What kinds of cars do Chicagoans drive? more ›

CBS 2 morning news anchor Randy Salerno died yesterday in a snowmobiling accident in Wisconsin. He was 45. more ›

Bad behavior cranks up on the weekends, so here's a quick heads-up on all the horrible, terrible no-good things going on in our little world. more ›

Focus, People, Focus is a weekly photography feature that features a photograph taken by a reader of the site. If you'd like a chance to have your photo featured on Friday as part of Focus, People, Focus, upload your photo to Flickr and tag it with "Chicagoist". more ›

Saturday night found us in the company of old friends enjoying Lebanese food at Semiramis in Albany Park. Semiramis is a BYOB restaurant, which can lead to some unfortunate food-and-drink pairings if one isn't careful, or worse, if someone in the group decides to play sommelier for everyone (for the record, we know better). So everyone made their own decisions about what they wanted to drink, and we picked up a six-pack of New Belgium "Skinny Dip" across the street at the liquor store. It wouldn't have been our first choice from New Belgium during summer; that would have been Blue Paddle. And someday New Belgium should have their full complement of selections available to Chicagoans. It just wasn't to be on this day. more ›

As immigration rights activists around the nation prepare for marches marking the one year anniversary of the massive protests that took place on May 1 last year, federal agents stormed into a shopping mall yesterday in Little Village, serving a warrant to dismantle a counterfeiting operation that was allegedly producing fake work identifications. As of midnight last night there was no official confirmation of the number arrested, but witnesses have told the local media that as many as 160 people were arrested. Witnesses told CBS2 news that they had let most of the people they detained go, holding between 16 and 18 people in custody. After U.S. immigration authorities locked down the Little Village Plaza strip mall and parking lot, searching customers and businesses, anger and frustration spilled out into the corner of 26th and Albany in a protest of around 300 people. more ›

We hate to admit it, but the décor at this popular Colombian eatery tucked in Albany Park is a little bit on the tacky side. Paper mobiles hanging from the ceiling and mismatched wall art that’s a little outdated give the “no frills” description a new meaning. more ›

Your day will brighten at Tre Kronor. Well, at least ours did. more ›

The “‘Check, Please’ effect” is defined as “a surge in business for the three highlighted restaurants (featured on any given episode) after the show appears with later small surges whenever the program is rerun, which is multiple times on WTTW.” The term “surge” is a generous one. If unprepared, a smaller restaurant is mobbed and taxed beyond its capabilities. Albany Park’s Noon-O-Kabob is often presented as exhibit “A” for the effect’s existence. More recently... more ›

Our spring rush has netted a fresh new class of pledges for our interview beat: Keidra Chaney, a self-described pop-culture nut, joins us from Lincoln Square, by way of Englewood, West Pullman, and Wisconsin. When she's not interviewing people like the folks at the A+D Gallery for Chicagoist, she works at DePaul, and she freelances for magazines like Venus Zine, Bitch, Friction, and Colorlines. Karl Klockars is also a Chicagoland native, growing up in the... more ›

Dharma Garden Thai Cuisine is a restaurant full of contradictions. And we mean that in a good way. One side of this Albany Park eatery is flanked by a long bar, although the restaurant is BYOB. Dharma prides itself on using healthful ingredients and cooking processes — the menu informed us “dharma ragsar” means “natural healing” in Thai — but 10 out of the 20 apps are deep fried. To be fair, a majority of... more ›

The Hideout Block Party - including Touch and Go's silver anniversary celebration - merely headlines what is shaping up to be a busy weekend of neighborhood and city-endorsed festivals. As people throughout the city scramble to enjoy the waning moments of prime tanning and outdoor drinking weather, here are some other festivals and events around the city for you to check out: - The Windy City Wine Festival gears up for another weekend of oenophilia... more ›

The setting was a surprise party for a friend in Albany Park a couple weeks back (we get up north). The hosts were turning their backyard into an open air movie theater. It was a Friday night, they only had a couple hours in which to prepare. Needless to say, they were pretty swamped when we showed up. While talking about work gossip, one of the hosts asks, "Would you mind checking the sangria for... more ›

Chicagoist really hates it when people get paint on our clothes, and yes, it has happened more than once. But when it does, we try not to make racial slurs in front of children. We’re real humanitarians like that. more ›

Have you ever entertained out-of-towners asking where to find the best hot dog in the city? Or deep-dish pizza? Should they go to Chinatown or Albany Park for good Asian-style barbecue? What spice houses sell real saffron? Is your short-term health affected by eating at a Harold's Chiucken Shack? more ›

After 37 years on the police force, Chicago's first female detective has retired. In the early 1960s Cindy Pontoriero began working in the Chicago Police Department at age 19 as a stenographer. At that time there were only a few women in the department and none of them were employed as detectives .. until 1972 when the department promoted her to homicide detective and she became the first. Stenographer to homicide detective.. not a bad... more ›