Thanks Kathy, your post is totally marked!

Hey, speaking of F2Fs, any news on the hotel front?

Sorry, I suck. I just called the one hotel (left a message) and emailed the other, and will attempt to hit them up ASAP this week.

Also, Ailleann, if you're into international cuisine, Chicago is best known for great Mexican food (if you're here on Sunday, head over to the Maxwell Street Market for a huge variety of Mexican street food), fabulous Thai food (TAC Quick on that linked list is supposed to be one of the best in the city), and quite a good range of Mediterranean.

I don't think I've had Mexican, Thai, OR Mediterranean when I've visited Chicago!

That's what I mean about avoiding the tourist traps. If you skip the deep-dish pizza and steakhouses that were big places to go in the 1970s, there are a lot of other options in the city.

The huge influx of Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern immigrants in the past 30 years has been a huge boon to the restaurant industry. Most non-Chicago-native foodies are highly impressed with the level of Mexican cuisine (considered by most as the best outside of southern California or the Southwest), and Thai food has been big here since the mid-80s. Mediterranean has more recently joined Thai as the "there's one on every corner" quick take-out joints. We even have a smal suburban Mediterranean chain called Pita Inn (there's one near me--a great place to get chicken schwarma and homemade hummus, pita bread and baklava!).

I had no idea Chicago had good Mexican food. Would not have guessed! I'll have to check it out next time. And Thai!

Does Chicago really no longer have fabulous deep dish and hot dogs? I'm unlikely to be there in the forseeable future, and Thai, Mexica and so on are great, but it seems a shame to visit Chicago and not get at least a really good Polish sausage.

Oh, we still do have all that!! It's just that I like to highlight the stuff we have here that's great that non-natives might not know about. With all the Med and Thai corner places, the hotdog/beef joints outnumber them by a vast margin.

If you get the chance, see the Anthony Bourdain No Reservations show that was about Chicago--it was on a few months ago. One of the places he went to was Fat Johnnie's on the South Side where he had a Mother-in-Law, a tamale with chili on a bun (the tamale is the Chicago-style ones in a "corn roll," not the more traditional Mexican tamale).

FYI--am seeing the Crowne Plaza tomorrow, and the Hotel Monaco Thursday. Interestingly, the lady at the Hotel Monaco sounded like she might be willing to bargain on the price of the hotel rooms...