"Never A Lovely So Real" Top 5 Page for this destination Chicago by yooperprof


Chicago Travel Guide: 6,874 reviews and 11,563 photos

I've been updating my Chicago pages (i.e. as of September 2007) - you have to stay on your feet in order to keep up with the ever-changing Windy City! You'll find lots of new architectural tips on the "general" pages - newly arranged restaurant tips - along with a few new coffee tips and restaurant suggestions (Union Park, Marche, Red Light) and improved beer coverage (The Beer Bistro, Hopleaf, Hop Haus, etc).

". . . that astonishing Chicago - a city where they are always rubbing the lamp, and fetching up the genii, and contriving and achieving new impossibilities. It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago - she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time."

"Life on the Mississippi," Mark Twain -- 1883

"Never a Lovely So Real"

"Once you've come to be a part of this particular patch, you'll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real."

Nelson Algren, "City on the Make"

[thanks to Alex Kotlowitz for his new 2004 book about Chicago, "Never a City So Real," which is inspired by Algren's earlier work.)

"Here, of all her cities, throbbed the true life -- the true power and spirit of America; gigantic, crude with the crudity of youth, disdaining rivalry; sane and healthy and vigorous; brutal in its ambition, arrogant in the new-found knowledge of its giant strength, prodigal of its wealth, infinite of its desires."

"The Pit," Frank Norris -- 1904

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Diversity and Unity
  • Cons:That darn traffic - (especially on the Edens)
  • In a nutshell:Cosmopolitan Culture on the Plains
  • Last visit to Chicago: Jul 2008
  • Intro Updated Aug 4, 2008
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Reviews (193)

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  • Nemorino's Profile Photo
    Nemorino Dec 1, 2009 at 5:23 AM Report Abuse

    Me again, checking back to read your new tips since September 11, 2008. Great that you keep returning to Chicago for operas and VT meetings. Have you made any further plans for European travel?

  • marielexoteria's Profile Photo
    marielexoteria Oct 18, 2009 at 6:34 AM Report Abuse

    Saw your Swedish meatballs meet, have fun :) if you ever come over, I might make them for you.

  • jo104's Profile Photo
    jo104 Sep 1, 2009 at 8:43 AM Report Abuse

    thank you for dropping by my chicago page & thanks for your tips which I reviewed before going I do my homework thats for sure & I love to eat out - Dabs was my fabulous guide more to come on chicago drips & drabs.

  • Dabs's Profile Photo
    Dabs Aug 23, 2009 at 9:38 AM Report Abuse

    Perennial, Publican (brunch) and Smoque (go early and be prepared to wait) seems to come up a lot as places to try, I'm too busy eating soul food and ribs *burp* And the Trib just had a special on Peking duck, if you are interested I'll send you the link

  • BeatChick's Profile Photo
    BeatChick Jul 12, 2009 at 9:22 AM Report Abuse

    Read your Lou Malnati's tip! I, too, run the risk of having my Cincinnati ratings relinquished because I don't "do" Cincinnati chili and don't care for LaRosa's Pizza! So I can relate to your (former) dilemma. ;)

  • deecat's Profile Photo
    deecat Mar 25, 2009 at 9:10 AM Report Abuse

    LOL about deep dish pizza tip!Reviewed all your grand tips on the Chicago food scene. Like the variety, details, humor, and sense of culinary excellence. Always a pleasure to read your well-crafted work, Chet.

  • Arkeolog's Profile Photo
    Arkeolog Feb 27, 2009 at 10:15 AM Report Abuse

    great pahe here with nice photos and useful tips.. all the best. Bora

  • Callavetta's Profile Photo
    Callavetta May 25, 2008 at 9:36 AM Report Abuse

    I wish I could get up my nerve to try Priceline. You paid less to sleep than I paid to park! Well, almost anyway. I just can't make the leap to not know exactly what hotel they will give me.

  • volopolo Mar 28, 2008 at 12:42 PM Report Abuse

    Excellent Chicago picture. I love to visit this city one day!

  • jelw's Profile Photo
    jelw Mar 12, 2008 at 8:30 PM Report Abuse

    Hi Chet, looking forward to meeting you again. I've signed up for the 22nd in Chicago. The restaurant looks like the perfect place for a small VT gang!

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