Restaurant Suggestion Chicago Union Station

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ScottC4746

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Any recomendations on any of the many eatting places inside Union Station. I am meeting my Cousin on 28 May for lunch around 12 before my train leaves at 3 and want to be in the Metropolitan Lounge by 1:30 and dont want to spend a fortune nor trapse all over Chicago.
 
I have eaten at a cafeteria like restaurant over near the Great Hall. It is to the right as you walk into the hall.

The steam table is on the left as you walk into the restaurant. I have found good comfort food there.
 
For Hot Dogs, Italian Beef and the such you can't go wrong with Gold Coast provided your cousin hasn't already had his or her fill of these essential Chicago staples.
 
I have eaten at a cafeteria like restaurant over near the Great Hall.
That would be the Metro Deli. Sorry, I can only look at pictures at this point. I would have been able to see it in person, but it will have to wait another day, since my train trip was cancelled. I WILL be in Chicago this weekend, though, but will probably have no time to visit CUS.

A list of eating establishments can be found here:

http://www.chicagoun...tail_guide.html
 
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If you want a drink with lunch (I would), there is a bar and grill beside the food court. I think it's called the Snuggery. The food is the type of stuff you would expect at a bar and grill. I believe it's the only place in the station that serves alcohol, but if I'm wrong on that point, I'd love to find out. Have a great trip.
 
I vote for the Snuggery as well. Been there many times and its great!

There is a rib place there as well, can't remember the name but you wont forget the ribs! Wait, Robinson's Ribs, in the food court! I have never met a rib I did not like and Robinson's serves great Ribs
 
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Another possibility is to explore Ogilvee Transportation Center, which has a much larger food court (if you're looking for fast food) and the MetraMarket, which has more sit-down places. See http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/downtown_chicagostations/ogilvie_transportation_center.html for more details. From Union Station, go out the north side Metra gates (say, 7 or 9-- you don't need a ticket or anything), walk to the stairs at the other end of the platform, and you'll find yourself on the street diagonally acros from Ogilvee.
 
Another possibility is to explore Ogilvee Transportation Center, which has a much larger food court (if you're looking for fast food) and the MetraMarket, which has more sit-down places. See http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/downtown_chicagostations/ogilvie_transportation_center.html for more details. From Union Station, go out the north side Metra gates (say, 7 or 9-- you don't need a ticket or anything), walk to the stairs at the other end of the platform, and you'll find yourself on the street diagonally acros from Ogilvee.
(Ogilvie, not Ogilvee).

Metra Market doesn't really have any sit-down places that I've seen. The food may be of a higher quality than your typical fast food, but you still have to go and pick it up from a vendor and find a place to sit and eat.
 
I have eaten at a cafeteria like restaurant over near the Great Hall. It is to the right as you walk into the hall.

The steam table is on the left as you walk into the restaurant. I have found good comfort food there.
As Pat said, it's the Metro Deli. If you like rubens, they have the best I've ever seen.
 
I have eaten at a cafeteria like restaurant over near the Great Hall. It is to the right as you walk into the hall.

The steam table is on the left as you walk into the restaurant. I have found good comfort food there.
This is the place my wife and I usually hit after our trips. They do serve all sorts of comfort food, and I think they are loosely affiliated with the Snuggery located upstairs in the food court. It's usually less crowded than upstairs. :cool:
 
Lou Mitchell's is about a block or so in back of Union Station. A great diner with reasonably priced food.

Dan
 
I vote for the Snuggery as well. Been there many times and its great!

There is a rib place there as well, can't remember the name but you wont forget the ribs! Wait, Robinson's Ribs, in the food court! I have never met a rib I did not like and Robinson's serves great Ribs
The location in the Ogilvie Center is an unauthorized location of Robinson's No. 1 Ribs, who purchased the location from an authorized party and continued using the name. Please do not consider it part of our organization, until we can legally make him change the name. I am at the headquarters at 940 Madison in Oak Park, and he buys no sauce or products through us.
 
I have eaten at a cafeteria like restaurant over near the Great Hall. It is to the right as you walk into the hall.

The steam table is on the left as you walk into the restaurant. I have found good comfort food there.
Comfort food is a perfect description of the menu, and it is reasonably affordable. Plus they have a sit down bar at the other side of the restaurant, where you can eat too and ebnjoy beverages.
 
Another possibility is to explore Ogilvee Transportation Center
Don't you mean North Western Station?
:) Considering that in my days travelling through it it's only served trains called "Union Pacific" rather than "Chicago North Western", I don't really have the grounds for calling it that. Plus it's been updated -- at minimum -- since it was officially "North Western Station".
 
The Ogilvie Transportation Center _ named after the Illinois governor who helped create the Regional Transportation Authority _ is located at the site of what was once the Northwestern Station. Although the platforms and train shed are rehabbed from the old station, the "headhouse" is in the lobby of a skyscrapper office building. Neither Northwestern Station nor the Chicago and North Western Railroad exist anymore.
 
Plus it's been updated -- at minimum -- since it was officially "North Western Station"
With what?
The headhouse was replaced by the Citigroup Center from 1984 to 1987. However, after doing some research, I'm going to take my statement (quoted above) back.

Timeline of events:

1984 Headhouse razed

1987 Citigroup Center opens

1992 Metra purchases station from CNW

1995 Union Pacific purchases CNW

1997 Station renamed "Ogilvie Transportatin Center"

Sources: http://metrarail.com...ion_center.html

http://metrarail.com...ion_center.html

The station is quite different from its original status, but I suppose that it was "North Western Station" from 1984 to 1995...unless someone knows something different. I didn't realize that the current station was from the '80's and the UP's takeover of the CNW was from the '90's. I thought it was the other way around, to be honest.
 
More than a decade on, people will still give you funny faces when asking for directions to the Ogilvie Transportation Center.
 
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