Day 3 in Chicago 2017: Chicago 360 Building, Portillo’s Hot Dogs, Garrett Popcorn

View from the 94th floor of the 360 Chicago

Friday, Dec. 29, 2017:

Third and final full day in Chicago! Time flies when you’re on vacay.

Today we left the hotel a bit later than usual around 10:30 a.m. (had a small breakfast in our room) and took the subway to Chicago Station where we went up the Chicago 360 Building (875 N Michigan Avenue, 94th Floor) (formerly the John Hancock Building) .

Riding the Chicago subway to Chicago Station

This church on the Magnificent Mile looked so different in the day time compared to last night

The line-up to get in wasn’t bad at all and soon we were on the elevator and up to the 94th floor on the observation deck. It was a foggy cloudy day, but you could still see the landscape and city views all around the building.

The line-up to get to the top of 360 Chicago was only about 10 to 15 minutes wait

No lines for us! A small security checkpoint

Wow, look at all that frozen water!

The sky was blending into the water

Skyline. This is so pretty

South side of the building

We watched the cars on the highway and people riding bikes in the cold from above

We paid $7 extra and also tried the Tilt Thrill Ride feature! We grabbed onto the rails and the floor tilted 45 degrees off the side of the building which was like a thrill ride. It was short but interesting and fun to try. 🙂

Lining up for Tilt!

Eight people went at a time. I didn’t watch them because I didn’t want to ruin my own experience of it

All done! It was fun but so fast

Souvenirs

On this trip, trying to nail down tourist spots

94 floors up in the city

After some photos and browsing the gift shop and the rest of the building, we headed towards Portillo’s Hot Dogs (100 W Ontario St) for their famous hot dogs.

Entrance to Portillo’s Hot Dogs

It was so festive and busy inside the restaurant. It was arranged like a huge food hall but actually it was part of the same restaurant. The ladies calling out the order numbers added humour by rhyming the call-outs with the numbers. There were a lot of people there.

It was like a Christmas market inside the restaurant!

We tried the famous Chicago style Hot Dog which purposefully has no ketchup and has relish, pickle, mustard, relish, onions, a firm and juicy beef hot dog and steamed bun too.

Menu cover

I heard the lady calling out numbers and also offers for free cake. It would have been so nice to try one of their famous chocolate cakes

Two hot dogs and a coffee!

It was indeed really good and tasty and I liked the beef sausage and how firm and juicy it was.

Chicago style hot dog!
-mustard, relish, celery salt, freshly chopped onions, sliced red ripe tomatoes, kosher pickle, sport peppers on a steamed poppy seed bun

After this, we also got the Dipped Italian Beef Sandwich to try. It had shaved beef on a French bread that was dipped in gravy. It was pretty good.

Dipped Italian Beef Sandwich
-Italian beef served on baked French bread, dipped in gravy

Afterwards, we went up to the counter and watched the staff make hot dogs. Food TV 😀

The entrance to the restaurant

Next, we headed across the street where there stood a gigantic McDonald’s which was apparently the very first one in Illinois. It had a second level with two sets of escalators running through it too. There was a nice view from the second floor which we took in.

Giant McDonald’s in Chicago

We headed back to the Magnificent Mile after this. We went into Trader’s Joes to pick up some snacks. We played with the VR simulator which was advertising the Justice League movie.

Costume change!

We popped (get it? :D) into the nearest Garrett Popcorn Shop (625 Michigan Avenue) on the Magnificent Mile and got some of their famous Garrett Mix.

Garrett Popcorn Shop

My first time trying Garrett Popcorn!!

Soupbox menu

Then we walked towards our subway stop and into Soupbox (50 E Chicago Ave)! It was a soup restaurant selling 12 daily soups. I was feeling for something warm and comforting and not too heavy, so I picked the Fresh Tomato and Basil Bisque in regular size (you could pick a larger size or to be served in a breadbowl too). It came with free sourdough or multi-grain bread and 1 free topping. I picked celery. It was a good tomato bisque soup.

I liked the look of the soup pots!

Our soups

Hearty Beef Stew (regular). $8.50 USD
-slow-roasted beef with potatoes and carrots
Fresh Tomato & Basil Bisque (regular). $7.50 USD
-heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, touch of cream

Garrett Mix Popcorn after soup :9

CheeseCorn!! The CaramelCrisp was really good too

Ken got the Hearty Beef Stew, which was indeed very hearty and beefy.

Soupbox entrance to the second level

After this, we went over to Chick-fil-A (30 E Chicago Ave) because I wanted to try their chicken. I wasn’t done with my soup fixing yet, so I also got the Chicken Noodle Soup.

Chick-fil-A fast food place specializing in chicken burgers

The Chick-fil-A Sandwich was quite good! I really liked the seasoning of the chicken patty! The bun was really soft as well.

The fries were soft and didn’t taste very fresh.

Chick-fil-A Chicken meal. $7.29 USD
“Our fine dining on a budget” -_-

The Chicken Noodle Soup was good for $3. It was good comfort food.

Chicken Noodle Soup (small). $3.35 USD

Storefront. This location right by Chicago Station

Although we tried to make it to the Christmas Market near our hotel, we weren’t able to make it in time. We played Bananagrams in the downstairs lounge of the hotel. It was awesome that we were able to print out our boarding passes for tomorrow’s flight too.