About ExtraChicago
Who writes ExtraChicago and why it exists — a curated, editorially independent guide to Chicago, compiled and maintained by the ExtraChicago editorial team from official sources and public data.
- ✓ExtraChicago is a curated editorial guide to Chicago — a tightly edited shortlist, not an exhaustive database of every restaurant and hotel in the city.
- ✓Guides are compiled and maintained by the ExtraChicago editorial team from official sources — Choose Chicago, the CTA, museum and landmark operators, and public data.
- ✓Some Where to Stay links go to Booking.com; we disclose that plainly rather than bury it, and it never decides which neighborhoods or properties we recommend.
A curated guide that goes the extra mile
ExtraChicago is an editorial travel guide to Chicago — the birthplace of the skyscraper, a city of neighborhoods best read by the 'L' line that serves them, and a food scene worth organizing by dish rather than by "best restaurants in every neighborhood." The "extra" in the name is a promise about effort, not enthusiasm: instead of fifty pizza places, we pick the handful worth a visitor's limited time and explain why, the way a well-connected local friend would rather than a database would.
We write for the trips people actually take: a long weekend anchored around a Cubs or Bears game, a conference trip extended into a couple of leisure days, a first-time visitor weighing whether they need two days downtown or three, an architecture traveler drawn specifically by the skyline and Frank Lloyd Wright's legacy. Where a recommendation is a matter of taste, we say so plainly; where it's a matter of fact, we check it against a real source.
Who writes it, and how it's funded
Guides are written, edited and maintained by The Extra Chicago editorial team, not a single named individual. Compiled and maintained by the ExtraChicago editorial team from official sources — Choose Chicago, the CTA, museum and landmark operators, and public data. Guides are reviewed and updated regularly. We don't accept payment for inclusion.
Some of our Where to Stay pages link out to Booking.com, and a booking made through those links can earn the site a commission. We disclose that plainly here rather than bury it in fine print, and it has no bearing on which neighborhoods, hotels or areas we choose to cover — the editorial judgment comes first, the affiliate link is just how you book once you've decided. If something here is out of date, or you know a spot we've missed, we'd genuinely like to hear it.