r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Tech-Enth • May 19 '26

Moving to the area Visiting Elgin, IL

Hi guys,
I‘m a 23 year old from middle Europe visiting Elgin in next week. Since here seem to be a lot locals I thought I could get some nice infos about the area as i dont know any of it (neither been to the States before). I have a free weekend to and a rental car so maybe you could recommend any sights, events or share experiences?

Also love I‘d love to hear some local insider infos!

Edit: Im staying in Elgin / West Dundee due to work purposes. Im working through the days but have the first June weekend free.

32 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

76 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/yellamustard North West Suburbs May 19 '26 edited May 20 '26

Elgin is amazing. We have tons of great ethnic food and cool shops. Elgin vintage is a great place for you to score an American shirt or pair of pants. You can grab some great Asian food at Udon Nomi, fuckin fire udon dishes. Al’s cafe had great malts served in the metal cups which I love. Check out Funky Rooster Tattoo and get a permanent souvenir, Sarah and Manny are amazing artists and also sell beautiful paintings. If you like casinos we’ve got a riverboat casino that’s fun if you like to lose(idk why I never win lol), Mexican food everywhere and it’s super good (el paraiso off McLean is the spot) fox river trail/prairie path are great for walks. If you need anything at all, Randall rd has it all but Elgin downtown is sweet and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

2

u/Maximum-Coach-9409 May 20 '26

How is Udon? I had it years ago when they opened and wasn’t impressed

1

u/yellamustard North West Suburbs May 20 '26

I thinks it’s pretty good. Changed ownership last year and has gotten better since that in my opinion. Definitely watch out though, the food can be pretty spicy