devopsdays Global Organizer Summit - Guide to Chicago

Are you coming to join us for the Global Organizer Summit and it’s your first time in Chicago? We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite things to do, see, and eat in the city. We hope you enjoy your visit!

Getting Around

Chicago has two airports O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Midway International Airport (MDW). Travelers are able to get to downtown from both airports via Chicago ‘L’ (elevated) transportation system via Blue Line or Orange Line.

Public Transportation is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and is the fourth largest public transportation system in the United States. We recommend purchasing an unlimited pass to conveniently get to/from spots on the CTA buses/train.

Commuter rails that take commuters to and from the suburbs of Chicago are operated by the Metra.

Rideshare

  • Curb - Chicago Taxi hailing app that is usually priced lower than Uber/Lyft.
  • Lyft/Uber are available in Chicago

Chicago’s public bike share is called Divvy and operated by Lyft. There are 580 stations and over 5,800 bikes. There are manual and motorized-assist bikes in the Divvy bike share network. The blue bikes are standard bikes and the gray or black bikes are electric bikes.

Hotels

In a city like Chicago, there are a lot of accomodation options! Here is a list of a few hotels based on proximity to the venue.

Loop (closest to the venue)

  • Kimpton Gray Hotel
  • Silversmith Hotel Chicago Downtown
  • Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Central Loop
  • Canopy by Hilton Chicago Central Loop
  • W Chicago City Center
  • Central Loop Hotel

The following hotels are a little further away, but still within reasonable distance of the venue.

  • Aloft Chicago Downtown River North
  • Crowne Plaza West Loop

Things to Do

The weekend leading up to the Summit (Aug 3-6) Chicago will be hosting the large Lollapalooza music festival. Tickets are not cheap, but it might be fun! Note that hotels will be more expensive over this weekend due to Lollapalooza.

Museums

Chicago has great museums! A few to check out include:

Tours

There are a few fun tours you can take part in! Two things that Chicago is known for are its architecture and its pizza…and there are some tours to take advantage of both!

Improv

Chicago is known for its improv scene! There are a few places to check out some improv shows.

Baseball

There are two major league baseball teams in Chicago - the Cubs and the White Sox. The White Sox will be playing at home during the week of the Summit, but the Cubs are only at home on Aug 6.

Other fun things

Things to eat (and where to eat them)

Pizza

Deep dish - Whether or not you consider this to qualify as pizza, it’s delicious and you should eat it. The usuals - Lou Malnati’s, Giordano’s, Gino’s East are some great examples. These are all solid and have several locations around the city.

Pequod’s - The pizza here is baked with a ring of cheese around the crust that gets crispy and caramelized. It’s a Matty favorite!

Tavern style - This is what “true” Chicago folks like for their pizza. It’s thin crust and cut into squares. It’s also delicious. Try Marie’s, Pat’s, or Phil’s (note: most of these places are not that close to the venue). Honorable mention to Matty’s favorite place in the suburbs, Dan’s!

Hotdogs, Polish sausages, and Italian beef

Hotdogs - Mustard, onions, neon green relish, pickle, tomato, peppers, and celery salt… oh, and there is a hotdog in there somewhere. Just don’t ask for or add ketchup! Pro-tip: If you feel like the condiment to hotdog ratio isn’t to your liking, many places can put 2 hotdogs in the bun.

Devil Dawgs - They do a solid Chicago-style hotdog, but they also offer it with their namesake devil dawg (a spicier hot dog)

Portillo’s - a Chicago institution, locations everywhere.

Polish sausage - Chicago has historically had an amazing community of Polish immigrants and they make amazing sausages. Unlike the Chicago-style hotdog, Polish are typically served simply with mustard and grilled onions.

Italian Beef - this is a Chicago favorite! It’s roasted beef, served sliced thin with it’s juice/gravy on a torpedo roll, along with either sweet or hot peppers. Some of the places to check out for great Italian beef include: Portillo’s, Mr. Beef, Al’s Beef, and Johnnie’s Beef.

Budget? What budget?

Most of these places will require reservations weeks, or months in advance, so don’t wait!

  • Alinea - One of the original “molecular gastronomy” restaurants, the food here is inventive and mind blowing. Reservations required and available up to 3 months in advance.
  • Smyth
  • Ever
  • Topolobampo
  • El Ideas
  • Girl and the Goat