at 11:50 AM on July 7, 2011

In case you haven't left yet:

Make sure you know what you're doing, transportation-wise, before you set off. By my count you're going to need to take a least three different means of conveyance (el>bus>metra, bus>bus>metra, el>el>metra) and it'll probably take a couple of hours. This is particularly important because the Metra only runs once per hour that time of night.

If your flight gets in at 8:00, I think it's entirely possible, with a bit of luck, to make it to Ogilvie in time to catch the 9:35 train, which would get you to Braeside at 10:19. If you miss that one, it'll be another hour.

You might want to consider a contingency plan if you're running at all behind. Orange>Red>97 bus can put you in the right direction, and you could go to the Steak 'n Shake that's on Oakton. I do believe it's open 24 hours.
posted by SpiffyRob at 12:49 PM on July 7, 2011