Get a feel for the real Chicago

By Dalia Wheatt, Times staff writer
Published November 11, 2007

CHICAGO - The Sears Tower is huge. There's no way you'll miss it.

Same goes for the Chicago River, which slices through the city, and the Magnificent Mile, that come-hither stretch of Michigan Avenue that seduces pedestrians with its Burberry and Cartier.

But in the space between Giordano's deep-dish pizza and Garrett Popcorn's caramel and cheese mix, on the blocks separating the Millennium Park's shiny "bean" and Wrigley Field, lies a cache of metropolitan treasures.

Every major city has a list of landmarks its residents brag about, the ones so well-known, even a foreigner could rattle them off. And like a lot of cities, Chicago has a slew of treasures that many locals have yet to check out.

The next time you're in the Windy City, put touristy spots on the back burner and plan your trip around some underrated attractions. You'll fit in the Mag Mile - we promise - and just look up at any time to see all 110 stories of the Sears Tower.

As for Giordano's, stop by the Brandon or Port Richey location on your way home from the airport.

1. Eat ice cream for breakfast

When something in a restaurant tastes insanely delicious, I like to think someone's grandmother is in the kitchen making it.

Margie's Candies founder Margie Poulos died in 1995 at age 80, but the recipe for her homemade fudge sauce lives on. It's almost like she's in the back, whipping up a sundae just for you.

Against the backdrop of Chicago's skyscrapers, Margie's Candies is an anachronism. Inside the combination diner/candy shop, wood paneling covers the walls, the analog clock is stuck at 7 p.m., and the tabletop juke boxes offer the Everly Brothers' Wake Up Little Susie and Engelbert Humperdinck's Quando, Quando, Quando.

In the off-season, regulars stop by at their customary time and order their usual. During summertime, tourists swamp the place. By and large, everyone wants the same thing: Margie's turtle sundae.

Mine arrived at my table at 11:52 a.m. in all its glory - two scoops of French vanilla ice cream, cookies, caramel, a sprinkle of nuts, a mound of whipped cream, topped with a cherry and accompanied by a gravy boat full of liquid fudge.

Ice cream before noon - I know, I know. But isn't that what grandmas are for?

Margie's Candies, 1960 N Western Ave., Bucktown, (773) 384-1035

2. Go for a spin in Wicker Park

After all that fudge, the only things spinning more than my head were the LPs at Reckless Records.

Since the late 1980s, the secondhand record, CD and DVD shop has been a playground for those who refuse to accept Fergie as real music (although, for the record, all three outlets have multiple copies of The Dutchess for $9.99).

Beyond the requisite flavor-of-the-month pop stuff, you'll find a musical selection ranging from mellow John Coltrane to the funky British group Go Team. Pick out a couple of faves and then spend a few hours meandering through the Wicker Park district. Once Chicago's undisputed bohemian neighborhood, it's becoming increasingly gentrified. Case in point: Four Starbucks shops share a ZIP code with Reckless Records. But you can still find a used Fendi bag for $45 or a pair of silver earrings for a fraction of what you'd pay on Michigan Avenue. When your feet can't stand any more walking, take a load off in one of the tiny Parisian-style chairs at Sweet Thang, a bakery that makes one heck of a quiche and plays French hip-hop over the loudspeaker.

Reckless Records, 1532 N Milwaukee Ave., Wicker Park, (773) 235-3727; for additional locations, see www.reckless.com

3. That chocolate town

"There's actually a Chicago Chocolate Tour? How did I miss that?" a man in the Lindt chocolate shop asked Valerie Beck.

As founder and self-proclaimed "chief executive chocolate lover" of Chicago Chocolate Tours, Beck gets that question a lot.

Chicago has deep-dish pizza, hot dogs and the frenzy-inducing Garrett Popcorn Shops. But this is a town that wants to be good at everything.

On the tour, Beck took me to six chocolatiers along Chicago's swanky Magnificent Mile while keeping up a running commentary on the history of the sweet stuff. (The Aztecs valued chocolate over gold. It's nice to know I'm not the only one.)

I bit into a chili-infused chocolate bar at Vosges. At Teuscher, I sighed as a truffle filled with Dom Perignon melted on my tongue. By the time we reached Hershey's, my stomach cried mercy. I took my Reese's crispy crunch bar brownie in a to-go bag and ate it for breakfast the next morning.

I never said I was proud of myself.

Chicago Chocolate Tours, (312) 925-5377; www.chicagochocolatetours.com. $40 per person, $55 for a private tour

4. Stand in silent awe of the Baha'i House of Worship

You wouldn't know the Baha'i temple was there unless, well, you knew it was there.

Nestled on a brick street in an tony residential neighborhood, the Baha'i House of Worship is one of only seven such temples in the world. This one took 32 years to build.

Arrive by 5 p.m. to check out the visitors center, or get there in the evening to gape at the temple's 90-foot dome glowing in the twilight. If you drive, park in the free lot, then climb the stairs and enter the 1,192-seat auditorium. Look up to read an Arabic prayer on the ceiling ("O Glory of all the Glorious") and messages inscribed around the room, like "The light of a good character surpasseth the light of the sun."

On your way out, stand at the top of the stairs to look out over the garden. Breathe deeply and take in the splashing of the two fountains and traffic so distant it sounds like the ocean.

The Baha'i House of Worship, 100 Linden Ave., Wilmette, (847) 853-2300; www.bahaitemple.org

5. Hit the jazz club, daddy-o

For many Chicagoans, jazz is a religion in itself.

Calling a nightspot cool automatically makes it uncool, so I'll just tell you that the Green Mill jazz club was once a hangout for mobster Al Capone. Actor Vince Vaughn is known to drop by when he's in his hometown, and Friends alum David Schwimmer liked the former Tuesday night band, Mighty Blue Kings, so much that he put them in his 1998 movie Kissing a Fool. Oh, and Green Mill has been hosting the legendary Uptown Poetry slam every Sunday since 1986.

On a recent Tuesday night, I grabbed dinner at the upscale Indian restaurant Marigold before heading down the block to catch Deep Blue Organ Trio at Green Mill. Despite the club's celebrity, I found that patrons at the narrow, softly lit watering hole were still about the music.

"We kind of downplay the mob history," said manager Jason Cole. Still, ask to see the hatch behind the bar. According to Cole, it leads to an underground tunnel that bootleggers once used to ferry booze to the nearby Aragon Ballroom.

Pretty cool - er, neat.

Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, 4802 N Broadway Ave., Far North Side, (773) 878-5552; www.greenmilljazz.com

6. Treat your feet

The next afternoon, my fellow passengers on the El train's blue line probably thought I was a freak, but I barely cared. Like a fiend, I kept slipping off my shoes and caressing my feet. They were irresistibly soft. And they smelled like honey.

All great spas have a signature service, and at Honey Child Salon and Spa, it's the beeswax pedicure. So, earlier that morning, I plunked down $75 to find out what In Style and Oprah, among others, had been raving about.

I climbed to the top of the three-story spa and settled my feet into a basin of warm water, coconut powder and smooth stones. Michael Jackson's Off the Wall played on the loudspeaker, revitalizing me as much as the sugar-milk-honey concoction that the pedicurist slathered onto my feet and legs. Well, almost. And who doesn't want their feet cocooned in beeswax?

In a walking town like Chicago, every commuter's feet deserve some TLC. Those folks on the El train were just jealous.

Honey Child Salon and Spa, 735 N LaSalle Ave., (312) 573-1300; www.spasalon.com/honeychild

7. Get some culture

Hot fudge before noon, a chocolate binge down the Magnificent Mile and honey slathered on my feet. Chicago had me in its caloric clutches. I wanted to stroll through Pilsen, the city's predominantly Mexican district, but I wasn't sure my blood sugar levels could handle any more wanderlust.

Fortunately there's the National Museum of Mexican Art, whose multimedia exhibits offer a feast of colors and sounds that won't go to your hips. The 20-year-old museum, formerly called the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, traces Mexican culture from pre-Columbian statues to modern mother-daughter conversations recorded in local homes. Papel picado, a handicraft of intricately cut tissue paper, sways from the ceiling like oversized magenta, purple and green snowflakes. Artificial marigolds line the altars in the Dia de los Muertos room, which commemorates the Nov.1 Day of the Dead.

After the museum, if your eyes can stand the sensory overload, wander through Pilsen to check out the elaborate murals on every block.

If you can make it through the neighborhood without stopping at a bakery for tres leches cake, then you're a bigger person than I.

National Museum of Mexican Art, Pilsen, 1852 W 19th St., (312) 738-1503; www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org. Admission is free.

[Last modified November 7, 2007, 17:34:03]