Phil's Pizza was hipped to us by our long-suffering pal Tomatoist (by the way, please keep us updated on the tomatoes), who attended IIT and was well-versed in the cheap eats of Bridgeport long before Chicagoist even had a Bridgeport Bureau. more ›

Only in its third week of business, Koda, the casual French bistro in the far South Side Beverly neighborhood, is doing amazing business. When Chicagoist decided to sample some of Koda's fare last week we were faced with a ninety-minute wait for a table, before opting to just sit at the bar. more ›

It's been a busy week for Chicagoist. So we've spent the evenings catching up on our reading. Our jaws dropped when we read that another Chicagoist is yet again undertaking the seemingly Sisyphean challenge of growing tomatoes. It's like that ant trying to move a rubber tree plant. He's got high hopes (and so do we for Tomatoist. May the weather and squirrels be fair to you this season. If you need a deterrent from the latter, we're getting our hair cut this afternoon and can lend you some clippings to keep the furry beasties at bay). In the interest of solidarity, the Bridgeport Bureau is also undertaking a summer project. more ›

Venture to the Southwest side enough and one will find that Mexican restaurants pop up like the ragweed we’ll be pulling from sidewalk cracks come spring; some of those serve food that doesn’t taste much better. And so it was that Chicagoist’s Bridgeport Bureau Chief found himself hopping on the Orange Line Monday, camera in tow, to find one that stood out. Luckily we didn’t have to go farther than Las Islas Marias at 5401... more ›

Chicagoist tries not to make New Year's resolutions because we're usually breaking them by 12:15 a.m. We do have a few New Year's traditions that we try to honor. We eat black-eyed peas with ham for good luck and prosperity in the coming year. We don our pajamas and head to Puffer's for the annual New Year's Day buffet catered by Maple Tree Inn on South Western. And we have a nice bottle of bubbly... more ›

Here in the toasty confines of Chicagoist's Bridgeport Bureau one of our holiday traditions is making glögg, the Scandinavian version of mulled wine. Glögg, like other mulled wines such as vin chaud or glühwein, makes for a nice insulator during the holidays. However, like any alcoholic beverage served warm, too much too quick will knock you on your ass. more ›

Chicagoist never passes up an opportunity to write a lame double entendre as a headline, but the coffee hasn't fully entered our system yet, so please forgive us. As a beer slinger and beer drinker we have to say that we're cautiously optimistic about this new gadget called the Turbo Tap. Chicago-based Laminar Technologies, LLC developed the Turbo Tap with an eye towards increasing beer yield and cutting down pouring time. The key, as... more ›