We’ve really got to try these Cinnamon Bombs from Fraîche Bakery Café, as they’re evidently litigiously delicious. more ›

An Evanston couple were victims of an art theft, two beat cops share their favorite places to eat, and other news. more ›

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, big offshore wind turbines are a tiny step closer to becoming a reality in Lake Michigan, thanks to an agreement between the Obama administration and five Great Lakes states. more ›

Having heard good things about the Other Brother Coffeehouse, we had to try the place out for ourselves. Though we were surpised by its petite size, we were bowled over by a "big" experience. more ›

Evanston's Zoba Noodle Bar needs a little more polish before it shines. more ›

If you dig movies with super corny dialog, exquisitely bad acting, sub-par special effects and sets that fall over as actors move through the scenery, then boy do we have the film festival for you. more ›

The Evanston City Council unanimously approved an ordinance decreasing penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. more ›

Today in restaurant news: Brandon Baltzley gets a permanent job, some hard-to-get tables join OpenTable and Chicago restaurants (including one not open yet) make Esquire's Best New Restaurants List. more ›

How many times have you visited a restaurant and wished you could try almost everything on the menu? Well stop dreaming, loosen your belt, and head up to Evanston. LuLu's, an Asian bistro specializing in fresh, healthy fare, offers a weekend deal that can't be beat. They call it the "ultimate tasting experience". We call it delicious madness. If you are dying for dim sum that won't chop a chunk out of your wallet, this is the place for you. more ›

90s alt-rock titans Pearl Jam, featuring one-time Evanston, IL resident Eddie Vedder, recently debuted the trailer for the Cameron Crowe-directed PJ20. So how much of Chicago will be in this bad boy? more ›

We pay a visit to Evanston's new craft distillery. more ›

On the heels of Chicago's Food Truck Tuesdays comes Evanston's first Food Truck Meetup, on Sunday, June 26th. If you don't live near a food truck route (or can't be bothered to track them on twitter) it often feels like you are totally left out of this growing trend. Especially if you live in the suburbs, food trucks aren't coming your way very often. If you're a north-sider or an Evanstonian and want a taste of the Hummingbird Kitchen, Flirty Cupcakes or 5411 Empanada trucks, this is the moment for you. more ›

Of course he managed to make a somewhat family-friendly fucksaw joke. And a lot of other really good jokes. more ›

While many cities and villages across the country are mulling over banning those pesky plastic bags that frequently become litter, the city of Evanston wants to take things one step further and ban paper bags as well. more ›

Here's a lesson in How Not To Thank Your Former Employer: a 21 year-old hospital employee in Evanston punched his boss in the face after he was told he was being laid off. The incident, as reported by the police to the Sun-Times, seemed rather intense:

"When they notified him of his pending non-employment, he became physically combative, and at that point, he punched his supervisor in the face and ribs, causing him to fall to the ground," Evanston Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther said. "Once he [the supervisor] was on the ground, he then stepped on his face before being stopped by hospital security staff."

As Evanston faces its multi-million dollar budget deficit in 2012, officials are looking into new ways to raise money for the city. Case in point: slapping advertisements along structures on the lakefront as a quick means to raise money. This week, the city council gave approval for staff to seek out proposals from third-party advertising vendors, who would be in charge of soliciting advertisements for different city assets in the downtown area and along the lakefront. Evanston residents could eventually see ads on recycling or trash cans in the downtown area, or on lifeguard stands or beach houses on the lakefront. more ›

Northbound service on the CTA's Evanston Purple line was halted briefly this morning when a small track fire broke out near the Main Street station. the fire broke out at 7:15 a.m. and was put out by Evanston firefighters by 7:40. CTA had shuttle buses running north from the Howard station in Chicago to the end of the Purple Line at Linden. more ›

Whenever Hollywood feels like phoning one in, retreading successful territory in the form of a sequel or a reboot are two of the safest routes. On the heels of the sacrilegious news that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie will happen without Buffy creator Joss Whedon, we caught wind of a sequel to "Mean Girls"--sans writer Tina Fey. more ›

We found out first hand at the Great American Beer Fest that Colorado has some good drinking. One of our favorite breweries during the fest was Great Divide Brewing Company, who had a brewpub located only a couple of blocks from where we were staying. more ›

The unusual death of a young man in Evanston by pipe bomb a few weeks ago has officially been classified as a suicide by investigators. The victim, 21-year-old Colin Dalebroux, apparently left a note on his computer that "outlined his desire to commit suicide"; he had also visited several sites for instructions for how to make a pipe bomb. A pellet gun was also found with his body a little over two weeks ago near Nichols Middle School. Dalebroux's decapitated body was discovered early the morning of September 14 by a local resident out walking his dog. Authorities have been quick to point out that though his body was found near the school, the school itself was not a target of Dalebroux's. more ›

Evanston's City Council approved an ordinance last night that will now allow residents to keep between two and six chickens on their property. The ordinance, passed by a 6-3 vote, calls for a permit before the cluckers can be kept on the premises. Other requirements, according to Patch Evanston, include: "inform their neighbors about their new pets, and keep clean coops for the fowl. The hens cannot become a nuisance and owners are not allowed to slaughter them on-site." There was concern over the stench of the chickens but city council members hope the cleanliness requirements keep those problems to a minimum. more ›

Evanston, Illinois, you are one cool cat. So say the folks over at Travel + Leisure who have ranked the town amongst the nation's "Coolest Suburbs Worth A Visit." The pub calls the town "a midwestern intellectual hub and a regional incubator for high-tech industries." And they also have a place called Unicorn Cafe, so, you know, win. [via Fox 32] more ›

• The family of the man whose decapitated body was found in Evanston yesterday believe he committed suicide.
• Mayor Daley: not a fan of Race To The Top.
• Toni Preckwinkle: not a fan of Forrest Claypool.

Authorities continue to investigate an unusual and gruesome crime scene in Evanston where a man was found decapitated near an exploded pipe bomb which apparently killed the man. Police also detonated another explosive device found nearby. A man walking his dog discovered the body early this morning near Nichols Middle School and alerted police; the school was shut down for the day. more ›

The Evanston City Council voted to legalize full-service food trucks by an 8-1 margin this morning. The vote was pretty much an academic conclusion to an overwhelmingly civil debate. As reported here on Chicagoist in July, the Evanston Health Department had not imposed any restrictions on food trucks that could cook and serve their wares in city limits. The vote for the trucks essentially dots and crosses all the required connections to let Hummingbird Kitchen roll out its business as soon as they can pass an official inspection. more ›

While Chicago waits for various aldermen to review the food truck legislation proposed by Alderman Scott Waugespack and Gaztro-Wagon's Matt Maroni and ask, "Ubi est mea?", one of our neighbors to the north could be on the verge of having fully fledged food trucks on their streets first. One of the agenda items for tonight's Evanston City Council meeting is the subject of food trucks. more ›

In a move that makes us ask the question “what year is this,” Evanston’s Human Services Committee voted in favor of an ordinance to ban “baggy pants.” The committee moved forward with an initiative to change the definition of public nudity to “the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic areas or buttocks, or female breasts with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple." According to WBBM 780, Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste proposed the ordinance in response to a trend that has existed for well more than a decade on concerns over “long-term health effects of saggy pants on wearers as they walk and try to keep their pants hitched up.” The whole thing is giving us flashbacks to last year's baggy jeans incident at Mother's. more ›

A decision over a Cape Cod wind farm could have an effect on a similar proposal on Lake Michigan. more ›

Evanston may soon follow Chicago's lead and begin adding surveillance cameras to help fight crime. The city received federal funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Technology and the Evanston City Council will consider a deal to install 15 cameras around town at tonight's meeting. The deal, worth $341,000, would be with Downers Grove-based Current Technologies. According to CBS 2, the locations under consideration are: more ›

It's only a small step towards building a wind farm on Lake Michigan and, as we noted earlier this week, no proposal of such a plan has yet to come to fruition in the United States, but last night the Evanston City Council approved the first step by a 9-0 vote. The measure clears the way for developers to submit proposals for the wind farm to the city council but there's still a long way to go. Besides settling issues like environmental impact and the aesthetic qualities, there's also an issue of jurisdiction. Per the Tribune: more ›