We'll still have to wait awhile for Chicago's new Trader Vic's, but in the meanwhile Tiki Terrace has now reopened for business and is ready to hula. And we mean that literally: the Hanalei Revue, every Saturday night, and the Ports of Paradise review on Fridays both feature plenty of dancing and other island-style entertainment. The Zuziak Brothers opened the original Tiki Terrace in 2005, but its Prospect Heights location meant you were plum......

If the RTA extended the Blue Line out to the Yorktown Mall in Lombard, would you go? The Sun-Times reported yesterday that possible improvements to the city's transit system could include a longer trek on the Forest Park line, new bus routes on major expressways, and a north-south train between Midway and O'hare, among other things. But did you know that the CTA used to run all the way out to Aurora? It did...kinda. It......

Since its restoration in 2005 the Portage Theater has become a popular destination for music, movies (it's the home base for the Silent Film Society of Chicago) and live theater. This time of year, Portage Theater management and the folks at the Six Corners Association use the theater to screen some classic scary movies. This year's line-up casts a wide net across silent film, the classic Universal monster movies, modern horror, and a little bit......

We've gone around and about a lot of times about a couple key subjects: How relevant losing Marshall Fields is in the grand scheme of things, Hipster/Yuppie, where does Whole Foods play into the life of a person looking to eat healthy and live on a budget? But another topic that never fails to get someone's ire up is that of biker vs. driver vs. pedestrian vs. driver vs. biker. Most people realize that there......

After being shuttered for three years amidst a series of complains of poor management and DCFS investigation, Maryville Academy's City of Youth has re-opened. When Maryville was shut down in 2003, nearly 270 wards of the state called the Des Plaines campus home. Increasingly frequent acts of violence and sexual assault, a suicide on campus and bad management led to DCFS' decision to remove their wards from Maryville, with a mandate that Maryville review and......

Where Chicagoist used to live, we were within walking distance to three (or more, depending on boundary definitions) cemeteries. Not one to be easily creeped out by the prospect, their proximity actually sweetened the pot for us. We’re no Fox Mulder, but we are of the ilk that likes the occasional cemetery walk: peace and quiet, nice funerary art, and a different angle on local history. Some of the places we know are full up......

“Had the Des Plaines and Chicago Rivers not been so close and had a mountain -- instead of a small hill -- separated them, perhaps there might not have been a Chicago.” Before launching into the story of the Chicago River, the exhibit at the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum contemplates this thought, illustrating the essential relationship between the development of Chicago into its current metropolis and the river that flows through it.......

Chicagoist: Peeking into the minds of the mad, the dangerous and the just plain stupid. On Thursday we told you about a woman finding the body of a teenage boy while walking her dog. Turns out the body belongs to 16=year-old Nathan Gregory of Chicago Heights. Gregory allegedly said some unkind words about a gang member's friend's mother. Arnaldo Cruz-Ortiz, 20, took so much indirect umbrage over the remark that he ended up shooting Gregory......

About 500 activists got together at Daley Plaza this weekend as part of a nationwide day of demonstrations by people concerned about climate change. Chicago rapper Darnell "Belo" Smith has been accused of murder, and his girlfriend, Felicia Hamilton, was found guilty last week of paying off witnesses to the killing. Michael Jordan's divorce? It's reportedly the most expensive celebrity split ever. A Sterling house where Abraham Lincoln once slept is being turned into......

For the 75th anniversary of the Lindbergh kidnapping, Time released what they believe are the top 25 crimes of the century. We must say, we got sucked in and were captivated by the crimes, some of which we were familiar with and some we were completely unawares. Two of the crimes were from the Chicago area. John Wayne Gacy, executed by lethal injection in 1994, murdered 32 boys and young men. Police found 28 of......

In an effort to be your one-stop McDonald's shop, Chicagoist has the following sad news to report: A unique, historic Crystal Lake branch of the mighty empire is shutting down. Granted, that's not as tragic as the overall fast food gentrification trend, but there's something special about this particular Mickey D's: it's housed in a piece of Chicago. Four years after the very first McDonald's opened in Des Plaines, Crystal Lake became home to the......

Chicagoist hopes you’re busy celebrating Labor Day the way most folks do: by sitting around on your fat ass and drinking some beer (BBQ called on account of rain). Admit it: you deserve a break. Even though Federal, state, city and county offices will be closed along with banks and the post office, many people are spending the day working in our fair city, so it’s only right that we take a brief look at......

A week ago, there were snakes everywhere we turned. But today, we learned that wild rattlesnakes are a disappearing species, and a recent survey found only 10 in a prairie near the Des Plaines River. The snakes have been measured, photographed and implanted with microchips, but the biologists who found them aren’t giving out their exact location. There were no adult males found in the group, although there were some young snakes. We imagine there’s......

Pace is taking over paratransit. The Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club, a popular gay bar, has a special drink on its menu from now til the end of baseball season: The Effen Ozzie GuillenTini. It's made with a bunch of fresh fruits and vodka and is served with a complimentary Sun-Times sports section. Is speeding in Chicago so bad that we need to call it an "epidemic"? College-educated 25 to 34-year-olds rank Chicago......

River Reversal?...

Do you feel intimidated walking into Reckless Records? Did you cry soft tears of recognition during the “I Just Called To Say I Love You” scene in High Fidelity? Well sob no more, friend. This month’s Illinois Entertainer features an indie record label fakebook so you’ll never confuse Polyvinyl Records with Black Vinyl Records ever again (there’s a version of it posted online as well). We know there are a few labels around town they......

What can you say about Pilsen? That it’s the largest Mexican-American community in Chicago, and one of the largest in the United States? Check. That it’s home to a decades-old, well established arts scene and some of the finest galleries in town? Check. That’s it a vibrant place to raise a family? Well, for the folks that produce mind-numbing, ubiquitous American Girl dolls, that may not be so. Marisol Luna, the newest American Girl character......

We know a blog about Chicago weather wouldn�t exactly the most riveting site of all time ("It�s cold. Still cold. Cold again today. Rain." repeat), but this month is the 17th-wettest May in Chicago history! Good god damn, my soaked compadres. Russell, Gurnee, Des Plaines, and Riverside are all experiencing flooding, which the Trib documents and a really informative little graphic. More rain is expected throughout the week, and experts say waters won�t crest in......

Last week Chicagoist commented on the abundance of May showers that were predicted. Little did we know that we were in for a week or more of torrential lightening, thunder, hail and tornado-producing storms. On TV, all of the local stations have had a weather bug in the corner for days warning us of the danger of floods. The abundance of rain has caused many Illinois rivers to overflow. There has already been some flooding......