Distance from downtown: 7 miles Via: CTA Bus #6 Best for: Architecture, food, history Go: Afternoon, evening
PLEN AIRE CAFE This brand new French atelier-inspired cafe is nestled inside a University of Chicago building next door to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. The pretty, white-washed space serves up craft coffee, savory pies, pastries, sandwiches, grain bowls, and an array of breakfast and lunch items, which you can enjoy while contemplating the lines of the Robie House from a seat on the patio.
ROBIE HOUSE The premiere example of the Prairie Style and an icon of modern architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie house was built between 1908 and 1910. The Frank Lloyd Trust offers tours Thursday–Monday.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CAMPUS Explore the gothic quadrangles and modern masterpieces on the university’s stunning Hyde Park campus, which is bisected by the mile-long Midway Plaisance, which served as the center of amusements in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition of White City Fame. Sights on campus include the Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects’ Logan Center for the Arts, the Rockefeller Chapel, Eero Saarinen’s Laird Bell Law Quadrangle, Murphy/Jahn’s South Campus Chiller Plant and domed Mansueto Library, Edward Durrell Stone’s Graduate Residence Hall, Mies van der Rohe’s School of Social Service Administration, César Pelli’s Ratner Athletics Center, Rafael Viñoly’s Center for Care and Discovery and Booth School of Business, among many others.
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRYÂ Explore the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere, housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893Â World’s Columbian Exposition. Designed by Burnham & Root architect Charles Atwood, it is the only remaining building from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Afterward, explore beautiful Jackson Park and Wooded Island, which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
A10 Round out your evening in Hyde Park at this hip new spot from Charlie Trotter-alum Matthias Merges. A10 features a warm, attractive space and a creative menu that riffs on Italian, French, and bar food and earned it raves from the city’s food critics (and a spot on Chicago Magazine’s Best New Restaurants list).
