Happy almost spring! The weather is (maybe) warming up and the light of the end of the winter tunnel is in sight. During my spring break, I enjoyed a couple days in Chicago visiting my friend Clara. Clara and I have a friendship built upon walking around and eating. We did this all throughout high school in Portland and now that Clara has moved to Chicago, it was fun to eat our way through a new city.

Here are the things I ate during 3 days in Chicago:

Cafe Mustache

For lunch the day I arrived, Clara took me to Cafe Mustache, a little cafe near her apartment in Logan Square. The vibe is very cute and down to earth, with plants and weathered wood tables. The place turns into a bar at night and overall has a nice, laid back atmosphere.

I had a delicious grain bowl that felt both satiating and healthy, perfect for a post-flight meal. The bowl came with a lemon tahini sauce, pickled red onions, kale, quinoa, avocado, and roasted chickpeas. It was reminiscent of something I’d get at Harlow, a favorite Portland spot of mine and Clara’s.

Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits

On day two, after walking around Humboldt Park, Clara took me to Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits, also in the Logan Square neighborhood. As the name suggest, Bang Bang is known for its biscuits ano pies.

Ironically, I ended up getting none of those items because the shrimp & grits looked so good. Though I don’t eat it often, I am a big fan of shrimp and grits. Bang Bang did a great job with the creamy grits and well-seasoned shrimp. The standout of the dish however, was the roasted tomatoes. The tomatoes had a wonderfully savory Mediterranean flavor, achieved with capers & green olives. The tangy saltiness of the tomatoes worked well with cheesiness of the grits.

Clara ordered the sausage gravy biscuit. The biscuit was fresh and wonderfully crumbly and soft; definitely on par with my hometown favorite, Pine State Biscuits. The honey jam was excellent and I loved the perfectly round egg that seemed baked/steamed, retaining its runny yolk.

Sadly, we ended up too full to try one of their delicious looking sweet pies, so I will have to rely on Clara going back to get the review!

Colectivo

For a little caffeine pick-me-up, we visited Colectivo, a fun coffee shop in Logan Square (there are other locations too). They have fun seasonal drinks on the menu and I went for the honey lavender latte (iced because it was such a nice day). OK. I am not kidding when I say this was maybe the BEST ICED LATTE I’ve ever had. I’ve had honey lavender lattes before, but what set this one apart was the coconut syrup. It added such a unique flavor. I felt like I was drinking something from a Thai restaurant.

I loved the honey lavender latte so much I went back to Colectivo the next day and got another one!

Homeslice

On recommendation from Will (who had been in Chicago a couple weeks prior), we went to Homeslice in Lincoln Park for dinner. Homeslice has fun, elevated sports bar vibes with big wooden tables and neon signs.

We ordered the Benny B pizza - Italian sausage, black olives, and green peppers. From my “expert opinion” having worked in a pizzeria for a year, I thought the pizza was very good. I’m joking about the expert part, but I did really like the pizza. It has a fluffy crust, fluffier than New York style. It’s like a better version of Domino’s (and no lie I LOVE Domino’s).

I know it’s a travesty that I got regular pizza in Chicago and not deep dish, but hey it’s what I was in the mood for and I’m sure I’ll be back one day for the deep dish!

Millenium Tacos & Dogs

For a very traditional Chicago meal, I got a Chicago dog. We had spent the day downtown checking out Millenium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago. We went to Millenium Tacos & Dogs, which is in the food court of the metro stop near Millenium Park. It was cafeteria vibes, cheap, and honestly pretty good for what it was.

I didn’t know what a Chicago dog was before, but ended up really liking it. The Chicago Dog came with whole pickle slices, pepperocinis, onions, tomatoes, bright green relish, and mustard. This is the kind of thing I would’ve hated as a kid, but as an adult I really like. I’ve recently come around to vinegary flavors so the pickles were great, and I liked the heavy kick of spice from the peppers. This was more of an afternoon snack - if I were having a meal I definitely could have eaten two of these!

Garrett’s Popcorn

A few weeks prior to visiting Chicago, someone I knew who’d been to Chicago brought back a huge tin of Garrett’s popcorn. That night, I proceeded to eat an alarming amount of it. I knew that I needed to get some of this while I was there. Popcorn is my favorite snack and Garrett’s is a Chicago classic. I got a small bag of the caramel cashew. I’ve recently been really into cashews which is funny because I used to not like cashews (I thought they were boring). While I intended to bring this bag back as my souvenir, I in fact ate the whole thing before my plane back to New York even took off. I should’ve seen that one coming!

Raised

After walking along the river walk (and seeing the bright green river, dyed for St. Patrick’s Day), we met up with another high school friend, Kennedy, at Raised rooftop bar. Raised overlooks the river and has a lovely view of these amazing corn cob buildings. The buildings are actually luxury apartments called Marina City, but everyone knows them as the corn cobs.

I got the Daydreamer cocktail which was STRONG, but still very drinkable and nice. We also split the truffle fries which came with three dipping sauces (mushroom aioli, spicy aioli, and spicy ketchup). To be honest, the truffle flavor was so strong that I couldn’t really taste the flavor of the aioli’s, but that was fine because I was really there for the truffle.

And that’s it for my Chicago eats! I know there are a ton of classic Chicago things that I didn’t get to, but I felt like I had a fun mix of things special to Clara’s neighborhood and some more classic things. I look forward to coming back one day - there’s always more to explore and more to eat.