If hellyea lives in the loop, then two things should be true:

(1) he's probably one of my neighbors, as there are few condos actually inside the loop.

(2). He should know better than to refer you to giordanos - esp thurs/fri/sat evenings, as you'll wait at least an hour.

As the OP never said pizza, I'm still sticking with the signature lounge @ Hancock. It's a sight to see if you're from out of town- watching the sunset out west while sipping a martini or whatever...

As for the cab vs train, toss up (again, cab if before 4pm). As for cost, cab is $50/way, but cheaper than missing your connection.

+100 ^

Its been a long time since I lived in Chicago and when I did it was Rogers Park and South Evanston, but my choice for pizza is Gullivers on Howard Ave. Not accessible on the el from Ohare, though.

Actually, scratch the signature room idea. Raining. Overcast.

Yeah... though it definitely is a good suggestion. Lots of my friends want to go up in the Sears Tower (no, it's not the Willis Tower, and it never will be... I still watch my baseball games at Comiskey Park), but this is a far better experience.

NOTHING. It simply takes too long to get to the city from ORD. You'd be better off going to the skyclub.

Then I guarantee you've only tried car transportation and not the Blue Line. It's a 40 minute ride.

I've tried both cabs and the train (in total over 100 times), and actually prefer the train during the day. The problem is that it's a bit of a walk to the train at ORD, and then it may be 10-15 minutes before the train shows up, and vice versa going back. Cabs can easily run into traffic. So a visitor should allow at least 3 hours for walking and sitting on the train (or cab) round trip to downtown. Again, Chicago is a great place, but a 5 hour excursion from ORD to Downtown is asking for trouble.

Frankly I like that kind of weather when on an observation deck. I'd make extra sure to fit in the Hancock if it's raining and overcast.

Yes, it was raining little bit but, it wasn't too bad at all. I was there in Chicago last month. It's so much easy for me to get there. I didn't want to take on taxicab. It will costs $50. It's too expensive. I didn't want to spent the money.

You can take on Blue Line from O'Hare Airport to downtown Chicago to get off at Clark/Lake Station. Just go there. You don't have to take on taxicab anymore. It's very easy access to go on the streets.

I believe the OP will be well-served by my moving this Thread to the FT Chicago Forum.
Obscure2k
Delta Moderator

Having been in the club a number of times the past couple years, I have only seen it what I would call packed once and that was a day that there were IROPs galore. It is very often a peaceful club (by SC standards nowadays) and not a bad place to get away from the masses at ORD. Maybe more a function of the airport and how tired and old and crammed the ORD airport is but the ORD SC is one of my favorite in the DL system purely because it actually does feel like a "getaway" compared to any other one in the US.

Personally on the layover if I were the OP, I would probably find a Chicago style jumbo hot dog or maybe some deep dish pizza somewhere in the airport or take the L a few stops if you really want to get away. Then spend some time in the Skyclub which normally isn't too busy in the evenings before the later flights from my experience. Have a drink, surf the web, enjoy some FT and have a snack.

Had it been MDW, you could have easily made a 5 hr layover possible for a lot of time in the city as MDW is about 25 mins from downtown by way of the CTA L train. Plus no SC at MDW making it an easier decision.

I use the Blue Line from the O'Hare area frequently. I don't go from ORD, but use the park & ride at the River Rd stop (2 away from ORD). I agree with the other advice here, if everything runs on time, you can get an hour or two in downtown ... tops.

I don't know what the OP would want to see or do. A lot of the good stuff in Chicago isn't really near the Blue Line. So 5 hours is a little too short.

If the OP wants to get out of the airport for a while and wants something classically Chicago to eat, I would go for either a hot dog or pizza.

There is a really great burger and hot dog place in Des Plaines, Paradise Pup. It is only open to 5:00 PM. Just a little place with limited indoor seating.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/paradise-pup-des-plaines

For pizza, I would go to Lou Malnati's in Elk Grove Village.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lou-malnatis...-grove-village

Either place is a 15 - 20 minute cab ride from ORD. There are good suburban cab companies that will get you around the area for a competitive fixed price.

Blue Line is fine I suppose. In that neighborhood my absolute favorites are:

• Big Star - fantastic cantina. Excellent tacos - get the pork belly one definitely. Great beer/tequila selection, fun atmosphere. There's usually a wait for a table. Try to find an open spot at the bar.
• Hot Chocolate - fantastic restaurant. The entrees are great, new American, etc. But the desserts are the stars of the show. They have several kinds of hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows. All the other desserts are great too.