cool, thanks for the suggestions, everyone. much appreciated.

come to schaumburg to see the masses of us brown people who have taken over. there are some clothing botiques as well as desi restaurants and grocery.

if youre going south, off of route 38(roosevelt) is the suburban devon.

Millenium Park is not worth visiting dude

Klay Oven and (don't be scared off by the name) Gay Lord are the two established upscale desi dining areas... personally, I like Tahoora sweets on Devon...

Navy Pier is always fun - boat tours of the city, shopping etc... If you're in town from Nov. 10-13 there is a desi literature conference going on - all the major writers in modern desi lit will be here (including Salman Rashdi)...