Our Twitter Friends’ Favorite Places to Take Friends and Family

For most people, the holiday season is all about family, whether you’re traveling far and wide to visit them or doing everything you can to avoid them. We’ve heard from a lot of people that our food-tasting and cultural walking tours of Bucktown/Wicker Park, Near North and Chinatown are big hits with family members when they visit Chicago. (It’s several hours, chaperoned, with someone else doing all the talking! How can you go wrong?)

You may be looking for somewhere to dine with visiting family or even your friends from out of town looking to experience the city during the holiday season.

We recently asked our fantastic Twitter followers about where they take friend and family to show off Chicago’s culinary best — and we’re sharing them with you now.

Kristen (@KristenPiquette) takes visitors to Revolution Brewing in Logan Square, where you can snack on delicious pub fare (we love the bacon fat popcorn and soft pretzel with cheddar-ale dipping sauce) and sip on handcrafted, locally brewed beers, including two 2012 GABF medal winners (Cross of Gold and A Little Crazy).

Joanne (@EspositoJo) is in favor of trekking out on Lawrence Avenue to Lazza Pizza & Gelato in Norridge for some serious wood-fired-oven pizza and handmade gelato. Lazza’s way-west locale also perfect for a stopover during a traffic snarl on your way back to the city from O’Hare, which we all know happens a lot during the holidays.

If your visitors need a bite right after their flight lands on the South Side, Carlos (@cokehat) loves to take his out-of-towners for steak tacos and Tacos al Pastor with onions and cilantro at Zacatacos on Pulaski near Midway Airport. (Steve Dolinsky, the Hungry Hound, loves it too!) If you won’t be by Midway, there are actually six locations, including one in the suburb of Bolingbrook. Tacos everywhere!

And we love Thomas’s (@uttxguy) suggestion for the most epic day out ever in Logan Square: Lula Café for brunch, a little day drinking at Telegraph Restaurant and Wine Bar and dinner at the Michelin-starred Longman & Eagle. Now that is dedication to making the most of a visit from your family — especially if someone else is footing the bill! (Hint: Longman has 38 different whiskeys available every day for just $3 per shot.)

Thanks to all our Twitter friends who offered their suggestions — we may feature more of these in future posts!