Nicole’s Points of Interest in the Loop
Millennium Park- Is just north of Grant Park at Michigan & Madison. Aside from “The Bean” (Cloud Gate) and the
BP Pedestrian Bridge-there are a few different gardens, walkways, fountains, and sculptures here. The Crown
Fountain is cool especially if it is hot out and you want to get a little wet! This park is better than Grant Park.
http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chicago_millennium_park.htm#
Buckingham Fountain is in Grant Park (just south of Millennium Park)---Pretty especially at night…it is all lit up with
multicolor lights. This is at Congress Parkway & Columbus.
MP
Miller’s Pub – cool looking restaurant – Most recently it was shown on the show The Chicago Code. It is a historical
restaurant it talks about it on the menu. http://www.millerspub.com/ 134 S. Wabash. It is right downtown near
Millennium Park.
Walking around in the “Loop” (the term comes from the elevated train (the El) the circles the downtown). You can
see this on a CTA transit map.
 State Street - There is a lot of affordable shopping on State between Van Buren and the Chicago River. The
HUGE department store Macy’s (used to be the famous Marshall Field’s & home of the famous Frango
Mint!) is at State and Randolph. This store is worth taking a browse in just to see how huge it is! The pillars
in the first floor cosmetic area and the largest pillars outside of Egypt! There is a famous restaurant here
called the Walnut room. They put up a big tree here around xmas there is a several hour wait to eat here
at that time! There is actually a lot of famous things about this place….there is an audio tour available for
free I think from the hospitality desk.
 The Theatre District is on Randolph between Michigan and LaSalle.
1  Palmer House Hilton – Fancy, Iconic hotel has an impressive ceiling it is at State and Monroe.
 The Chicago Cultural Center is a cool old building. It is right next to Millennium Park at Michigan &
Randolph. It used to be a public library. There is a travel info center there, a shop, art exhibits, and has the
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largest Tiffany Stained Glass Dome in the world.
o FYI- Macy’s, the Theatre District, and the Chicago Cultural Center are all right next to each other
right near Millennium Park.
 Seeing the view west over the river is cool too (Michigan Ave Bridge). There are good bridge views on
State, Dearborn, & LaSalle too.
 There are the famous lion statues at the front steps to the Art Museum. This on Michigan and Adams (this
is also the starting point of Route 66!).
 The Harold Washington Public Library is very cool too. Aside from the copper gargoyles at the top of the
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building, the interior is cool it is all white marble! This is near Buckingham Fountain at State & Congress
Parkway.
 It seems small, but to walk around the entire LOOP would take a long time! Most of the cool buildings and
Orange
restaurants are more centered. I would say stay North of Congress Parkway and EAST of LaSalle.
Area
 When you walk around don’t forget to look up! The tops of the building are pretty! Interesting how
modern some may look at street level then you look up and see that they are actually old and very ornate!
The “Mag Mile” – (Thin Pink Line) runs up Michigan Ave from the Chicago River north to about Oak St. It is the
expensive shopping district like Rodeo Drive. Really not very interesting at all…especially for guys!
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There are actually some interesting shops on Michigan Ave right downtown across from Millennium Park. One
cool one to check out is the Chicago Architecture Foundation store at 224 s. Michigan Ave. This company has great
tours of the city but their store is actually really cool. They also have a really neat FREE Exhibit called Model City. It
is a scale model of the city. It is open 7 days a week from 9-6:30 http://caf.architecture.org/. This company also
does several tours of the Loop.
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Blue
Area
The Tribune Tower is cool. You can step inside and see the gothic design. All along the exterior of the building are
bits and pieces of other famous buildings or monuments like Notre Dame, the Great Wall of China, Windsor Palace,
piece from the World Trade Towers from 9/11. This is just north of the Loop on Michigan and Illinois.
The Entertainment District draws a lot of people just north of downtown in an area called River North. There are
all the typical things like Hard Rock Café, Rainforest Café, and there are some deep dish pizza places there
too….Gino’s East, Pizzeria Ora, Pizzeria Uno (and Due). There is a mall, a lot of shops, and clubs there too. There is
a HUGE McDonalds there too…worth going if you like anything at McDonald’s. There is a lot of cool memorabilia
there too. (You might see it referred to as Rock & Roll McDonalds on old maps and literature). This is at Clark &
Ontario. Outside of McDonald’s is where a lot of the tour buses have their stops like the Gangster tour, the Weird
Chicago Tour or the Film Tour. If you do go to this area, I would go to Holy Name Cathedral this is the huge
famous Catholic Church here. Forget the church, but there is a bullet hole from a mob-shoot out in 1926, that
killed gangster Hymie Weiss. This Bullet Hole is located on the corner of the building at State & Superior. Look for
the inscription AD 1874 it is just above that.
Bobby’s Bike Hike has a nice, EASY bike tour for around $30 called Lakefront Neighborhoods Tour. You ride around
in the area just north of downtown…nice to see a few calmer residential areas. http://www.bobbysbikehike.com/
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The Sears (Willis) Tower – I guess this is the ultimate tourist attraction here it but does have really awesome
views. I haven’t been up there since they made the “pods”. These all glass pods stick out of the side of the building
way high….the floor is glass!
Don’t waste your time…
 Don’t go to Navy Pier it is just a tourist waste of time! The only thing cool about it is a good view of the
skyline from the Ferris wheel!
 This new River Walk is really not very interesting either. It is not all connected so you can’t walk
continuously along it so it is more annoying than anything! If you are right there at the river and Michigan
Ave. it is worth taking a walk down there are some café’s down there but it isn’t exactly interesting,
beautiful, artsy, and doesn’t really have any real draw to try to walk along it.
 Another place not worth going to is Water Tower Place…this is just a mall! Right across from it though is
the old actual Water Tower and original pump house. It was one of the only buildings that survived the
Great Chicago Fire. There is tourist info and a little history lesson here. This is located at Michigan Ave. &
Chicago Ave.
Below, I have included a very abbreviated list of bars and restaurants in the loop/River North area. I have other
docs listing out far more in this area and others.
BARS
A = Howl at the Moon – Dueling Pianos (go early by 6 maybe 7 to avoid cover and actually get a table)
B= Rockit Bar & Grill – Right next to Howl at the Moon – their burgers are supposed to be good.
C= La Salle Power Company – 3 levels of warehouse-y feel high energy loud bar. Plays music in 30 second intervals.
D= The Wit Hotel bars – Have 4 spaces one with great skyline views
E= Vertigo Sky Lounge – In the Dana Hotel- Dress to Impress with beautiful skyline views
F= C-View – Skyline view in the Affinia Hotel
G= Green Door Tavern – Last building to be built downtown that was constructed of wood before it was outlawed.
H= Hard Rock Hotel Lobby Bar – they have complimentary chocolate rocks and peanuts
I= The Berghoff – There is a bar in this historic, famous German Restaurant.
RESTAURANTS
MP= Miller’s - Listed at the top of this Doc.
Z= Quartino’s- Good, cheap Italian food and woodfired pizza. Very cool looking restaurant
Y= Gino’s East – Famous Chicago deep dish pizza
X= Pizzeria Uno – Famous Chicago deep dish pizza
W= Pizzeria Due - Famous Chicago deep dish pizza