June Trip - My dining itinerary and a breakfast question

I%26#39;m heading to Chicago at the end of the month with my wife and teenage son, my in-laws and my wife%26#39;s brothers and their spouses w/ 1 very cute but very terrible two year old. We are staying at a rental about three blocks south of Wrigley Field and will be attending 2 ball games. Due to the mix of age groups and levels of culinary curiosity, I%26#39;m trying to keep things pretty casual while getting a taste of the variety that Chicago offers which we can%26#39;t get here in Texas. So here are my plans so far

Dinner:

Day 1 - Gino%26#39;s East on Superior

Day 2 - Andalous Moroccan on Clark

Day 3 - La Scarola

Day 4 - Twin Anchors

Lunch:

Mr. Beef or Al%26#39;s #1

Goose Island in Wrigleyville

Random Dogs or Brats in or near Wrigley

Breakfast:

Will mostly eat breakfast in our rental house.

Questions:

1) Are any of my choices grossly inappropriate for a largish group with a child?

2) Are there any cool greasy spoon breakfast places in the Wrigleyville area that maybe we could walk to one morning?

Thanks in advance for any input y%26#39;all might have.

June Trip - My dining itinerary and a breakfast question

I admire a person that has each meal planned out ahead of time.

A few breakfast choices in Wrigleyville:

Pick Me Up Cafe

3408 N. Clark St.

(773) 248-6613

Salt %26amp; Pepper (a retro diner)

3537 N. Clark St.

(773) 883-9800

annsather.com/restaurants/locations.shtml

Just an FYI - Twin Anchors gets crowded. No reservations. While it%26#39;s a great spot for ribs, you might want to get there early. I don%26#39;t know how long your kids will want to wait in line for a table.

June Trip - My dining itinerary and a breakfast question

Thanks Dave. One of our group really wanted to try Twin Anchor. Have you ever been on a Sunday night? Just wondering what the crowds are like then.

%26lt;%26lt;2) Are there any cool greasy spoon breakfast places in the Wrigleyville area that maybe we could walk to one morning?%26gt;%26gt;

2 additional places:

Wishbone

3300 N. Lincoln Ave.

773-549-4105

鈥hicagotribune.com/search/鈥?966850.venue

Twisted Spoke Lakeview

3365 N. Clark St.

773-525-5300

鈥hicagotribune.com/search/鈥?539728.venue

Hopefully others can help out on this one:

Wasn%26#39;t there a good deli on the west side of Clark just south of Wrightwood? I used to go there when I lived in the area, and it was a great place for breakfast or lunch. It was loud and just the sort of place that you are looking for. If only I could recall the name . . .

I%26#39;m not a fan of Andalous Moroccan. I%26#39;ve tried the place twice and each time the service was poor and the food was mediocre. The only good thing about it is that it%26#39;s a BYOB.

There are a lot of great Middle Eastern/Mediterranean (if not strictly Moroccan) restaurants in Chicago. Check out metromix.com. I like Rezas, Andies, Zad. A real gem is a BYOB up in Rogers Park called Cafe Suron. Fabulous place, although you%26#39;d need to take a cab up there...

If you do decide to go to Andalous, note that it%26#39;s a pretty small place. With a group your size, I%26#39;d definitely call ahead.

Skeeter,

Might this be it?

http://francesdeli.com/

That%26#39;s it!

Nice, loud, cheap, pretty good food. When I lived around there, I would go in about once a week or so. A great authentic neighborhood deli. Gets very crowded on Sunday mornings.

Re: Twin Anchors -

Does not compare with Texas BBQ - Not even close.

A great bar with inexpensive beer / drinks.

Decent bar food - burgers etc.

Have fun at Wrigley.

You have 10+ people in your entire party?

Are you talking about the Gino%26#39;s East on Superior - or the one on Lincoln Avenue? If the latter, it doesn%26#39;t hold very many people. You could quickly check on Metromix about the amount of seating and then confirm with the restaurant.

In fact, all of the places that you%26#39;ve chosen for dinner are pretty small. Have you spoken to each about the size of your party and gotten reservations, if at all possible?

La Scarola, for example - small and it%26#39;s tight seating in there. Take a look at the pictures on their website and you%26#39;ll see how close the tables are.

Note: When you have a largish party, such as yours, at many restaurants, you are going to have a set percentage (for example 18-20%) included automatically in your bill for the tip.

';2) Are there any cool greasy spoon breakfast places in the Wrigleyville area that maybe we could walk to one morning?'; Same problem as dinner - the size of your party. If you just show up with that many people, especially if on the weekends during prime breakfast/brunch hours and you might be waiting for some time before a table opens up. During the week (but not on holidays-or even a day after), you might have better luck with getting in without too much of a wait. Keep in mind though that Lakeview (including Wrigleyville) is one of the more expensive neighborhoods so I%26#39;d figure on a breakfast budget of at least $10-15 pp for non-fastfood sit down, including drink, tax and tip (excluding the child).

I concur with Frances Deli, really good breakfast/lunch spot, and a bonus is that you will walk right by Weiner Circle!! Great char dogs!

Best Italian in the neighborhood, IMHO is Mia Francesca. There is also a Penny%26#39;s Noodles that is good. BYOB%26#39;s-Tango Sur, HB-Home Bistro.