Hey batter batter SWING! Advice and must sees, dos and eats at Wrigley Field?

I would recommend a show at Improv Olympic, the Second City, or both. Wrigley is great, but I’ve only been to one game there and didn’t get a chance to check out a lot of stuff at the yard, so not much advice in that area. The Salt & Pepper Diner on N. Clark is a good place for breakfast.

take some to time to just walk around the park and take it in. The stadium itself is obviously cool. We ate someplace outside the park, but I can’t remember what it was.

But Cubs fans were really cool. There were actually a lot of Giants fans (which surprised) me, and all the fans I came across wanted to talk to me about baseball. This oen guy was really cool. Bonds hit a homerun this day (no. 728 I think) and he was excited about it.

So enjoy! Great great place to catch a game!

It’s been quite a few years since I saw a game at Wrigley, but the fans were friendly and cool, albeit sun-burned and drunk (we were sitting in the bleachers).

Eating recommendations:

Get a hot dog at Wiener’s Circle (I think it’s a bit north/east of Wrigleyville). Amazing Chicago dogs. If you want to splurge, and eat meat, Publican is great. And The Violet Hour is an amazing bar, unlike any you’ve ever been to. Very cool.

Have a great trip!

    * Things to see and do in and around the yard?

As you’re going on a Sunday, you may want to at least swing by the bleachers and take in that atmosphere for a few minutes. Wrigley’s bleacher area is unlike any I’ve experienced. Outside the park, I’m partial to The Irish Oak, which is run by a family friend, which is more or less a standard tavern. Chicago’s Goose Island Brewing Company has a location not too far from the park as well. Right across the street from Wrigley is Sluggers, which has food, drinks, and get this, batting cages o the second floor.

    * Food to not miss?

Chicago dog? meh. I do like the Italian beef sandwich, which you can find all over the city. And Old Style, of course, which Chicago’s version of seltzer water. As far as deep dish pizzas are concerned, I’d say Zachary’s over in Berkeley is better than anything I’ve had in the Windy City.

    * Will the crowd be alright with people wearing Giants gear to the game? We can take good-natured ribbing, but don’t want food thrown at us or worse. (If it makes a difference, we’re sitting in the Infield Club section.)

You’ll be fine.

Paging North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan ….

Keep ’em coming (TWSS)

Every time we visit a ballbark, we always try to get there plenty early and walk around and checkout as much of the yard as we can and take pictures all over the place. (I think we got to Fenway like two hours before game time.)

My advice would be: SAVE FERRIS

Hey Goofus, we’re going too. We have Friday tickets and Sunday rooftop tix. We’re signed up for the ballpark tour on Friday morning before the game. We have found that we get more out of the stadiums if we take the tour (except for Coors field, meh).

It’s a bit away from the stadium, but my very favorite place to eat in all of Chicagoland is Irazu on Milwaukee Ave north of Wicker Park. The Oatmeal milkshake may be the world’s most perfect creation and the burrito’s are like 6 meals worth of good.

in my job and had a good friend living in Oak Park, a near west suburb.

The comments above are all accurate. The walk to (and around) the park is a huge part of the appeal. Stop in at any of the taverns along Clark or Addison or others, and you will be welcome no matter what gear you wear. Things have changed some, but I was always able to walk up to the window and get a good ticket at face price. I wore the Giants cap and suffered nary a ribbing anywhere. Let’s face it: Cub fans have no standing to taunt others. I hope you still find the confines friendly.

I haven’t been for 15 years, but my favorite restaurant was The Burghoff, not far from the Picasso “sculpture,” if one can call it that. The Institute of Art is one of the best museums for paintings in the Americas. And certainly walk down to and around Soldier Field.

The El will deliver you pretty close, but if you’re staying downtown, just walk north and take in the feel of a genuine city. I have deep envy.

We splurged on Infield Club seats as well (Sec 25).
We’re stoked for this trip, 3 parks in 5 Days, 4 if you count a minor league stadium.

I’m gonna be keeping a real close eye on this thread and possibly use some of the suggestions =)

but next time, you may want to try to do a trip to Chicago when the Giants are playing in Milwaukee before or after Chicago. My wife and I did that in July 2007 and had a blast. It’s just over an hour drive of about 1.5 or 2 hours if you take more of a scenic route (which we did).

I’m going with a friend, but the Giants are doing a vacation getaway for that series, so there’s should be some Giant fans. I will be on the same flight with that group as I just found out yesterday. We are also going to Friday’s game.

Color me jealous… have fun.

Cruised out there for a 3 day Stadium tour in ’99 (Friday County Stadium, Saturday Wrigley, Sunday Tigers).

While we went to County Stadium on Friday night, we swung by Wrigley prior to the Friday lunch time game and soaked up the sights, sounds, and smells. The game on Saturday was a blast – Cubs lost but Sosa knocked out #300.

They weren’t playing the Giants but I got some good natured ribbing on my Giants hat from an ancient Old Style vendor as the Giants had just taken a series from the Cubs a week prior.

Enjoy!

I love Chicago, and Wrigley is great. I have no suggestions really aside from what people have already listed. I will add that there’s some good Ethiopian in Chicago, and I like Lake Michigan a lot. The shore is nice.

I never had any troubles wearing Giants gear at Wrigley. Fans at the park were always fine. The problem I had with fans, though, was on the L after the game. They weren’t hostile, but the trains get jam-packed, and there’s a lot of obnoxious, loud drunkenness that goes on on the trains. The red line often smells like piss a few hours after game time…so that’s fun.

If you want to get off the beaten path food-wise without going too far from the ballpark, check out my old neighborhood, Uptown. Along Argyle (four stops – about one mile – north of Wrigley on the red line) there are a million great Vietnamese places. I recommend Tank Noodle on the corner of Argyle and Broadway, just a block from the Argyle L stop. Delicious, huge menu, and quite cheap.