Everything I Ate (and Did) in Chicago Marathon Week

What we ordered: mac and cheese, the lobster roll, slow-roasted meatballs, gorgonzola creamed spinach, a rum old fashioned, a 100 Year Old Cigar (a cocktail, I don't smoke, we'll get there) and the molten chocolate cake.

What I'd order next time: the French onion soup for sure, then a coin flip between the spicy shrimp pasta and the vodka rigatoni. And knowing me, the double cheeseburger, because I ask for a burger everywhere. It's a condition.

You get in through a little cobblestone alley, and by the time you're inside you already know it's going to be good. Old-school tavern done right: all wood, dim lights, the kind of bar where you stay longer than planned. We went the night after the marathon and ordered like we'd earned it. The pastas kept walking past our table looking so good I genuinely regretted not doing my carb load here two nights earlier. Rookie mistake. Won't happen again.

About that 100 Year Old Cigar: it's a drink. Nobody handed me a cigar from 1926. Twenty-three-year rum, dessert in a glass, out of this world. It's a Hogsalt spot (the Au Cheval people), which explains a lot.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 trivolitavern.com

What we ordered: filet mignon, bone-in filet mignon, ribeye, steak frites and the bone marrow. We were a group of friends and we shared everything. Mostly. Cosmos and vespers to start, carajillos to close, like the good Mexicans we are, and a key lime pie that deserves its own sentence: just WOW. Order it even if you think you're full. Especially if you think you're full.

What I'd order next time: the same steaks. Some places you explore the menu. This one you repeat.

This was marathon night dinner, the celebration one. A friend who's lived in Chicago for years told us this is some of the best boeuf in the city, and I'm just passing his message along to you: the man was right. Similar soul to Trivoli, and no wonder, because it's the same group. Hogsalt. I picked my top two in Chicago without knowing they were siblings. But this one is smaller, quieter, more intimate. We skipped the starters and went straight to the point. Except the bone marrow. Some rules deserve exceptions.

Every steak was the kind of good where the table goes quiet for a minute. Yes, it's a little pricey. Believe me, it's worth every dollar.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 bavettessteakhouse.com

What we ordered: spaghetti and meatballs for me, because I'm a spaghetti and meatballs person and I'm not ashamed of it. The table added the burrata lasagna (their signature), fried calamari, cheese ravioli, and a whole loaf of garlic bread that is something out of this world.

What I'd order next time: the burrata lasagna. I watched my friends eat it the night before a marathon and felt real envy. Not a healthy pre-race emotion.

This was the sacred carb load, the night before the race. We reserved weeks in advance, so if you're running Chicago, book this the same day you book your flight. Time moved weirdly fast in there. One minute we sat down, the next we were asking for the check and I had a marathon in nine hours.

Confession: I have exactly one photo from this place and it's of the bar. Between the nerves and the pasta, my brain decided photography was not a priority that night. Honestly, a meal good enough to make you forget your phone exists is its own kind of review. The spaghetti and meatballs did their job, by the way. I finished the race.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 ilporcellinochicago.com

What we ordered: one of the Fontano's Favorites subs, plus a slice of the traditional pizza. Not the deep dish. I'd already had my deep dish moment. More on that below.

What I'd order next time: the meatball sandwich. I saw it on the menu and I've been thinking about it since.

Confession first: one of my favorite foods in the world is a sandwich. Any sandwich. Meatball, Italian, steak, whatever. If it lives between two pieces of bread, I'm interested. So believe me when I say this place surprised me.

Zero planning on this one. We were doing the mandatory tourist stop at the Bean, taking the same photo eight million people take every year, and we got hungry. Read "Fontano's" across the street and walked in on pure instinct. Turns out it's a family deli that's been making sandwiches since 1960, and it shows in the best way. Simple, straight to the point, amazing. Fair warning: my photos here are horrible. I was too busy eating to care, which honestly tells you everything about the sandwich.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 fontanossub.com

What we ordered: the deep dish, obviously. Fried calamari to start and a beer to go with it, because a pizza like this deserves a beer.

What I'd order next time: the same thing, but sharing with more people. You'll understand in a second.

Pure tourist checklist and I'm not ashamed of it. Deep dish pizza was invented here in 1943, at this exact spot on Ohio Street, so if you're going to try it, try it at the source. Right around the corner is Pizzeria Due, which is, as the Italian number suggests, the sequel. Useful when the original is packed.

Now the honest part: the pizza is good. Really good. But it is MASSIVE and it sits heavy. One slice of this thing has a regular pizza's whole personality. Plan your day around it and you'll be fine. Pro tip that saved our night: the lines get long, so put your name on the list and grab a spot at the bar while you wait. By the time they called us we almost didn't want to move. Live the full Chicago experience. Just maybe don't run a marathon the next day.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 pizzeriaunochicago.com

What we ordered: the California Benedict, the fried chicken waffles, the Kanela Churro Waffle and the banana nut pancakes. Yes, all of that. Yes, we shared. Mostly.

What I'd order next time: the churro waffle again, no hesitation. Some things you don't experiment with.

Another happy accident. We were heading to Navy Pier, everything around was packed with people doing exactly what we were doing, and we spotted this place looking cool on the corner. Quick check of the reviews, all excellent, and in we went.

We ate amazingly. The star has a backstory: Kanela means cinnamon in Greek. The owners are Greek, the menu is Greek-inspired American breakfast, and the Kanela Churro Waffle is basically their name turned into a dish. When a restaurant names a waffle after itself, you order it. That's the rule. If you're doing the tourist circuit at Navy Pier and need to start the day right, or escape the crowds for an hour, this is the move.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 kanelabreakfastclub.com

What we ordered: the shakshuka eggs. We had more, but my memory kept the shakshuka and deleted the rest, which tells you where the attention went.

What I'd order next time: shakshuka again. When a dish erases the rest of the table from your memory, you don't switch.

This one earns its spot for the food AND the location, and if you're running the Chicago Marathon, read this part carefully. The Nike store on Michigan Avenue during marathon week is not a store, it's an event. Hundreds of runners, lines of up to three hours, everybody hunting the marathon merch. Beatrix is right behind it, on the same block. So instead of standing in that line like it's a second marathon, we had an excellent brunch and walked into Nike when the line calmed down.

Bonus runner tip: the merch at the Nike store is different from the merch at the expo. If you didn't find what you wanted at one, the other probably has it. Both are packed. One of them has shakshuka next door. Plan accordingly.

📍 Google Maps · 🌐 beatrixrestaurants.com