Taxes

At restaurants you'll pay approximately 10% for meal tax (thanks to special taxing initiatives, some parts of town are lower than others).

The hotel tax is 16.4% in the city, and slightly less in suburban areas.

In Chicago a steep 9.25% state and county sales tax is added to all purchases except groceries, which have a 2.25% tax. Sales tax is already added into the initial price of prescription drugs.