Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My suggestion is to take your Strawberry Shortake and boost it by slathering butter on the cake slices and grilling them in a pan first. If you've got heartier fruit (stone fruit, pineapple, apples), make a compote with them and grill the cake on an actual grill. I don't recommend the grill for the strawberries though, as the smoke flavor overpowers the berries.

Jiffy's muffin mixes make pretty good pancakes, esp. if you're camping (they travel great). Sure the "fruit" are those artificially flavored wax nubs, but when you're pressed for time and availability of ingredients, they'll do just fine.
And for you pie bakers, try baking your next one in a spring-form pan. I had to use one at Thanksgiving out of necessity (I got rid of some stuff before a big move, and my pie pans were included), and my pecan pie was a deep-dish wonder. You may need to use toothpicks around the inside of the edge to keep the crust from collapsing in a bit, and definitely use a drip-guard of some sort underneath. But it has a great rustic look since you can't really do the traditional crimped edge. Plus it's easier to serve since you open the spring and pop out the pie.

oknam-
Don't feel that you missed it. Honestly that stretch of Chicago is not the first place you'd ever find yourself when visiting Chicago, unless you knew someone who lives in or frequents that part of the city. It's mostly a "neighborhood" area. This doesn't mean you shouldn't seek it out, because you should. The Chicago stop on the Blue Line is only a few blocks east of the shop, or there is a very reliable Chicago Street bus that can take you there (both from downtown).