Results tagged “drinking”

did a simple comparison between grocery stores and bars to discover a remarkable geographically [sic] phenomenon. We had expected that grocery stores would outnumber bars and for most parts of North America that is the case. But we could also clearly see the "beer belly of America" peeking out through the "t-shirt of data." Starting in Illinois, the beer belly expands up into Wisconsin and first spreads westward through Iowa/Minnesota and then engulfs Nebraska, and the Dakotas before petering out (like a pair of love handles) in Wyoming and Montana.

• Drawing Room mixologists Charles Joly and Timothy Lacey will be setting up shop at Nacional 27 (325 W. Huron) for a "Latin Happy Hour" this evening from 6-9 p.m. Joly and Lacey will be serving up complimentary cocktails made from Cabana Cachaça and Adam Seger's Hum Spirit.
• Kendall College's Monday Night Dining Series this evening will focus on Midwestern cuisine: local artisan cheeses, fall fruit cobbler and roasted pork loin with apple and cornbread dressing are part of the menu. Goose Island will also be on hand to pour some of their brews for the dinner. Dress for the dinner is business casual, RSVP here or by calling 312-752-2328 (900 N. Branch St.)
• Quencher's 29th annual European Beer Tour is now underway, running through Friday. the tour allows participants to sample, at their own pace, 6-10 beers from 12 different countries. The short tour ($35) includes 6 beers and various parting gifts. The long tour ($60) includes 10 beers and more parting gifts. (2401 N. Western)

A young man's oafish buddies convince him to take a bus to the countryside and meet them at a college chum's guest house, where "there's lots of booze and delicious barbecue." Of course when he arrives his friends are nowhere to be found; and getting back to Seoul proves to be an unexpectedly tall order. Among the problems he has to contend with are crappy cell phone reception, con artists, and the constant necessity of being polite by accepting drinks from strangers. more ›

A federal study released today says that more than half of 12–20-year-olds have had a drink. Illinois is in the middle when it comes to underage binge drinking: between 19.1 and 21 percent of underage drinkers in Illinois binge drink, which is better than Wisconsin (between 24 and 31 percent) but worse than Utah (14 to 17.2 percent). more ›

Sidewalks may be getting a little more crowded thanks to a new ordinance introduced to the city council yesterday that would allow straight-up bars to apply for sidewalk-seating permits. The current law allows only establishments who serve food—off a menu, from a working kitchen—to have sidewalk seating. more ›

Is there a better way than to validate your Monday night drinking than by combining it with donating to a literacy program? more ›

William Bowen's friends have some serious explaining to do. Bowen recently came to in a garbage truck, full of garbage, in Muncie, Indiana. more ›

Drinking wine can be an experience to savor and that experience is heightened when paired with some great cheeses. BIN 36 offers a nice atmosphere to do both these things. Chicagoist dined at the downtown location and not only enjoyed wine and cheese, but indulged in some of Executive Chef John Caputo’s cooking. more ›

Who needs a drink after this year's primaries? Don't worry, with both Mardi Gras and Super Tuesday today, there's plenty going on around town where you can get your drink on, and watch the election returns. more ›

Here are some things to do this evening to consider bringing your voter receipt. more ›

There isn't much sadder than this: Blythe Ann O'Sullivan, a 25-year-old Bloomingdale native, died on Thursday while serving in the Peace Corps. more ›

We were downstairs at our neighbors' a couple weeks back, drinking bloody marys before the Bears-Broncos game while we were making chicken stock for soup. Normally, we make a killer bloody mary. But on this occasion we were missing something. Turned out that our neighbor had the cure-all: a good beer chaser. She had been to Sam's earlier in the week and picked up some selections from Ridgeway Brewing, and the first bottle she opened... more ›

Hearts all across Chicago were broken last January when Zephyr closed its doors. We walked past its former space a few days ago and wouldn't you know, construction workers were busy building what looked to be another restaurant. Alas, it won't be Zephyr 2.0 but rather an Irish-style bar and restaurant (pictured), opening in March 2008 (to their best estimate). The workers didn't know what it was going to be called. New York Times writer... more ›

One never needs an excuse to drink a selection from Unibroue. We're on record with our claim that the Quebec brewery is the best in North America, and it's because the quality of their brews is unsurpassed and of the highest standard of all we've sampled. Even their entry brews, like La Fin du Monde, would be considered a reserve line for another brewery. Maudite is one of our favorites. We're sticklers for balance: we... more ›

Monica Eng at the Trib must be helping Chicago win its title of "most caffeinated" city; she tried 32 different coffees for a story in today's paper about which coffees taste the best. Coming out on top are cups of coffee from Metropolis, Intelligentsia, Coffee Beanery Ltd., Whole Foods, Cafe Colao, Illy, Peet's Coffee (our personal favorite), and Julius Meinl. She also recommends picking up the banana cream tart at Fox & Obel to... more ›

We've heard a lot more lately about the importance of hand washing, but we apparently still don’t rank when it comes to overall healthiness. Public-health groups placed Illinois at a mediocre 27th when compared with the rest of the nation. Factors detrimental to our health include binge drinking, violent crime and preventable hospitalizations, which makes us want to drink ourselves into a stupor and talk our friends into starting a fight club. Positive aspects were... more ›

We always appreciate when the New York Times Travel Section takes time out of its busy day to come and visit our little Midwestern city. The last time they stopped by they discovered that the West Loop is cool! This time, they send "the frugal traveler" to answer one of life's big questions: Is it possible to spend a weekend in Chicago and spend less than $500? The answer, of course, is not only that... more ›

A lesbian couple was named "cutest couple" for Waukegan High School's annual yearbook. Minor hand-wringing from a parent ensued. It's too damn early for Christmas music on the radio. Same goes for Christmas sales. You might want to think twice about eating those Jeno's or Totino's frozen pizzas. Too little too late? Macy's hopes FAO Schwartz can bring customers back to State Street. There's still some meaningful soccer to be played at Toyota Park.... more ›

Although we aren't as vocal about it as when we were new to Chicagoist, we still love living in Bridgeport and still consider not moving down here sooner one of our greatest regrets as an adult. An increasing number of artists are starting to call Bridgeport their home base, lured by plentiful space, affordable rents and a welcoming community of artists who have been living down here for years. As part of Chicago Artists Month,... more ›

You know what today is, don’t you? It’s golden beer’s 165th birthday! Yes, 165 years ago today, on Oct. 5, 1842, Joseph Groll, a young brewmaster in Plzen, Czech Republic, discovered a technique for brewing golden beer, otherwise known as the pilsner, or Pilsner Urquell, which is the brand name now. Prior to 1842, most beers had a darker, murkier consistency and a sweeter taste. Lore has it that the citizens of Pilsen were fed... more ›

The Special Operations Section of the Chicago PD has yet another scandal on its hands: An unconstitutional sweep of a bar on March 27, 2004, was caught on video, and the officers' story does not, in any way, match what's on the tape, which is now in the hands of the Tribune. News of this perversion of the social contract comes as part of the bigger take-down of the SOS cops' style of protecting and... more ›

"When I was younger, I used to try and charm women into taking me home so I could, you know, get a look at their ... bookshelves." Troy Jollimore says this about judging people based on what books they read, and as a preface to his poem consisting of the titles of books he's read or owned. Jollimore, alongside authors Emily Flake and Rebecca Barry, read their work last night at September's Bookslut reading, nestled... more ›

We cannot wait for tomorrow. Not just because it's the season premieres of The Office and Ugly Betty, but also because there's an even more important show debuting. On the internet. We write, of course, of City Council Meetings, which, starting tomorrow, will be streamed online. Clear your calendars; the meeting starts at 10 a.m. These meetings were supposed to be broadcast back in 2004, but aldermen are pretty pretty princesses. "Some aldermen complained that... more ›

"Tea is a fashion, coffee is a passion," wrote commentor Tim, the last time we wrote about the trendiness of tea. Tim, we hate to break it to you, but at this point, tea seems to have moved beyond trendy and into a full-fledged lifestyle choice. Says who? $5 million in sales this year at Argo Tea, for starters. Today's New York Times has a flattering profile of IT-cum-tea entrepreneurs Arsen Avakian and Simon Simonian,... more ›

Asking for salt and lime with a premium tequila has long been a pet peeve of ours, but since we regularly found ourselves behind a bar, we bit our tongue. Not anymore — we're demanding you shed the "training wheels." It isn't as though we're talking about mixtos here, where nearly half of what's in the bottle is cane sugar. These days every major tequila brand seems to be launching a 100-percent, pure agave line.... more ›

Fear not, wine guzzlers. The summer festival season may be over, but there are still (legal) opportunities to drink wine outside while the weather's still nice. We speak of the Winefest Chicago, happening this weekend in Northcenter. A "starter kit" for the event is $25 and includes a tasting glass and initial tasting tickets; for the lushes out there (you know who you are), you can buy additional tasting tickets if needed. Winefest isn't all... more ›

We've been spending an inordinate amount of time at Skylark lately. We think it's the combination of the background music the bartenders play and the tater tots with the three different dipping sauces. Their draft selection also ranks high on the list, but we've already had all twelve selections. So we've decided to highlight one that we've found ourselves returning to again and again. more ›

Number one place not to smoke weed/hash: work. A longtime Cook County employee was busted in the stairwell of the County Building on Wednesday for allegedly smoking hash. New allegations of brutality by Chicago police have surfaced. In his lawsuit, one man claims he was beaten during a traffic stop. In that vein, two hundred people attended a town hall meeting on the city's West Side Wednesday night to complain about police misconduct and... more ›

Dave Warwak was just another mild-mannered middle school art teacher in Anywhere, USA (actually Fox River Grove Middle School in McHenry County). Then, in January, he switched to a vegan diet, sold his boat and fishing tackle from his side job as a fishing guide, and became politicized on the issue of animal rights. Last week Warwak handed his students a book by John Robbins titled The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save... more ›

We've all been talking about the CTA, their budget crisis, and what exactly will (or will not) happen if they CTA doesn't get some help from their governmental parents in the Illinois legislature. While the CTA isn't ruled by the IL government, we think this is a little like the college kid who keeps drinking hard, wasting her money, and wondering why she keeps getting into situations that don't have great consequences — thereby necessitating... more ›