So many great places to eat in Chicago! Bandera’s on Michigan Ave on the Mag Mile. Second story view of the street & decorations. Prices are decent, fantastic rotisserie chicken. Can often get a reservation on Saturday for that night, when everything else is booked solid in the Loop.
Signature Room at the 95th – expensive, but excellent Sunday brunch with a view that can’t be beat from the 95th story of the Hancock Building. Make a reservation, or you may wait a while.
Feeling more adventurous? Try Udapi Palace on Devon Street, North side. Great vegetarian Indian food. Usually spicy.
Addis Ababa in Wrigleyville for Ethiopian food – no silverware in the place, eat with your hands & bread. Yummy.
Also well worth the visit – Emilio’s, Gino’s East on Ontario, Reza’s (Mediterranean/Persian), and anywhere that had Vienna hotdogs – Chicago style, of course.
Have a great trip!

The one other recommendation I would make is to try one of Rick Bayless’s restaurants. Bayless has numerous cookbooks on the subject, as well as a cooking show on PBS called Mexico—One Plate At a Time.

He has two restaurants next to each other on Clark (IIRC), just north of the river. One is called Topolabampo, the other is called Frontera Grill. They’re traditional gourmet Mexican, a little on the pricey side but nothing compared with other four-star Chicago restaurants. And they’re excellent. Try them for lunch.

If you’re into Greek food, I recommend going to Greektown. The Parthenon has great saganaki…

I love reading the variety of answers!! I work in the restaurant industry in Chicago so I try to go to as many different restaurants as possible. Here are my current favorites…

Enoteca Roma (2146 W Division, 773-342-1011): wine bar featuring pasta, homemade pizza, bruschetta flights, and a cozy atmosphere. Also Letezia’s Natural Bakery next door for coffee & sweets

Arturo’s Tacos (2001 N Western Ave): 24-hour Mexican joint that serves $5 margaritas the size of your head (it’s across the street from Margie’s, too, which someone already mentioned). However, my Mexican boyfriend insists that La Pasadita (1142 N Ashland, 773-227-2203) has the best tacos in town

Smoke Daddy (1804 W Division, 773-772-6656): best BBQ in the city, with live music in the evenings

Pasteur (5525 N Broadway, 773-858-1061): slightly upscale Vietnamese cuisine in a beautiful old Chicago neighborhood

I disagree with Peas on the hot dog joint and the tequila: you have to check out Hot Doug’s (http://www.hotdougs.com) for hot dogs and Adobo Grill for tequila. Adobo has a couple locations in the city and features a tequila flight.

I agree with Peas on a few places too! Nacional 27 (325 W Huron St, 312-664-2727) is my favorite restaurant in the city. Toast (2046 N Damen and 746 W Webster, the latter of which serves alcohol) is my favorite brunch spot ever. Order the “pancake orgy.” At Star of Siam (11 E Illinois St, 312-670-0100), the service is horrible but the cheap yummy food makes you forget all about it.

Emilio’s is great.

Skip Grand Lux. Skip Medieval Times unless you’re really into medieval history—the costumes, jousts, etc are supposed to be incredibly historically accurate.

And hey, Unchained03, did you hear that a bunch of the restaurants and shops on Devon burned down the other day?!? So sad.

Hi there!
If you like ethnic food definitely try Ras Dashen for Ethiopian food. Great food and very inexpensive. They have a live Ethipian music on Friday nights. It’s on W. Broadway Street. Check out their www site.

Have a great time in Chicago!!

One word: pizza.

Giordanos, Ginos, etc. You’ve not dined in Chicago if you miss the deep dish “Chicago-style” pizza.