Mexican Inn

Open since 1961 by the Cornejo family, this is one of the city’s oldest Mexican spots. With some old-school banquettes, Aztec-looking wall accoutrement and a light-up cactus, it’s kinda like the old-man dive-bar equivalent of a taqueria. The deep-fried, glistening corn tortillas here stuffed with crumbly Mexican cheese, crisp iceberg lettuce and well-seasoned meat of your choice (we love the green chili pork), beat the pants off the industrial hard shells at Taco Bell.

9510 S. Ewing
(773)734-8957

Navy Pier
Just because you have a McDonald’s doesn’t make you a McMall, and just because Boston had a super-sized waterfront amusement-for-pay complex first doesn’t make Navy Pier any less impressive. Is it a monstrosity? You bet. Yet there’s the Chicago Children’s Museum, an Imax theatre, Shakespeare, tons of food, a brilliant view of the skyline and the lake, and only seven or eight million visitors underfoot at any given time, um, any given year. So have some cotton candy, stick your tongue out at the bratty privileged children from five to fifty and just chill, dude.

600 East Grand at Lake Michigan (312)595-PIER

Best of Chicago 2002