I had friends in town this weekend and we spent almost every waking minute exploring the city. We did the Architecture Foundation’s boat tour, the farmer’s market and a walk through Lincoln Park Zoo, and we went to Chinatown. On Sunday, there were too many places we wanted to eat, so we decided to create a self-guided West Loop food tour!
For those who are unfamiliar with Chicago, West Loop is foodie central. There are tons of good restaurants all within a few blocks. I’ve done a West Loop food tour before and while it was really interesting to learn more about each place, it didn’t cover the best spots us locals wanted to show off.
So my cousin and I (she’s local too) created our own tailored to our guests based on our favorite spots. There were five of us and we ordered about the size of one meal at each place and shared. We left full but not sick to our stomachs – which I call a win! Here’s where we went and what we ate …
West Loop Food Tour Itinerary
Stop 1: Sawada Coffee
We met here around 11:30 a.m. since we were eating mostly lunch foods. Sawada’s matcha is hands down the best, so we decided to grab some caffeine to start the walk.
Stop 2: Publican Quality Meats
Publican Quality Meats is a butcher shop / small restaurant, but we were just interested in some sort of sandwich. We got a Tom’s Silver Medal – a hoagie roal with spicy capicola, lonza cotto, ham, provolone, pickled peppers, piperade, and aioli. We also got an order of pimento cheese with bread. This stop was not my first choice, but I’m so glad we went. I’m never going to stop dreaming about this sandwich. The pound of melty provolone totally made it.
Stop 3: Bonci Pizza
If you live in Chicago and haven’t tried Bonci, it’s a great find! It’s not the best pizza I’ve ever had but it’s so unique and such a fun adventure. The owner has developed more than 2,500 pizza combinations and the choices are different every time you go! You can choose how much you want of each kind and the servers cut the pizza with scissors. We got 4 types – my favorite was a breakfast one with eggs and sausage! So different from your typical pizza place.
Stop 4: Green Street Smoked Meats
Post pizza, we went back to Green Street Meats (it’s in the same building as Sawada) for some BBQ. My friends husband picked brisket as our meat and we got sides of baked beans and elote style corn. I’d love to go back here with a bigger group – or just for a full meal – to try more of the menu!
Stop 5: BomboBar
BomboBar was a bit of an afterthought that I’m so glad we added! It’s a walk-up window on the side of Bar Siena that serves all things gelato, donuts, and sweets. I got a white chocolate Oreo milkshake and it did not disappoint.
The missed stop: Formento’s
The one place I would have added if we were hungrier and had more time was Formento’s for their Nonna’s Meatballs and Bucatini. If you give this a go, I’d recommend adding it on.
As a note, we probably could have done things more efficiently walking wise, but in all honesty, it was nice to move a little between each stop, and I doubt we covered more than a mile or so total. This order made sense to us, so that’s what happened. You can always mix it up or add your own favorites!
So speaking of, what spots would you add to a West Loop Food Tour?
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