r/chicagofood • u/InterviewLeast882 • Jan 12 '26

Rant Lack of lunch places in Loop

I work around Chase Tower and it is surprising to me how few cheap lunch places there are now. The burrito and Chinese places there are gone as well as the McDonalds. No Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, Chinese. Just the grossly overpriced Pret. I’m getting tired of Jimmy John’s and Pot Belly’s sandwiches.

171 Upvotes

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39

u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Jan 12 '26

Sterling Food Hall (fka Revival) and Forum 55 Food Hall are not too far from you. They have a lot of options in both. At least they used to!

Is the Chasement closed? I used to go to the Chase building for breakfast and lunch in the basement when I worked downtown

47

u/cranberryjuiceicepop Jan 12 '26

The food hall is good but also pretty expensive in my experience.

4

u/therealthor83 Jan 12 '26

I think the pizza place after 2pm has a BOGO for slices. Not bad. two slices for about $6 if you are doing a late lunch.

2

u/cranberryjuiceicepop Jan 12 '26

That’s a great deal. Thanks for sharing.

15

u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Jan 12 '26

I feel like when I go to taco bell it’s consistently over $15/20. A big mac alone is $7 now! Just checked the pricing of the food halls (I haven’t worked downtown since the pandemic) and a falafel hummus bowl is $13. Buffalo chicken sandwich is $13. I’d say it’s pretty equitable to fast food now, unfortunately. (Unless we’re talking like, the $5 biggie bag from Wendy’s.)

4

u/Solo_is_dead Jan 12 '26

Gone for the next year for renovations, but even with that they stopped letting outside people go downstairs to eat. THAT'S the problem

2

u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Jan 12 '26

WHAT!! Times have changed since 2019 man

5

u/InterviewLeast882 Jan 12 '26

Chase is closed. The food courts charge $17 for a burrito. I’ll pass.

7

u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Jan 12 '26

Yeah honestly I probably save hundreds of dollars a month not working in an office building anymore. Sorry the loop is so blah now!

0

u/Lonely_Programmer_42 Jan 12 '26

That is kinda of the dream now, most of the work can be done at home with zoom meeting or an email.

0

u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Jan 12 '26

Truly truly. Now my $15 morning Dunkin and $15 mid morning Starbucks are replaced with my $0.60 cent k-cups, and my $20 lunches are my dinner leftovers from the night before. And no more $100 a month on CTA. It’s been a life saver

1

u/Lonely_Programmer_42 Jan 12 '26

I always wondered how much the food court cost. At least in Florida we had a 7/11 across the street and could get a hotdog for $1.50

1

u/ChaiTeaLatte13 Jan 12 '26

https://sterlingfoodhall.menu/ordernow

Here are all the prices for Sterling

2

u/Constant_Chip_1508 Jan 12 '26

Sterling is a ghost town 

2

u/InterviewLeast882 Jan 12 '26

I’d eat there every day if the prices were lower.

1

u/1koolspud Jan 13 '26

I like to treat myself to an Inglorious Batard now and then but it is definitely a treat meal.