Chicago is a great city for football, and although it’s been a few, okay more than a few, years since Chicago’s own Bears have had a successful Super Bowl run, it’s still one of the best cities in the US to catch a game and support the local team. We caught up with Bears football legend Dan Hampton to discuss all things Chicago.
What are some of your favorite spots in Chicago to watch football?
As you know, Chicago is a die-hard Bears city and every establishment from the dive bars, to the upper echelon restaurants, all have fabulous screening arrays with televisions and flat screens everywhere. But one of the places I really like is on the south side of Chicago. It's called 115 Bourbon Street. It's a giant place that has huge television screens and you can get three, five, eight hundred people into the same room watching the game. My wife has said that the Super Bowl party will be there forever. Also, there's Ditka’s at Oakbrooks. That’s always a fun place to watch football games at because of all the memorabilia.
Looking for more great football bars? Check out our full guide to where to watch the Super Bowl in Chicago.
What are your favorite budget eats in Chicago?
My wife and I love going to a string of restaurants on the Southwest Side. One is called the Patio, and it's got fantastic barbecue including ribs, sandwiches and chicken. There's also another chain that's called Portillo's. They have the best roast beef sandwiches with sweet and hot peppers dipped with cheese. Then there's another place called Rizzo's that has great eats. Those are all up on the North Side around Wrigley Field. So there's all kinds of places to go and not break the bank and yet, have a great Chicago meal.
Looking for more budget eats? Check out our full guide to the best budget restaurants in Chicago.
Our customers are super focussed on spending less and saving more, what are some ways you save money in Chicago?
Well, my wife and I have started doing this a little bit more lately. When we go out, she orders an entree, I order a salad and a dessert, and then we split everything. Another strategy we use is to go early in the evenings and a lot of times you can find better price specials if you're going to eat out. We don't have the chance to eat out that often and we cook so much. And that's really the one thing that helps us save. Like last night, she made a wonderful, big meal of spaghetti. So, that's kind of what we do. But when we go out, we like to do the split routine and it really works out great.
Image credit: @chicagobears on Instagram.
