Can hotels have good food? Yes!

A few weeks back I went to Chicago for a conference and while I was there had a few different dining stops. 

First up - was the airport - ah yes - the ever so amazing CVG.

I was there plenty early and was really hungry. There aren't too many options in Terminal A - but since I had so much time I sat down for breakfast at The Local Pub. 

I had french toast and bacon - it was probably something like $8 - which is silly - but it's airport food - so you know it's coming. The french toast was light and fluffy and really good! The bacon was meaty and crispy. All in all - a good breakfast! I definitely couldn't finish it all - but I tried. French toast is one of those things I don't eat near enough - it's so easy - and so yummy! 

So if you're stuck at CVG early - have no fear - head to the Local and get some grub. 

Once in Chicago - we stayed at the Radisson Blu right on the Chicago River in downtown Chicago. As is usually the case - we didn't always have time to go out and eat. Luckily the Radisson Blu had a great place inside their own four walls. 

  

Filini is the Italian bar & restaurant in the hotel. I had high hopes mainly because this is Chicago - it's not a Holiday Inn outside of Topeka - there's an expectation that the food will be good. 

The first time we ate there - we tried a couple of their pizzas. On top is the Prosciutto ($14) with tomato, arugula, buffalo mozzarella and smoked prosciutto. We liked this okay - but the prosciutto wasn't really that good (lucky for me - I've had amazing prosciutto before) - it was more like a tomato sauce pizza with some toppings thrown on top after. On the bottom is the Sausage ($12) pizza with fennel, sausage, spicy tomato, mozzarella and garlic. We all liked this one and there was none left once we were done!

Here was the view out my window - Navy Pier just down the street! It was also nice to have an actual balcony that you could sit out on every night!

The other night we stopped into the bar and tried their Marinated Olives ($5) - they're warm and full of olive oil and yum. These were good as well although - whomever can come up with a graceful way to eat olives with pits among colleagues should get a million bucks!

We also had the Artichoke & Spinach Dip ($10) and I can EASILY say this was the best thing we had at Filini. It was creamy, thick, rich and delicious. We loved it! Rather than serving with chips - it was served with pita triangles which made it a little heartier and carried us over to our 9pm dinner reservation.

They also have a regular menu and separate dining area for dinner reservations. It sort of hovers above the lobby and looks pretty nifty!