Local Restaurants in Chicago with reasonably priced meals near Hotel Monaco?

We are in need of some recommendations for breakfast, lunch and dinner during our trip. We are used to the small town restaurants where the food is great and prices are pretty cheap. We enjoy pizza, seafood, a good burger, bbq, Italian food, tapas, steak, but don't want to break our budget either(about $50-70 day). One day we want to go to somewhere nice but the rest of stay we need to stay within our budget.


There are always neighborhood places that have good food for reasonable prices if you're just looking for dinner (i.e. not a top name restaurant.) All suggestions don't have to be local places but I've always found that the best places are usual local. I've already begin to check Metromix.com


I want to avoid tourist traps such as Rainforest and Hard Rock Cafe's. Also want to avoid overcrowded places, smoke fulled bars, etc. What are some places we shouldn't miss?? We are planning to stay at Hotel Monaco if that helps.Local Restaurants in Chicago with reasonably priced meals near Hotel Monaco?
If you are going to be downtown at The Monaco, it will be hard not to stay away from tourists. First, out of principle, stay away from places you can go at home:





- Pizza - Gino's East is cliche, but good. I prefer Lou Malnatti's. Those two are too bad of a walk from the Monaco.





- Burgers - Boston Blackies is said to have the best burgers, but I have had similar burgers at different places. But it may be worth checking out. It is around Monroe and the river - again, not a bad walk from the Monaco.





- Tapas - there is a Cafe Ba Ba Re Bob (sp?) that is good and busy. It is a little touristy, you may have better luck checking citysearch.





- Steak - there are many steak houses: Smith %26amp; Wollensky, Morton's, Ruth's Criss, and many more. You can go to many towns and go to one. But there are som Brazilian steakhouses, that are comparable in price and may be a little more a treat because they are not as widely known as the steak houses. Fago Do Chao (one again, I don't know the spelling) is one.





- Misc. - Someone mentioned Lou Mitchell's. It is great for breakfast. I would highly recommend that if you take any pick from the answers here, that would be the one.Local Restaurants in Chicago with reasonably priced meals near Hotel Monaco?
You might want to browse through menus an Menupages.com


The page for The Loop:





http://chicago.menupages.com/restaurants鈥?/a>





For lunch, there is alway The Billy Goat, on Lower Wacker on the north side of the Michigan Ave. Bridge.





You can also check the web site from Check, Please: http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,5/
312 is a nice Italian just a few blocks away. If you cross the river, you are in the heart of the entertainment area (River North).


The Billy Goat (beneath the Tribune building) is famous and has good burgers. Pizzeria Due is Uno's second location and little less touristy.


A lot of the Michigan Ave locals will probably break your budget.


Some other favorites in River North are Cocco Pazzo Cafe (much cheaper than Cocco Pazzo) and Frontera Grill.


If you are looking for more casual lunch locals you could try Potbelly (many locations), Gold Coast Dogs, Corner Bakery or COSI. All are good choices.


For breakfast, Lou Mitchell's is quite well known.


Metromix is a great source.





Good luck.
The best place for lunch is the Ralph Lauren Restaurant, they have the best Hamburgers. The restaurant is adjacent to the shop.


The Capitol Grill is very good also, they have extremely good steaks and service.


The rosebud which is close to the Drake Hotel is a very good Italian Restaurant, it isnt that expensive.


Smith and Wollensky is rather expensive, but below it is Smith and Wollensky Cafe, they serve the best Pea soup in the city.


The Weber grill has good pizza, burgers, steaks, and BBQ, and a pretty good price.


Everest, which is on top of the Chicago Stock Exchange has the best french food in the city.


Mortons and Ruth Chris have very good steaks and seafood.