Various questions about dining, discounts, blues, etc.

Hello,

We have a group of 4 adults visiting Chicago on May 18-May 20.

1. Does anyone know any reasonably-priced places that serve breakfast on Saturday and Sunday near Hyatt Regency O%26#39;Hare before 9am? On Sunday we%26#39;ll be heading towards Milwaukee, so if there is anything along the way, that will work too. Can use restaurant.com to offset the cost.

2. Soes anyone know of reasonably priced-places that serve breakfast on Saturday somewhere between 224 S. Michigan Avenue and 400 N. Michigan Ave., at the Wrigley Building. It must be open by 8am, as we have to catch 9:30am tour. We will be commuting by foot/subway.

3. Any discounts on Sears Tower and John Hancock building? I know these are popular tourist places, but hoping for some discount. We do not currently have CAA (same thing as AAA), but I am considering getting it. We will not be attending any conferences, so we will not have conference badges.

4. Can someone please recommend me phone card and where I can buy it. I need to call Canada and roaming charges are insane with my cell phone company. This card should

a) not expire in at least 3 months (the longer the better).

b) Work in different states (I plan on visiting Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, New York, Pensylvania and Ohio). I realize that I will most likely have to dial 1-800 number which will cost more per minute.

5. We would like to have a dinner at a place that has live blues music on either Friday night or Saturday night. Any suggestions? Or please suggest any places for blues music.

Cheers.

Various questions about dining, discounts, blues, etc.

Related to my Q.#5. How is House of Blues? Do they have any live bands and around what time should we go there, if they do?

It does not have to be a dinner, can be Saturday lunch.

We cannot go to any of Sunday brunches, as we will leave Chicago by that time.

Various questions about dining, discounts, blues, etc.

What about Buddy Guy%26#39;s Legends and Kingston Mines? Do you have to pay cover charge in all these places or if you are buying food you don%26#39;t have to? Confused here...

What about Buddy Guy%26#39;s Legends and Kingston Mines? Do you have to pay cover charge in all these places or if you are buying food you don%26#39;t have to? Confused here...

';1. Does anyone know any reasonably-priced places that serve breakfast on Saturday and Sunday near Hyatt Regency O%26#39;Hare before 9am? On Sunday we%26#39;ll be heading towards Milwaukee, so if there is anything along the way, that will work too. Can use restaurant.com to offset the cost.

http://www.cornerbakery.com/ - closest location to the Hyatt = 360 N. Michigan Ave.

2. Soes anyone know of reasonably priced-places that serve breakfast on Saturday somewhere between 224 S. Michigan Avenue and 400 N. Michigan Ave., at the Wrigley Building. It must be open by 8am, as we have to catch 9:30am tour. We will be commuting by foot/subway.

Corner Bakery

3. Any discounts on Sears Tower and John Hancock building? I know these are popular tourist places, but hoping for some discount. We do not currently have CAA (same thing as AAA), but I am considering getting it. We will not be attending any conferences, so we will not have conference badges.

Depending on how much touring your doing here - a Go Chicago card might be a good deal for you - http://www.gochicagocard.com/

4. Can someone please recommend me phone card and where I can buy it. I need to call Canada and roaming charges are insane with my cell phone company. This card should

a) not expire in at least 3 months (the longer the better).

b) Work in different states (I plan on visiting Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, New York, Pensylvania and Ohio). I realize that I will most likely have to dial 1-800 number which will cost more per minute.

Can%26#39;t help you on this one...

5. We would like to have a dinner at a place that has live blues music on either Friday night or Saturday night. Any suggestions? Or please suggest any places for blues music.';

Take a look at the listings at metromix.com and chicagoreader.com

HOB has live music. Check their web site for current lisitings. Also check each of the other clubs%26#39; web sites for cover charge information.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that Go Chicago card wouldn%26#39;t really work for us, since on those days there is ';Days Open Chicago';, or whatever the official name is. Which means many of the places will be free anyway (I already have two of tours booked), so these are the only two places we want to visit in addition to the open buildings/tours.

I have gone to the websites for the clubs and all but HOB have cover charge. Around here (Toronto), many similar places do not have cover charge before 10pm if you get buy the meal, so I was looking if it were any different in Chicago. I guess I will contact the places directly. We will most likely be too tired to stay up late, so dinner + an hour of music would work the best for us.

In HOB, can you hear/see the live music anywhere they serve food or just in certain room(s)?

Vitaliy

I%26#39;ve never been to the HOB. Perhaps someone else will jump in on your post with comments.

I use enjoyprepaid.com for international calls. card does not expire....not sure how the rates are for US and canada, but it%26#39;s a reliable card with good worldwide prices.

Dave,

I looked at Corner Bakery%26#39;s website, I think it will work for Saturday (we%26#39;ll be downtown), but our hotel is near O%26#39;Hare, not Hyatt Regency downtown, so still looking for place in that area. Can you recommend anything there? I did search on google, my most of the info is a few years old, and it doesn%26#39;t look like the places are there anymore.

cpfoutz

Thanks. It might work for us, but I%26#39;m unsure about ';Payphone Surcharge: Up to 99.0垄';. While this is much much better than roaming, if there is a company that doesn%26#39;t charge payphone surcharge, that would be the best. I know that some hotels charge for dialing 1-800 numbers, so I would rather use a payphone.

';I looked at Corner Bakery%26#39;s website, I think it will work for Saturday (we%26#39;ll be downtown), but our hotel is near O%26#39;Hare, not Hyatt Regency downtown, so still looking for place in that area. Can you recommend anything there? I did search on google, my most of the info is a few years old, and it doesn%26#39;t look like the places are there anymore.';

Whoops - wrong Hyatt - sorry

My favorite breakfast joint near ORD:

Sunrise Grill

1930 E Touhy Ave

Des Plaines

(847) 298-1600

It%26#39;s on Touhy, between River %26amp; Mannheim on the north side of the street in a little strip mall. If you%26#39;re driving from the Hyatt O%26#39;Hare, go north on River Rd to Touhy. Turn left on Touhy. It%26#39;s a few blocks down on your right. I%26#39;m fairly certain they open at 7:00.