Weekend E.A.T. – Eating Around Chicago

In the spirit of being 25 and not making any more excuses, I checked off one more new city this past weekend – Chicago! And I have a nifty interactive Google map à la my last trip to show y’all where I went. Click on the embedded map above to expand it and follow along as I present the best sweets, restaurants, and more sweets of the Windy City.

The first thing I discovered about Chicago is that it has a summer, and it is glorious. In SF, we stay a breezy 60ish degrees year-round, so we quickly become accustomed to summertime sweaters and winter dresses. But in Chi Town, summer is the real, 85-degree weather deal. And I love it.

When people are out and about and enjoying life as much as Chicagoans are, it makes eating around the city that much more fun. I stayed with an amazing friend who doesn’t find it weird that I obsessively take photos of food and lurk at locally owned coffeeshops on the reg, and she showed me around some awesome spots where I got my nom on Midwest style.

On the locally owned coffee shop front, Fabcakes was easily a favorite with its iced almond mocha and gigantic scones. Sweet Mandy B’s was another popular bakery with old-fashioned goods like giant brownies and cookies, both of which I will never say no to, although they can be a bit much if you’re on some sort of summertime diet (to which I shake my head in disapproval).

I also got to sneak in some sweet staples like Eataly – gimme dat warm Nutella crepe erryday – and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams; remember when I tried them in Austin? They are an Ohio company, so their presence is felt everywhere in the area, which is fine by me because then I get to indulge in a double scoop of Salted Caramel and Roasted Strawberry to cool down on a hot Chicago afternoon.

Check out photos of the desserts and sweets from Chicago, and reference the Google map above to find links, information, and descriptions! Tomorrow and Thursday, I’ll be showcasing some of the brunch and dinner places I particularly liked during my stay, including the legendary restaurant Girl & the Goat.

“And if you don’t know by now, I’m talkin’ bout Chi Town” – Kanye West

Giant pastries at Fabcakes

I don’t understand why we don’t have a NUTELLA BAR in San Francisco yet – this is basically crack on demand.

Loved the retro pastel look of Sweet Mandy B’s. The oatmeal-walnut cookie was pretty good too!

One of four lemonade stands we walked by – kids are gettin’ real entrepreneurial during the summer