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This May I'll be in Chicago for a week, 1st time visit.

Walking tours are one of my favorite ways to explore a new place and I'm looking for recommendations for a walking tour/guide. Mainly interested in off-beat themes/history/architecture.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a Chicago walking tour?

I was just in Chicago for the first time this weekend! I had a friend who knew the city well showing me around but I saw fliers for Chicago Greeters which is run by the city and aparentally free. It seems you can pick which neighborhoods or special interests you like and go from there. For free you can't go too wrong.

I think I even saw one of these guys in action and the tourists he was showing around were asking lots of interesting questions and seem to be having a good time.

Chicago Greeters, as suggested by Callilucy, is a great option. Also worth checking into is Chicago Neighborhood Tours. Not all of the tours offered are walking tours but there are some good ones. You might also want to check out the tours offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Back to the neighborhood tours... I suggest getting into some of the neighborhoods that the average tourist never sees, such as Pullman, Pilsen, and Bronzeville. There is some amazing history there, as well as fantastic architecture. I'm a native Chicagoan so let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for the input Callilucy and Freesia.

The Chicago Greeters looks like what I'm after since I can choose one neighborhood to focus on. Now to choose which just one of their choices offered...

Freesia, (or any other Chicago-saavy people) we'll be staying in the The Loop (downtown area???). Do you have any recommendations for a place either in that area, or easy to get to where we can try the real deal authentic Chicago-style pizza?

My absolute favorite pizza in Chicago is Pizzeria Due (619 N Wabash Ave). I'm not sure exactly where you're staying but it's definitely easy to get a taxi to and from. We go out of our way to get pizza there. If you decide to go on a weekend night, be prepared to wait for a table for a long time. However, the upside is that you may place your pizza order with the host/hostess when you arrive and by the time you're seated, your pizza is ready. It's so worth the wait.

Awesome Freesia, according to Mapquest we'll be staying just a mere 4/10th of a mile from Pizzeria Due.

Any other food recs? We're hoping to visit little Italy and cruise the food there.

I also recommend the boat tour. You pick it up next to the Wrigley building on Michigan Ave, I believe. I am a geek about that stuff, but learning about the various buildings and seeing them from the water, and then seeing the skyline from the lake is pretty amazing.

I had a thread on here not too long ago about restaurants in Chicago. Do a quick search and it'd probably help you out.

That was freaky!
I did as Annie suggested and did a search and went through a time warp--landing on a post from 1999 about Chicago eating.

But I found the thread you were talking about Annie, thanks.

I'm excited to check out the Italian (and other) places since we had such an awesome time trying out all of the Italian places we stumbled across in Boston a year ago.

Sadly, Chicago's Little Italy isn't what it used to be. I grew up in Little Italy and, thanks to gentrification, now most of the ethnic flavor has been eliminated. But anyway, Taylor Street is Little Italy's hub and there I would recommend RoSal's Cucina. Cute place housed in a two-story apartment building with tons of old pictures from the neighborhood covering the walls. The food is excellent.

There is another Italian neighborhood called Heart of Italy and there are some fantastic restaurants there. My recommendation there would be Ignotz (note: on their website, they refer to the neighborhood as "Little Italy". Not sure why but that area is more commonly known as Heart of Italy).

Not in any Italian neighborhood but in the South Loop is probably my favorite Italian restaurant, Gioco. It's rustic Italian, Umbrian cuisine, and it's a bit trendier than RoSal's and Ignotz, but the food is incredible.

I see that you're going to be here for a week... gives you enough time to try all of these places

ChicagoGreeters are wonderful. I relocated to Il from PA and this was a fantastic thing.
Brenda

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