Chicago Vacation - NEED HELP!

Image by J. Crocker, found on Wikipedia

My family and I are going to Chicago for three days and two nights of high speed tourism (we never were very good at realistic planning...) Anyway, I was hoping someone could recommend a couple good places near the loop to eat well but inexpensively. Most of us are pretty open cuisine-wise, and I really like to try new things. So if anyone has any suggestions, they would be much appreciated :)
The plan is, to see the Museum of Science & Industry, the Field Museum, The Shedd Aquarium, the Notebaert Center, Navy Pier (yay stained glass exhibit!), the Art Institute Gallery, and the quilt show at the Chicago History Museum. (I mentioned we're crazy, right?) Anything else that nine people ranging from eight years old to late fifties would enjoy? We've talked about breaking into groups so that everyone can concentrate on things they are interested in, and we've got five adults to four kids, so plenty of supervision...
The dates are July 30th through August 1st, which means my 34th birthday will be in the Windy City, which is so much better than being at work :D

Work In Progress

The new place, before:

And after painting:
Some work still to do, but I am really pleased with the colors. :) Now, put up the ceiling covering, figure out the new floor, and then I can really move in (I'm couching upstairs.) -OH- and I bought stained glass paint for the windows, so I'm excited about that, too! And won't it look great with the quilt my mom is making for me?
This is an approximation of the centerpiece of my quilt, done in photoshop. The patterns and fabrics are not to scale, because that would have taken me too long to figure out and I'm too wildly impatient to see the results, as usual.
(Also, I apologize for the views not matching in the before/after pictures. There seems to be a problem with my camera focus, and I am having trouble getting it to focus where I want it to, and sometimes at all! You'd think a semi-pro photographer could sort these things out easily... But, problem for another day, as it is already 4:02 am.)
And to all my internet friends whom I have been shamelessly neglecting, I miss you and hope to be back online consistently soon <3