The crew at Moto have made a video of an entire tasting menu. more ›

The Chicago Theatre turns 90 years old on Wednesday. more ›

Got lunch plans for Monday? If not, try to keep those plans open. It's La Madia's fourth anniversary, and the River North thin-crust pizza palace announced that to celebrate the occasion, four of its favorite pies will be available for just $4 apiece during lunch service (11:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). more ›

Join SpeakEasy, the underground cocktail party, for their first anniversary - tickets are $25. more ›

Eighteen years ago, one of Chicago’s most authentic rock ‘n roll bars opened its doors. more ›

Love milkshakes? Yeah, so do we. On Wednesday, to celebrate their 25th anniversary, four Chicagoland Johnny Rockets locations will be selling their hand-dipped milkshakes for just $.99. The regular price is $5, so it's quite a deal. The shakes come in Vanilla, Chocolate or Strawberry, and the locations participating are below. more ›

Today: the Fountainhead breaks out the good stuff for its anniversary. more ›

Today marks the dubious anniversary of the beginning of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. By the time the well was capped nearly three months later, around 4,900,000 barrels of crude oil were released into the Gulf. Relatives of the 11 oil workers who lost their lives on the Deepwater Horizon flew over the site of the disaster today in commemoration. Vigils were held throughout the Gulf and President Obama renewed his vow to hold BP and others companies involved in the building of the oil rig responsible for "the painful losses that they caused." The words "never forget" are often bandied about to remind me of other tragedies, the most obvious example being the September 11 terrorist attacks (and we'll be reaching the tenth anniversary of that tragedy in a few short months). The Gulf oil spill is, in my opinion, a "never forget" moment. more ›

43 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, TN. Today is as good a time as any to refer you back to Art Shay's essay and gallery highlighting the civil rights icon's time in Chicago and covering his assassination with the historian Gary Wills. Of all the peeks into Art's vault, this one still resonates as our favorite; certainly it's his most powerful and poignant. more ›

One of our favorite local websites celebrates a milestone today, as Center Square Journal finally gets around to marking its first anniversary, which it passed in January. Founder/Publisher Mike Fourcher and Editor Samantha Abernethy (both former Chicagoist staffers, we're proud to say) have really taken the ball and filled a void for local journalism for the Lincoln Square, Ravenswood Manor and Northcenter neighborhoods that hasn't been seen since the halcyon days of the Leader community newspapers. Fourcher's vision has since expanded with the August launch of Roscoe View Journal, covering news in Roscoe Village and West Lakeview. more ›

It's Thursday, y'all - time to break out of those trapped-inside blizzard blues. What better way to do it than with free booze? Tonight, The Southern will be celebrating their first anniversary, and they are rewarding their customers. The reception was originally scheduled for last night, but the weather forced a change. But now, you can actually get to them! A free cocktail reception from 5-7 will start off the evening, and they will be pouring out a "low country boil" at 6:30 - we can't think of a better dish for cold weather. If you feel like spending some money on top of the free stuff, grab a glass of the apple pie bourbon and be thankful that you are safe and warm. more ›

Green Grocer, one of the best organic and local food stores in Chicago, is celebrating its third anniversary this Sunday, January 23rd. What better way to celebrate than to give their customers loads and loads of free stuff from some of the greatest food-makers in Chicago? From 10 AM - 7 PM, all sorts of vendors will be giving away free samples. Participants include Red Hen Bakery, Mint Creek Farms lamb, North Shore Distillery spirits, Pasta Puttana pasta and a long list of others. We're big fans of the Green Grocery here at Chicagiost, and we are also big fans of free treats - so get out there and start sampling! more ›

Last month, grahamwich opened to much fanfare (and the turkey confit sandwich is already on our short list of best things we've eaten in the new year). To celebrate one month in business, grahamwich will be giving away a complimentary cup of Metropolis Coffee and a Fritz Pastry croissant to the first 100 people who walk through the doors tomorrow. more ›

New Years Eve should have been a happy occasion for Michael Hilling and Jessica Woytonik, who were at the lakefront celebrating their first anniversary as a couple. The evening took a turn for the worst when Woytonik accidentally dropped her water bottle into Lake Michigan and Hilling, 19, jumped in to retrieve it and ended up drowning. more ›

The Chicago French Market kicked off its one year anniversary celebration in a Chicagoan French style; with a cream puff creation of the Arc de Triomphe on a rainbow boulevard of macarons. The Chicago French Market is sharing the celebration all weekend long with two days filled with giveaways, specials and a visit from Pere Noel himself. more ›

What does John Lennon have to do with Chicago music? Absolutely nothing. And I'm not going to go into platitudes about Lennon on the 30th anniversary of his murder. more ›

Every Monday at this time we recap the best posts of our weekend staff for the benefit of those who didn't visit the site between Friday and today. more ›

Fifty years ago today a stretch of interstate over seventeen miles long opened, connecting the Loop with O'Hare Airport by cutting through the heart of the Northwest Side. The Kennedy Expressway has since become one of the busiest highways in Illinois, and one that draws the ire of motorists on an hourly basis. more ›

Maybe it’s the little yellow note cards affixed to shelves touting staff favorites, or the jaw-dropping selection of high-quality (and cheap!) remainders, or their collection of relevant LGBT literature—we’re not entirely sure how they did it, but incredibly this week, Unabridged Bookstore is celebrating 30 years in business, in the same location. We pause to let that sink in—especially considering this independent bookstore is thriving in an age when the Kindle and other e-readers are becoming de rigueur, and as the mega-chain book stores shutter high profile locations such as the flagship Borders on Michigan Avenue, which is expected to close next year. more ›

Today marks the second anniversary of the murder of 9-year-old Mya Lyons, found stabbed to death in an Auburn-Gresham alley near her father's home on the night of July 14, 2008. And two years later, the case remains unsolved. In the days following her murder, police questioned a "person of interest," found a knife near the murder scene that may have been the murder weapon, and even questioned Mya's father, Richard Lyons, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Richard later filed a lawsuit against Metra because, according to the Chicago Defender, "failed to properly maintain the area where Mya’s body was found. The end of the poorly lit alley where she was found had overgrown weeds near the tracks and in a vacant lot." more ›

Sepia and Slow Food Chicago are pairing up to celebrate Sepia's third anniversary with a five-course meal featuring produce from local farmers and a few well-paired small production wines. Owner Emmanuel Nony and Executive Chef Andrew Zimmerman welcome you to join them at Monday, July 26th at 6:30 for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres followed by what will be a spectacular meal. more ›

In honor of its 10th brithday, the Chicago-based T-shirt company Threadless is loading up a few vans and a 25-foot trailer with staff members and T-shirts and going on a nationwide tour to say thank you to its fans. more ›

Congratulations to Rob Gardner and the folks at the Local Beet, who are celebrating their one-year anniversary removed from beta testing and are still the go-to guide for all foods and drink locally sourced. Gardner reflected on the past twelve months Monday, their 2010 CSA guide has just been released, and they were on top of it late last week with a roundup of new farmers markets popping up for the warm weather months. more ›

Mindy Segal celebrated five years of Hot Chocolate last night with a $150 per person dinner to benefit Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation event this August. This year Segal wanted to feature the chefs who helped influence her on her way to becoming one of the best pastry chefs in the country. The lineup she put together resembled a chef's Dream Team. Rick Bayless and Brian Enyart, Paul Kahan, Michael Kornick and Erick Williams, Paul Virant, Bill Kim, Nick Lessins of Great Lake and Benjamin Caulfield of Three Floyds Brewpub joined Segal and her new executive chef Aric Miech in producing a tightly orchestrated seven-course meal paired with beers from some of Segal's favorite breweries. more ›

Although it happened in February, Hot Chocolate's fourth anniversary dinner still stood as my favorite overall dining experience last year. It was a seven-course marathon that increased in intensity and flavor with every dish, paired with some heavy duty beers and a music soundtrack that ranged from early Black Sabbath to pre-"Black Album" Metallica to the Twilight Singers. The proceeds from the dinner went to Share Our Strength, the DC-based non-profit dedicated to eliminating hunger in America by 2015. Quite simply, I was exhausted at the end of the meal. more ›

A little history for you from back when I lived on the north side: before the Long Room opened at 1612 W. Irving Park Rd., the space used to be this dive bar called Blue Bird Liquors. Blue Bird Liquors was known for serving hard liquor fast, a liberal ID checking policy, hillbilly regulars, boilermakers and t-shirts that read "No fucking address. No fucking phone #." God, I miss Blue Bird Liquors. It was the kind of bar my stepdad used to take us to when he'd pull us out of school; he was a hillbilly, for those keeping score. I'd stagger out of there and had the options of getting a gyros sub at Mr. Submarine next door, crossing six lanes of Irving Park traffic to get to Diner Grill's slinger, or walking up to the drive-thru window at the Popeye's on the corner of Irving Iark and Ashland to counter all that alcohol. more ›

The wild thing about Wild Pug’s first anniversary is that it probably shouldn’t be happening at all, especially in this tepid economy, but bar owners Steve Milford and Brian Wells basically told naysayers to go pug themselves, and with a little hard work and ingenuity, the cozy Uptown gay bar is now celebrating one year in business. Milford and Wells are accustomed to doing things their own way. In 2004, they opened Crew—one of only a handful of gay sports bars in the country—despite lingering doubts from some that the gay community would not patronize a sports-themed establishment. Five years later, Crew is one of the most popular gay bars in the city. more ›

The first Billy Goat Tavern opened in 1934, or 11 years before the curse of the billy goat fell upon the Cubs. To celebrate their diamond anniversary, all Billy Goat locations except for the one at O'Hare Airport will be serving 75-cent cheeseburgers tomorrow. [via] more ›

As if Kuma's Corner couldn't get any more packed on the weekend, now the venerable burger/beer/metal/biker kitsch bar is throwing a block party to celebrate its fourth anniversary, which should just send fans of Kuma's monster burgers into DEFCON 1 mode. more ›

July 1st marks a big day for the Brookfield Zoo: their 75th anniversary. And the zoo is planning a big celebration coming up to mark the occasion. The zoo will allow free admission for children under 11 on June 29, 30 and July 1 as well as 75 cent hot dogs, 24 ounce fountain cokes, and ice cream novelties at the zoo’s restaurants on those same dates. As for the big day itself, plans for July 1 include a special ceremony featuring remarks from Stuart D. Strahl, Ph.D., president and CEO of Chicago Zoological Society, plenty of cake, a singing of "Happy Birthday," and a performance by Tributosaurus. more ›