Living in Chicago, this is What I’ve Learned...

Some of the salons in Chicago are kind of snotty. You can get a decent haircut for an insanely cheap price at the Hair Cuttery, as long as you don’t need anything special. And they have a nice selection of magazines while you wait. They don’t serve you coffee or sodas, but it’s a $13 haircut!!!

Ann Sather’s omelettes are amazing. I live in NYC and have had many many omelettes there, but none were as amazing as that one. I think they broiled the cheese on top of it or something! I can’t stop thinking about it.
— Laurie

Philly’s Best is the closest thing you can find to a real Philly cheesesteak here.

The Map Room and Hopleaf are the best places to find an obscure and hard to find brand of beer on a Saturday night.
— Paul Banks

You may think you’re hungry, but there can be no single food item worth the bedlam that is Trader Joe’s on a Sunday night.
— C.S.

No matter how you weatherproof your shoes/boots, in Chicago, you will always have salt stains.

Car must-haves: windshield washer fluid, snow/ice brush and a shovel (very important — you will get stuck at least once each winter, and a shovel helps you get out!).
— Sara Vinson

I’ve learned that, more often than not, you can get a ticket to a concert on the day of the show and won’t pay nearly as much as you will if you buy it second-hand in advance. If you’re one of the lucky ones to get a seat from Ticketmaster at face value, good for you. But if (insert band name here) is playing a sold-out date at (insert venue here) on Saturday night and you really want to go, just head to Craig’s List no earlier than Friday. People will inevitably have something come up at work or a friend flake out on them at the last minute and will need to dump their extras for whatever they can get for them. If you truly value having your tickets in hand and would rather pay a premium for the peace of mind, that’s fine. But if you want to save a few bucks, don’t mind a photo finish, and can live with yourself if things don’t work out, play the procrastination game. However, this rule is null and void for once-in-a-lifetime events — like a Van Halen reunion tour. Even I learned that lesson the hard way. Luckily, they’re coming back to town in April, and I bought those tickets the instant they went on sale.
— John Crist

Snow sucks unless you are a two-year-old or you don’t have to leave the house to go to work. That said, sledding at 30-something is still pretty fun!

If you live in the suburbs, it’s expected that you have a snowblower. Even if you don’t mind shoveling and enjoy the exercise, your neighbors take pity on “the poor new people without a snowblower” and come over and do it for you. Then you feel like a schmuck because you caused more work for them, even when you wanted to do it yourself.
— Amy Miller

In the Chicago dating world, single guys live in the suburbs for a reason — they are not comfortable venturing in the city even though they pretend like they are. When push comes to shove, they would rather meet in Oak Brook because they don’t want to deal with the “hassle” of the Kennedy (or, better yet, they don’t like valeting their car!). Guess what? Neither do I!

Cabs honking their horn (for no reason) and motorcycles without mufflers should be illegal.

People in California think Chicago is located on the East Coast.
— Sue M.

Joey’s Brickhouse on Belmont has a great Tuesday special worth checking out. All-you-can-drink beer plus all-you-can-eat-salad, make-your-own pizza and Rice Krispie treats for only $15 per person. Grab a copy of The Real Chicago on the way in.
— Mark Schwalenberg

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