A Chicago Weekend

Early in October we took two days off work to run the Chicago marathon, and then eat our way around the city. Well, not really around the city: before the marathon we didn't want to move our legs and after the marathon we couldn't move our legs, so our eating was restricted to places we could easily get to from our AirBnb in the Loop.

When not running, napping, or stretching, we squeezed in many meals and some touristing. Here were our faves:

Lunch/Dinner

Au Cheval: Yes, there's a wait. Yes, the burgers are amazing. But also, the mille-feuille was the best thing we ate all weekend.

Crisp: Awesome fried chicken. Awesome bibimbap bowls. Perfect post-race nourishment. (Would also be good for a hangover. The feelings are similar.)

Cruz Blanca Brewery & Taquería: We went here while we waited for our table at Au Cheval (perks of marathoning = 2 lunches). The tacos were great, the beer was enjoyed by the boys, and the Bloody María was perfection.

Little Goat: This was my favorite place. The bakery is incredible and lunch here was perfect whether you want mac and cheese, a reuben, or kale salad (or all of the above).

Pacific Standard Time: A super elegant, chic, California-style restaurant. Wonderful pizza, beautiful veggies, and a beautifully designed space.

Sweets

Bobtail Ice Cream: Peanut butter and cookie dough in a cone please.

Stan's Donuts: Go for breakfast or second breakfast. And then go again the next day. The doughnuts are awesome.

We tried to go to Doughnut Vault but they'd sold out by the time we hobbled over there. However, it looked adorable and if the sold out sign is anything to go by, worth visiting early!

Culture

Architecture Tour: I generally hate tours (or any kind of organized touristing/activity), but this was great. It's a boat tour along the river which is beautiful, super informative, and a wonderful way to spend the morning and learn a little about the city.

The Art Institute of Chicago: Whatever you want to see, they've got it. The museum is huge. I loved Chicago's America Windows.

The Bean: Obvs. Anish Kapoor's Bean deserves the attention it gets.

And if you want to run a marathon, the Chicago marathon really was great. Well, I didn't think the last few miles were so great, but I think that's more the fault of marathons than Chicago...

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Amy Ruth's

I had my first taste of fried chicken and waffles almost two years ago. It was a skeptical first bite, which soon had me grabbing for more waffles, more chicken, and more syrup. So when we found ourselves in Harlem this weekend, a trip to Amy Ruth's was an absolute necessity.

Amy Ruth's is a huge maze of a restaurant. We were led through one room of people, past another packed dining room, by the kitchen, up the stairs, and into another, less full room of hungry, happy, fried chicken eating customers. We were thrown a couple of menus, and the hostess, who as B aptly described 'wasn't exactly full of the charms of spring', left us.

But any lack of charm from our waitress was soon made up for by a much friendlier server bringing us huge cups of iced water, warm cornbread, and melting butter. He took our order (efficiency is not lacking here), and we had pretty much eaten both slices of the sweet, fluffy cornbread, slathered in salty butter of course, before our order had even made it to the kitchen.

B decided he wasn't going to skimp on any part of this experience, so ordered a half-lemonade, half iced tea, which was sickly sweet, wonderfully refreshing, and, had we not been so in need of a big boost of sugar, would probably have led us head first into the strongest of sugar crashes.

Our chicken was soon delivered, and we were faced once again with the reality of astounding American portion sizes. One wonderfully thick waffle was topped with they most humungous fried chicken thigh, served with three extra portions of butter, and a huge bottle of syrup. This made my previous (British) chicken and waffle experience seem rather sad in comparison. It also made my love for this wonderfully unhealthy dish even stronger. 

But we weren't here just for the waffles. When there's an item on the menu called the 'Barack Obama', there was no way we were leaving without having it. A huge side of chicken (it seemed to be the majority of a chicken had been placed whole in the frier, and then put on our plate) had been cooked to juicy, moist, crispy-exterior perfection. It was served with our choice of sides – mac and cheese and collard greens – because we definitely needed some more carbs and fat with this meal, and having some green on one of our plates made us feel slightly healthier. Who am I kidding? The greens were dotted with meat and were salty and delicious, and totally unhealthy too. It was fabulous.

There's nothing apologetic, nothing fancy, and nothing not to love about Amy Ruth's. If you're looking for some proper Southern food, I've not yet found anything better in NYC.

Amy Ruth's, 113 West 116th Street, Harlem, NY 10026

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