The Lincoln Square restaurant is closing, but they are throwing one final party. Tomorrow, enjoy free food and drinks while bidding on the restaurant's furniture and fixtures. more ›

Drink Deck, our favorite bar-related iPhone app, is coming to Android phones - but only with your help. Drink Deck, which we've featured on the site in the past, is a set of 52 cards, each of which give a discount at a local Chicago bar. Right now, Drink Deck is trying to bring the App to the Android - and they're holding a competition. The App normally costs $30. If you give $25 to the effort to bring it to Android, you'll get it when it comes out - and the city (Drink Deck is in 3 locations, but who cares about the others) that raises the most money will get the app first! more ›

We have been inundated with deal-a-day apps lately, to the point where we're pretty much impossible to impress. The field is getting so crowded that the deals are often laughably bad, featuring bars and restaurants we wouldn't wander into if we were already in the neighborhood, let alone go out of our way for. DrinkOwl is a refreshing change - it promises no discounts on its own, but allows users to see all the different drink specials going on, all over the city. Using your GPS location, it will find you beer, wine and cocktail specials close to you - and best of all, you don't have to bring a coupon. more ›

A pilot program Groupon is testing in a Massachusetts supermarket chain aims to show the daily discount company's business model can work with larger businesses. more ›

Spring is undoubtedly here, and we're getting ready for baseball season to really kick into full gear. But before you rush to Wrigley Field to stuff four hot dogs in your mouth and wash it down with a stadium cup full of beer next month, we hope you've got bleacher seats. more ›

At this time of the year, we get discount fatigue. Between Groupon, LivingSocial and all the rest, and Chicago Restaurant Week deals, it's hard to get us excited. Plus, as we're sure many of you have noticed, the same restaurants tend to show up again and again on these lists of deals and discounts. That is why, when Chicago Chef Week (March 20-26) first appeared on our radar screen, with exactly the same pricing as Chicago Restaurant Week, we yawned and moved on. Until we payed closer attention to the list, and noticed some spots that rarely offer discounts or special meals. The real story of Chicago Chef Week is not that it is yet another restaurant discount, but that it is a chance for you to dine at some new spots for only a little bit of dough. more ›

There are discount cards for chef-driven restaurants and discount cards for bars - it was only a matter of time before some enterprising soul came up with a card for coffee shops. We just didn't expect it to be so awesome. Tour de Cafe combines the best parts of coffee love, support for independent business and your childhood scavenger hunts. Tour de Cafe invites you to explore Chicago's best coffee shops for the ridiculously low price of $20. more ›

Lovers of rooftop bars, take note. On February 18th, C-View, the bar at the top of the Affinia hotel, will be offering 25% off of all bottled wines. They will be celebrating "National Wine Day," but we'll just be celebrating a good deal. The bar has great views and is a great spot for a date. If you go early in the evening, you may have the bar mostly to yourself, which is perfect for a pre-dinner romantic hour or two. Or, make reservations at C-House for some of Nicole Pederson's fine food and just take the elevator downstairs. Friday the 18th is the first night of Restaurant Week, and C-House has a great looking menu. more ›

Who doesn't love free drinks? If you're a bar-goer and you don't have Drink Deck Chicago, you are spending too much money. We've written before about discount "decks" - 52 playing card-sized coupons that give you discounts at 52 different restaurants. This one is a little different. Instead of restaurants, this deck gets you discounts at bars. If you look now, you can get a free trial of the iphone app that gets you a $10 discount for nothing but a click. more ›

Looking for just the thing to make you subscribe to a car-sharing service? Groupon's "Deal of the Day," which is on and runs through midnight, is a one-year Zipcar membership and $30 of driving credit, all for $30. If we weren't loyal I-GO subscribers, we'd seriously consider this. more ›

Are you a current or recently discharged member of the military? Do you like burgers? More importantly, do you like free burgers? In two weeks,DMK Burger Bar is starting a new promotion. Any Wednesday starting October 20, come in before 6:00 PM and the serviceperson and one guest can eat totally for free. Just bring your military ID. more ›

Anyone looking for a Memorial Day treat, take note! Shaw's Crab House is offering a break-the-bank deal on Oysters from 3:00-6:00 on Monday. Have you ever had an oyster-glutton fantasy? Every time we go to an oyster bar, we have visions of making like a 19th-century oil baron and ordering dozens and dozens, and then we look at the prices and wince. On Monday in Shaw's Oyster Bar you can order away, as oysters will be only 25 cents each. That's right, a dozen oysters for $3. To give you a frame of reference, a half-dozen oysters at Shaw's usually runs around $13. We'll be there slurping for sure - come out and join us! more ›

When we visited Green City Market a few weeks ago, we stopped at the administration table. Usually we breeze on by, eager to get to the produce, but a sign caught our eye: Become a Member of the Market! We're a sucker for memberships - museums, dining clubs, wine clubs, CSAs, you name it. Maybe it's the feeling of being part of something, of having some sort of access. Maybe it's the discounts, as memberships almost always seem to be worth what you pay. more ›

I’ve been spending a lot of time reading the recent debates over Groupon and the other group-deal coupon sites. Some argue they hurt small business, some that they can save a business that is on the rocks. I don’t have a business degree, and I’m hardly un-biased - I love cheap food as much as the next customer. Despite the glitz and glamour of my foodie life (I wish!) meals still cost a lot, and it’s hard for all of us. So, I’m a regular user of many of these sites. But I tip on the entire, original bill. more ›

Now in its third year, the à la card Chicago deck, a series of coupons good for $10 off dinner at 52 area restaurants, is probably its strongest edition yet. 21 new restaurants made the cut, including Chicagoist favorites Takashi, Taxim, Nightwood, Juicy Wine Co., the Gage and Honky Tonk BBQ. more ›

The online wine community and retailer Bottlenotes is holding its first wine and food tasting at the Museum of Contemporary Art Friday from 7-10 p.m. The event, called "Around the World in 80 Sips," will feature wines from, well, all over: Old World, New World, North and South America, Israel and Lebanon. Those wines will be paired with cheeses provided from Artisanal Premium Cheese. more ›

The long-anticipated and much-discussed Chicago Gourmet festival at Millennium Park is just over a week away. It's no secret that entrance to the event itself will cost some their entire month's rent, and then some. more ›