Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kids
Family-Friendly Restaurants
One of the city's first “theme” restaurant's,
Ed Debevic's,
640 N. Wells
St., at Ontario Street (
&
312/664-1707
), is a temple to America's home-
town lunch-counter culture. The burgers-and-milkshakes menu is kid-
friendly, but it's the staff shtick that makes this place memorable. The
waitresses play the parts of gum-chewing toughies who make wise-
cracks, toss out good-natured insults, and even sit right down at your
table. It's all a performance—but it works.
Down the street is the kiddie fave
Rainforest Cafe,
605 N. Clark St.,
at Ohio Street (
&
312/787-1501
), the Chicago outpost of a Minnesota-
based chain that bills itself as “a wild place to shop and eat.” The
restaurant strives to create the feel of a rainforest with the sounds of
waterfalls, thunder and lightning, and wild animals echoing through-
out the place. The menu features salads, sandwiches, and a range of
entrees that will please a family of picky eaters.
One of the best all-around options, and a homegrown place as well,
the Southern-style restaurant
Wishbone
(p. 126) has much to recom-
mend it. Children can be kept busy looking at the large and surrealistic
farm-life paintings on the walls or reading a picture book,
Floop the Fly,
loaned to diners (written and illustrated by the parents of the owners).
The food is diverse enough that both adults and kids can find something
to their liking, but there's also a menu geared just toward children.
Another all-American choice in the Loop is
South Water Kitchen
(p. 116),
which offers a kids' menu and coloring books.
A fun breakfast and lunch spot in Lincoln Park,
Toast,
746 W. Web-
ster St., at Halsted Street (
&
773/935-5600
), serves up all-American
favorites (pancakes, eggs, sandwiches) and employs an age-old restau-
rateur's device for keeping idle hands and minds occupied: Tables at
this neighborhoody spot are covered with blank canvases of butcher-
block paper on which kids of all ages can doodle away with crayons.
Of course, the same goes at
Gino's East
(p. 148), the famous Chicago
pizzeria, except patrons are invited to scrawl all over the graffiti-strewn
walls and furniture. Another good pizza spot for older kids, who will find
its loftlike space cool, is
Piece
in Wicker Park (p. 165). For fun and games
of the coin-operated and basement rec-room variety, seek out
Dave &
Buster's,
1024 N. Clark St. (
&
312/943-5151
), the Chicago location of the
Dallas-based mega entertainment/dining chain. Another spot for sports-
minded families is
ESPN Zone
(p. 132).
With its heaping plates of pasta served up family style,
Maggiano's,
516 N. Clark St. (
&
312/644-7700
), in River North is a good choice for
a budget-conscious family. Even better is
Buca di Beppo,
521 N. Rush
St., right off Michigan Avenue (
&
312/396-0001
). This Italian-American
restaurant (part of a national chain) serves humongous family-style
dishes in a catacomb-like setting of cozy rooms. Each room is plastered
from floor to ceiling with mementos and memorabilia gathered from
basements, garages, and attics by the owners on periodic trips to Italy.
Request the Pope Room, which features pontiff memorabilia and one
special thronelike chair at its round table for your own VIP.