Chuck (aka "The Decider") grew up on the far northwest side of the city and, at the behest of a sweet-talking recruiter, joined the Navy after high school to study nuclear power. After his discharge in '94, he came back to Chicago and wasted the rest of his twenties and a good part of his thirties on good bourbon and gin; beer; jazz, soul, and insurgent country music; long bike rides; high-calorie breakfasts and women who don't stay for them. Chuck migrated through various north and west side neighborhoods until settling in Bridgeport a seeming lifetime and one larger pants size ago. He always wanted to live east of Halsted near the home of a major league baseball team. He just never expected it to be Bridgeport. He's since grown accustomed to its face.

Chuck has written articles for the Chicago Sun-Times food section, Time Out Chicago, Centerstage, and Playboy.com. His dog, Emmylou Harris, is the best looking dog owned by a Chicagoist staffer.

Samantha grew up in Pennsylvania, but fled the farm as soon as she could. The two-time 4-H Club President lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and came to Chicago to get her masters in journalism. After a stint in the wild west at a newspaper in rural Wyoming, then the Denver bureau of the AP, she returned to her beloved Chicago. She can be found drinking coffee, taking notes, watching a Steeler game or singing Dolly Parton on karaoke..

Tankboy resides in the body of Jim Kopeny and lives in Bucktown with his girlfriend, Pickle the Kitten, Sasha the Cat, and a beagle named Betty who may actually be slightly more famous than most of the musicians slogging through the local scene. He's written about music for much longer than most bands you hear on the radio have even existed. He also swears that it wasn't him who did that and has learned that "deny everything" is a basic tenet of existence.

You can, and should, direct all arts & entertainment inquiries to Jim.

Anthony’s a native Iowan, but fled the state’s limited cuisine of corn syrup and pork products at the age of 18. After moving to Chicago in 2004, he became one of the city’s most avid boosters, especially when it comes to restaurants. A grad student in history at the University of Chicago, he will enthusiastically talk about Chicago’s sordid past until long after you’ve given him a strange look and sidled away quietly. As an avid nerd-of-all-trades, Anthony is probably the only person in the metropolitan area (and possibly in the entire world) to have eaten illegal Foie Gras while playing Dungeons and Dragons. When he isn’t locked in the Regenstein Library, Anthony lives in the South Loop.

You can, and should, direct all food & drink inquiries to Anthony.

Amy moved to Chicago in 2010 after 22 years in Western Massachusetts and four years in Washington, D.C. A DCist alum, she is a freelance writer and editor who covers food, drink, visual arts, travel, and other topics for publications in Chicago and elsewhere. When not writing in coffee shops, Amy can usually be found watching baseball, drinking bourbon, reading both fiction and non, and endlessly tweaking her fantasy sports teams.

Rachelle lived in various parts of the country before moving to Chicago to get back in touch with her midwestern roots. She is now a resident of Roscoe Village. When Rachelle isn't doing something online, which isn't often, she can be found with either a book, a beer, or a burrito in her face. Possibly all at the same time. Rachelle has a personal site at rachelleb.com.

Hailing from a long line of Chicagoans who invariably up and move to Michigan, Kim reversed the order and left the Mitten to make her way in the Windy City. While her love of sand dunes, the Eastern time zone and knowledge of the game Euchre might be a bit esoteric to native Chicagoans, she nonetheless embraces the city's food, culture and strangers (literally; hugging strangers a surprising day-brightener). Her hands are usually on or in something having to do with music, food or printmaking--often all at the same time--so she welcomes and encourages your tips on the city’s art/music happenings. If there are tips to be had on tamales in particular, she is willing to bike great distances from her Uptown residence to investigate.

Sarah was lured to Pilsen by the smell of churros five years ago and has called it home since. Her favorite Chicago spots include the Empty Bottle, the seawall, and Skylark on a slow weekday evening. She can’t fix her bike or raise her left eyebrow, but she can cook the perfect scalloped cabbage. She dreams of someday escaping the 9-5 grind and dedicating her life to writing fiction and watching court TV.

Jon Graef grew up in the same North Side Chicago suburbs that were the stomping grounds for movie characters like Ferris Bueller and Kevin McCallister. Like creatures from so many lagoons, black or otherwise, he has crawled his way out of the blogosphere and into a modest writing career. His work about music, food and city government has appeared in A.V Club Chicago, Gapers Block, Center Stage Chicago and ChicagoTalks. He lives with his wife and dog somewhere in Ravenswood, and is currently enrolled in Columbia College’s graduate school journalism program.

Although Jake has called many places home, he is truly a born-and-bred St. Louisan that lives and dies with the Cardinals, loves micro-thin pizza, and will never acknowledge "pop" as acceptable drink vocabulary. And yet, despite this, he moved to Chicago in 2009 after graduating from the University of Missouri in hopes of a better, renewed life. Well, apparently Jake hadn't read or watched the news in several months and was greeted by a lengthy stint of unemployment and part-time gigs that barely kept him afloat. In the meantime, however, mother Chicagoist took him aboard to do what he (presumably) does best: write. While he thinks he's still got a ways to go in that department, Jake will never stop dedicating himself to the craft or the city. Most weekends you'll find him kicking it somewhere with a respectable DJ playing respectable electronic music. He, too, considers himself a DJ but has yet to come up with a decent enough moniker (suggestions welcome, kids). He'd pretend to be a man of many interests, but all he really cares about is music. Everything else is just a conversational device.

Alex spent most of his formative years in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, where he was educated about such things as tobacco and how to contract words in a charming, folksy manner. He initially went to the Cleveland Institute of Music but returned south to attend George Washington University, graduating with a degree in philosophy, which seemed like a good idea at the time. Alex has performed with professional orchestras in Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia, and with professional law firms in Illinois and Washington, D.C. His writing, composed using all ten fingers, has been lauded by friends and relatives alike. Alex currently rents in Wicker Park.

Lizz left Boston the day after graduation from BC to roadtrip home to Milwaukee, but stopped off 90 miles south in Chicago and hasn't left since. She's bounced from neighborhood to neighborhood, finding the best coffee, sushi, beer, and live music in each and finally settling in Ravenswood. A big fan of intimate rooms and approachable artists, Lizz is most often found failing to look cool in Chicago's coziest music venues and friendliest brew pubs.

After a brief career as a photojournalist, Michele traded the downtrodden shores of Cleveland’s Lake Erie for the glistening banks of Lake Michigan to pursue her altruistic tendencies, signing up for Americorps and working in the Henry Horner Project community. After many years of working in real estate marketing, she realized that she missed her time as a photojournalist in the home of rock n’ roll and started writing about and photographing music again. She now does creative work for an architecture firm by day and makes the rounds to live music events by night. That is, when she isn’t retreating to snuggle with her little black pug her beloved of Ukrainian Village home.

Michelle escaped from small-town-Missouri to big-city-Chicago because she wanted to live in a city where she didn't need a car and could look all metropolitan taking the subway to work. Little did she know what a nightmare the CTA would be. After residing in several northside neighborhoods, she's finally settled into a Bucktown coach house with her boyfriend and their family of step-pets. She can usually be found at a concert, on the beach or under the bar.

Rob grew up in suburban Denver (mostly), and when he moved to Chicago in 1993 to attend film school it triggered approximately six months of severe culture shock. Now he loves Chicago so much that he actually looks forward to wintertime. Yes, he's that crazy. Aside from Chicagoist, he has also written for the likes of the Chicago Reader and American Libraries. He sees lots and lots of movies, chronicling them with his 3 Things project. He's a regular contributor to CINE-FILE as well as a member of the Queer Film Society. Also, he wrote a book called 100 Spinning Plates. He lives in Lakeview with his partner Andy, loves the enchiladas norteñas at Las Piñatas, and has a passion for mixing retro cocktails (the Mai Tai being his specialty, obviously).

Steven high-tailed it out of Mississippi to these colder pastures in 2000 to study film, so writing about it for Chicagoist makes all that hard work worth it. His favorite ways to spend Sunday afternoons include maintaining a freakish undefeated streak in a never ending bags tournament with is Pilsen neighbors, sifting through toy electronics at thrift stores to one day Frankenstein together to form the next big supergroup, and noodling in real life with his bandmates in Bird Ate My Donut. Steven also makes up half-truths for LOLs in his blog about Rahm Emanuel, can eat more pintxos than you and won’t tell you where the best place for tacos in the Yucatan is, even for a lot of dollars.

A lack of naan and falafel drove Minna out of the western suburbs and to Chicago. Now living in Edgewater, where naan and falafel are abundantly within arm’s reach, Minna spends a great deal of her time roving around the city in search of the best ethnic restaurants and cheap eats. As a professional proofreader by day and amateur adventurer by night, she finds food writing at the Chicagoist to be a fitting gig. Having spent various short stints across Hungary, Morocco, and South Korea, her tastes buds are always seeking out new dishes from all ranges of mild and spicy, especially spicy. Send all your recommended spicy food favorites to Minna!

A hillbilly by birth, John heard the steely call of urban life very early on. Born and raised in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, he has lived and worked in cities around the world. From London to Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Poggetto, he was a rolling stone until he landed here in the Windy City. John has always believed the first letter of his last name stood for dichotomy and he proudly strives to keep his dual personas alive. By day, you can find him in a business suit walking the hallways of Chicago’s legal scene. By night, this self-described anarcho-vegetarian can be found showing of his tattoos and body piercings in some of the city’s best restaurants. After all, even dichotomies have to eat! Each of John’s multiple personalities loves food – preparing it, eating it, sharing it, and writing about it. He lives in the South Loop with his partner Mitch and his little, rescued chihuazer Peanut. It is really she who rules the roost. His other blogs include iBraryGuy and Vegicago.

Molly moved to Chicago from central Illinois with a journalism degree, a large list of restaurants to tackle and a plan to eat her way through the city. She’s an editor by day, but full-time food lover. A runner fueled by caffeine and visions of cheeseburgers, she thinks that people you can enjoy food with are the best people. She’ll bake you a birthday cake, but no she will not give you her family’s sacred bolognese recipe. You’re likely to find her hopping around Lincoln Park to find the newest Ben & Jerry’s flavor or chasing food trucks.

Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, Caitlin will be over here, looking through your stuff. Caitlin hails from the North Shore, and is an ardent home cook and finder of new recipes. She takes ingredients very seriously and will travel by plane, train, or automobile to find something special. She started cooking at the age of 7, at which time her specialty was the noble Rice Krispie treat. She has since learned some more advanced techniques, including how to detangle long hair caught in a handheld mixer and clean tomato sauce off the ceiling. She learned how to cook, really cook, from her grandmother and still uses her recipe books for the classics. Caitlin wears a short skirt and a loooong jacket. Her favorite food is soup. She can hold her breath for 33 seconds. She can do a one-handed cartwheel, and sure, she'll show you in a crowded room. She hates Chicago traffic and weak sauce, but loves cold weather and the sound of Lake Michigan pounding on the shore. Caitlin resides with her cookbook collection in Bucktown and practices law in Lake Forest.

You can, and should, come to a dinner party at Caitlin’s house (and direct to her all such related inquiries.)

Laura makes her home in Chicago's West Loop where dogs are the new children and get pushed around in Bugaboo strollers. After studying biology, she disappointed her Korean mother by attending law school instead of medical school and now practices law in the Loop. Like any good attorney, she is sarcastic, slightly offensive, loves practical jokes and is attached to her Blackberry. Laura obsesses over cell phones, her dog, identifying her friends' celebrity doppelgängers, and good food.  She's gone paragliding in the Alps, jumped off a bridge into a river in the Costa Rican jungle, and explored the New Jackson Hotel in Chicago.  Clearly, she'll try almost anything. She loves to take pictures in Chicago restaurant kitchens.

Chris was reared in upstate New York, where he learned a flask full of whisky can stand in for an adequate coat in a pinch, as long as you have dry socks. He moved to Chicago to pursue a masters in journalism, and can be found toe-tapping at the Green Mill or quaffing the occasional homebrew in his Andersonville apartment.

Prescott has lived in the Chicago area his entire life, meaning he's either fiercely loyal or hopelessly boring, and now he's trying to instill his same love of the city into his offspring. When not mindlessly flamebaiting on Chicagoist, he's doing his part to further clog Michigan Avenue with tourists and strollers by writing about Chicago travel at About.com.

Lured by the siren call of the Boystown bar strip, Tony said a weary goodbye to his hometown (Cincinnati) and moved to Chicago. He’s been in Chicago for over a decade, a little older, a little wiser, and happily entrenched in cozy apartment in Uptown with his boyfriend of 5 years and their two cats, Jake and Boscoe. On Tony’s Hot List: People who pay attention; Music that makes me levitate out of my chair; Hot people with obvious flaws; Good friends that finish my sentences before I can; Old ladies with their own sense of style. Guys who look great in glasses. Confidence without cockiness; Things that glow in the dark; Things that go bump in the night.  Tony contributes to Time Out Chicago, Chicago Social magazine, CS Brides, The Men’s Book, Publisher’s Weekly, and The Windy City Times.

Aaron grew up in Chicago’s south suburbs and moved to the South Side in 2003. His interest in the tapestry of politics and media began as a teen when he stumbled into a table of zines at a punk show at The Fireside Bowl. Since then, Aaron has written on politics and conspiracies for numerous publications, zines and websites including his own project, Diatribe Media. When not writing or shaking his fist at “The Man,” Aaron enjoys watching B-grade sci-fi, playing real time strategy games and sings for the band Burning Luck.

Kevin was raised in the politics of Chicago's 10th Ward. Growing up in a family of steelworkers, he learned the value of hard work and standing up for your principals early on. He is a former union and community organizer and has played small roles in the periodic skirmishes for political power that define this city. After brief stints in Ohio, West Virginia, Chiapas and Mexico City, he returned to Chicago in 2003, and he resides anonymously in a gentrifying neighborhood. He finds skepticism and cheap whiskey to be good antidotes for political disillusionment.

Originally hailing from the North Shore, Benjy Lipsman spent his college years (plus a couple more) in Atlanta before returning home to Chicago in 2001. He currently resides in Lincoln Park.  But don't let geography fool you -- he is a lifelong White Sox fan.  When not reminding Cubs fans that he has actually witnessed his team win a World Series in his lifetime, he's busy following the Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks.  In addition to Chicago's great sports, he also loves the city's vibrant restaurant scene and world-class architecture. In order to pay his bills, Benjy works as a web designer and web marketing manager.

Tim grew up in Central Illinois and came to Chicago to go to school at Columbia College to study journalism. He has played sports all his life and realizes his only future in them would have to be writing about them. He worked at Buzz Magazine as a Bulls correspondent and became Carlos Boozer’s “man” after using his words against him. Tim is also competing with Chuck for the best looking dog at Chicagoist.

Eric Hehr was born and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. After chain-smoking his way through high school, he moved into the Wrigleyville area of Chicago and studied film at Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in screenwriting and 1950's film and culture. Shortly thereafter, he dropped out of school to tour with a rock 'n roll band. When Eric isn't writing for Chicagoist, he is working on music, traveling around the country, drinking bourbon, romanticizing James Dean, and deciding which shade of black he should wear.

Soyoung has lived in the midwest for the majority of her life, spending her early glory days in Kansas and then coming to Chicago for college. After graduating from the University of Chicago, Soyoung has been spending an inordinate amount of time discovering new Internet memes, rearranging furniture, and eating pizza. She really dislikes Chicago-style deep dish "pizza" (come on, guys, it's a casserole) but loves Chicago for its amazing restaurants and the 1990s Chicago Bulls. You can find her in the Frozen Foods section at Trader Joe's.

Josh and Abraham Lincoln share more than just the same downstate hometown. Both suffered the trauma of failed honky tonk bands and were just plain tall and goofy looking. While Mr. Lincoln harnessed the energy of those experiences to rise to historic heights, Mr. Mogerman is content to save the world in his day job as a non-treehugging environmentalist, while writing snarky weekend commentary from his 120 year-old South Side home where he resides with a wife and wee-bitty son (born on February 12th, just like...guess who).

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