Chicago this weekend - how to make the best of it?

I had a very nice dinner at Bin 36, on Dearborn just north of Kinzie (River North area) on Saturday night. It's a wine bar in a hotel with decent food and a nice selection of wines by the flight, glass, or half-glass, and some decent cheese (individual pieces or flights). And my favorite for pizza, bar none, is Lou Malnati's. They have a location on N. Wells, near the Merchandise Mart, and several other locations. Google them. I think they're far better than Giordano's, Uno's, or Edwardo's. You can eat in the bar area at the N. Wells restaurant if you don't like taking a table solo. I was there for a conference and to see friends, so I didn't do much tourism, other than visiting the Art Institute to see the new wing, which wasn't there when I lived in Chicago. It is a top-10 tourist site, but if you haven't been, it's worth going if you can stomach the $18 (yes, really!) adult entrance fee. My favorite part is the American decorative art, which is usually pretty calm even when the Impressionist rooms are jam-packed. The new gallery of South Asian art is also neat.

Where is your hotel? I'd go to Giordano's for pizza.

Get out of downtown and visit the neighborhoods. My personal favorites are Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Boystown, and Hyde Park, but you may also enjoy Wicker Park and a number of others. As for Chicago style pizza, I'm not a huge fan, but if you want to say you've tried the http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2009/05/gq-declares-great-lakes-pie-the-best-pizza-in-america.html check out Great Lake in the lovely neighborhood of Andersonville. If you do decide to eat there, be warned that getting a seat there can be a little like hunting for four leaf clovers, so show up early or be OK with doing takeout.

PS: http://explorechicago.org/city/en/neighborhoods/jackson_park__msi.html behind the Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park is absolutely gorgeous. I was lucky enough to get the chance to go fishing in the lagoons there a couple weeks ago and it was divine. It's been warm enough here lately for some good walking tours, and http://chicagolife.uchicago.edu/city/hp_attractions.shtml is perfect for this. The Oriental Institute! The Frank Lloyd Wright Robie house! The moody, gothic University of Chicago campus! The lovely lake shore! About Jackson Park: Situated along the lakefront on the city’s South Side, the 500-acre park was designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and features lagoons and beaches, as well as a picturesque Japanese garden and even a golf course. Jackson Park may be most well-known, however, as the home of the Museum of Science and Industry, one of the world’s premier science museums and the Columbian Exposition’s only remaining building.

For the best Pizza try for actual pizza pie. If you can get near the place, that is.

Pizza: I am personally a big fan of Art of Pizza at Nelson & Ashland, a couple blocks south of Ashland and Belmont -- take the Brown Line to Paulina or the 11 (Lincoln/Sedgwick) bus if you are coming from downtown. It's off the beaten tourist pizza track, but it's definitely my favorite. They do slices. It's very much a neighborhood joint, not fancy at all.

Ok... what about the night life portion of this?

For a good shortlist of weekend events, see http://gapersblock.com/slowdown/archives/2012/01/13/ or the http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/EventSearch?feature=Agenda. Two quick recommendations: if you like the comedy, there's the http://www.chicagosketchfest.com/; if you like the movies or just nice theaters, the http://www.musicboxtheatre.com/collections/saturday-silent-cinema-2012/. Both are in neighborhoods with plenty of other options, and easy to reach from downtown by train or bus. PS: There's supposedly big snow on the way (ending Friday morning). You may get the full-on Chicago-in-January experience.

Saturday night, Wyatt Cenac is at the Hideout, a great bar in Chicago. Live music is going on in bars all over the city, Timeout Chicago probably has the easiest listing to see what's what. Random recommendations would be shows at the Subteranean or Ultra Lounge (based on what my musician friends are going to this weekend) or without knowing what's happening there, Beat Kitchen, Schuba's, or Lincoln Hall.