Foodies all over town have been recapping their favorite eats of 2011. Here are the highlights - and some of our favorites, too. more ›

Protesters started to occupy Wall Street to protest corporate hegemony, so the NYPD used an antiquated law to arrest protesters, including grandmothers. The arrest total hit triple digits yesterday as police pepper-sprayed already-penned in protesters. more ›

Willow the cat went missing in Colorado five years ago... only to turn up in New York City this week! more ›

DCist featured videos of a car intentionally swerving into a cyclist, and of a thief stealing a bike in broad daylight as pedestrians walk by. more ›

Everyone loves lists, right? And with the departure of the revered Steve Dolinsky from WBEZ, someone has to fill the void. Chicagoist's food department is stepping up to the plate. But we don't care about best burgers or best fries - let's focus on more useful information. Today, we bring you Chicago's best (or strangest) restaurant bathrooms. more ›

Washington, DC's zoo goes without panda cubs, Seattle's freaking out about security cameras in state forests, an LA-based milk campaign promises to cure PMS, and more. more ›

An acrobat takes her act to the Williamsburg Bridge. Los Angeles survives Carmageddon. A speeding cyclist faces the same repercussions as a driver for running over a pedestrian. And much, much more. more ›

DC cops roughed up a man in a wheelchair, the Rapture was rescheduled for October and the Boston Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years. more ›

What else happened across the Ist-a-verse this week? SFist looked at a war of words between a Catholic parody group and Andrew Sullivan, DCist had behind the scenes photos from the zoo, New York more ›

What else happened across the Gothamist universe this week? In LA, Kobe Bryant had a "faker" moment, DC's politicians were arrested, Boston fretted about the Red Sox (still) and Seattle found comfort in animal dentistry after being denied one of the decommissioned space shuttles. more ›

From across the -ists: Dodger Stadium gets a "zero-tolerance" policy for violence, DC can't spend money on abortions, the Red Sox won a baseball game, and more. more ›

What else happened in the Gothamist universe this week? Seattle's mayor had his bike stolen. DC's Council chairman lied about buying some cars. Boston lamented the Celtics trade of Kendrick Perkins. Shanghai witnessed the fizzling out of the Jasmine Revolution. And much, much more. more ›

Normally at this point in the day we like to round up the weekend posts that had people flocking to the site, for the benefit of those of you who weren't around. Here is what you missed. more ›

From around the -ists: DCist got Thundersnow and Ice Cream man photoshops, Gothamist's year of monster snow continued, Shanghaiist peeked at Beijing's oldest bathhouse, Bostonist was amazed that a man with a machete stole $54 from a kid shoveling snow and more. more ›

What else happened in the Gothamist universe this week? Read on. more ›

So what else happened across the Gothamist Universe this week that had readers chatting? Read on. more ›

We wanted to dedicate today's "Around Town" installment to your photos that we felt stood out the most this year. "Around Town" is one of the more successful regular features for the site and it wouldn't happen without the generous sharing of your photography. Thank you for a wonderful 2010 for "Around Town" and we look forward to seeing your photography in 2011. more ›

We wonder if they are re-thinking that whole "ten nominees for best picture" thing this year. Not that there weren't some excellent fare and a few late comers here in December, but 2010 was mostly a down year for new movies. In lieu of a traditional "best of" list, here are the best pieces of the year's movies, which we propose Frankensteining together into one Best Movie of 2010. more ›

This list requires a different kind of introduction. Rather than an objective, comprehensive or universalizing "best-of" list which would take into account a statistical average of a whole series of factors, this is an entirely subjective dining list. As we've said many times in the past, dining out is fundamentally about how meals make someone feel, and therefore each person's "best meal" will be a very personal choice. It may be a particular event, or a moment in someone's life that made a meal the best one. It may be the food, the drink, or the service. Or it might be that mysterious feeling of warmth and fellowship that sometimes envelopes a person during the greater moments of their life. We asked our Chicagoist foodies to contribute their best meals of 2010, and invite you to do the same. Happy New Year! more ›

It was a vote that years from now will be looked upon as a watershed moment in Illinois' gay rights history: the passage of the civil unions bill by the state legislature in November. more ›

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Last Thursday, we were invited to dine at Everest, sampling some dishes from Joan Nathan's Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France. Yesterday, NPR released its list of the best cookbooks of 2010 and, in a show of great judgement, Nathan's book was on the list. We had a chance to meet Nathan and eat her food, and learned about the rich Jewish history of France. more ›

This morning, Steve Dolinsky posted his list of the top five french fry places in Chicagoland on Vocalo. Dolinsky expanded the list to the suburbs, but may have gone a little too far - out of five, only two are actually in the city. The two lucky Chicago fry joints are Hot Doug's (of course) and Top Notch Beefburger. The other three contestants are in Skokie, Evanston and Forest Park. more ›

The popular music blog aggregator, Hype Machine, has been a longstanding resource for us when it comes to finding new music. Sure, on a first it glance it may seem overrun with buzz bands and a dizzying amount of remixes, but go ahead and search a few of your favorite artists, and you're sure to find a blogger amongst their ranks who shares your affinities. more ›

This is the year where, in my opinion, a lot of good music was unleashed but very little great music was created. We've hit a stasis point it seems, where the music scene has become so varied and so wild that the end result is a homogeneity that makes it very difficult for anything truly astounding to surface. Sure, loads of critics laud the efforts of Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, and I found their albums this year to be pleasant enough too, but how many people are still listening to them over and over again, months after their release? I don't doubt there are some die-hard fans, but I'd be willing to wager that even most of those placing those discs on their year-end lists haven't fired them up since the summer. more ›

Compiled by SFist editor Brock Keeling more ›

Across 2009 there have been a myriad of polls, surveys and reports ranking Chicago's standing against other U.S. cities. Examined individually we find ourselves sometimes nodding in agreement, but pairing our city's 2009 accolades together yields entertaining results. more ›

Interested in sharing with your fellow Chicagoans your favorite art galleries, bars, etc.? Our pals at the Reader have opened up their polls for their annual Best Of voting, so head on over and let them know what your favorites are. more ›

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