Greetings again, this time from my new hotel room in Chicago! After 1200+ miles and a full day stopover in Nashville I’ve just clocked out of my first day in the new place and I’m excited to hit the dinner reservation I’ve been looking forward to all day. I’ve been to Chicago once before for a whirlwind two day business conference my sophomore year, and all I remembered about the trip was how phenomenal all the food was when I went. As a North Carolina native Chicago is pretty inaccessible for me both time and distance wise and I had figured with COVID hitting last year and me getting an internship this summer that I most likely wouldn’t find my way back to the city for a while. Once again I’ve been incredibly happy with the flexibility my online internship has offered me, and the opportunity to travel with my friends before our senior year that arose from it.
In an attempt to retain even a small amount of the cultural immersion typical of a global internship, I’ve made a list of all the best authentic Latin American restaurants in the city to try, including specialized cuisines from Chile, Argentina, and Peru. For my first meal in the city I got dinner at an Argentinian restaurant where I had some delicious empanadas as well as the asado de tira, short ribs cooked on the grill with a side of Argentinian style potatoes. After a week of coastal cuisine and beach shack takeouts it was amazing to eat something other than seafood and fries, and the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant was perfect after a long day of driving. I’ll be in Chicago for four more days before the group of us split off to make our way home and prepare for the upcoming semester, and I absolutely intend to get the most out of every meal I eat while I’m here.
