After almost 3 years living in Dubai, and exploring some of the best cities in that part of the world, we have now the opportunity to live in the continental USA. It is in the top 3 cities to live and the name is CHICAGO aka – The Windy City. Chicago a city that host more than 2.7 million people, making it one of the biggest in the USA after New York and Los Angeles.
It is the food, culture, sports, parks, and architecture offers that makes this place a great tourist attraction and more important a great place to live. Situated in the midwest in front of Lake Michigan on 1871 the city had the great fire a tragic event that left more than 100,000 residents homeless and 17,000 structure destroyed; but after the event Chicago literally rise from the ashes and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone including the world’s first skyscraper in 1885 using steel-skeleton.
Got transferred here in early June a good time to enjoy the Chicago summer at its fullest, the offer available is huge and you can do something different every day of the season. Landing in June presented the opportunity to explore the city and making it our new home, one key decision has been moving downtown to take advantage of living close to my work and to some of the best attractions the city has to offer.
In this post will share some of the best finds from a culinary offering the city has to offer, this places are must do in my opinion to get a local food experience. You will find many other places that offer similar food, for us this 3 have make a difference in get us to connect with the city quicker.
- Portillo’s Italian Beef
This Roast Beef sandwich dipped in their gravy and served in a Turano French Bread is sooooo goood. When you order it, include the giardiniera peppers and dipped in the gravy while eating. There are many locations to go, but be prepared to make a big line to order since is always full. Maybe they were not the first, to do the Italian Beef but they sure have cracked the Italian Beef recipe.
- Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Chicago Classic
The founder started working in 1940 at Pizzeria Uno, where story says he invented the original Deep Dish Recipe, in 1971 Lou opened his first store and now it has more than 60 stores across 4 states. They have many varieties of their deep dish but my recommendation is to go with the Malnati Chicago Classic, this pie has their own Sausage recipe covering the entirety of the pizza with a great sauce and cheese. When you order is important to tell them to make it just right, the additional time is worth it, the crust and the mix of ingredients where you will have a mix of all the ingredient is a superb experience.
After 10 years of living outside Puerto Rico finding a place to have home food was not easy; first finding your at home ingredients and second you don’t find big Puerto Rican population in Queretaro and Dubai. Settling in Chicago we are now living in one of the cities with the biggest communities of Puerto Ricans in the USA, currently Puerto Ricans is the second biggest latino group in Chicago after Mexicans. People have come from our beautiful island to Chicago since 1950 and the owner of this place landed here after the 2017 big hurricane that impacted the totality of the island generating a crisis that as of today we have not fully recovered.
Found the place while talking with someone in a store, this person was a Puerto Rican that move here more than 15 years ago and of course we started having the new kid on the block conversation, We started talking about our stories and how we both landed here in Chicago, then I asked him where he goes to eat and feel back home and luck struck with the answer being Janellie´s kitchen. The following day we went looking for a good lunch but our surprise wads that we were transported HOME; My wife ordered Serenata de Bacalao (Codfish with Root Vegetables) and I got Rice and Beans with beefsteak, as an appetizer we got alcapurrias (fritter with green plantain, pork) and it was AWESOME, my wife described the experience as going back to her grandma house for a friday early dinner with family!!!
Don’t miss any of these places, they will be a great stop in your visit to Chicago and will add to the experience of this incredible city. We are shifting now to autumn, but there is still time to enjoy Chicago weather and will continue sharing some of the best things to do in Chicago. Thanks for reading the post, please share it with your friends and sign in to receive our updates; also follow us on Instagram, and Facebook search for #BORICUASLIVINGABROAD. Until next time….
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