Oscar Mayer is debuting a new thick-cut bacon, and giving away a huge amount of it today, tomorrow and Friday all over Chicago. more ›

Rockit Burger Bar unveils a photogenic new menu with a side of Cubs tickets. more ›

This weekend, GT Fish & Oyster is giving away a mess of free bivalves to everyone who walks in the door. Yes, everyone. more ›

In other news: there will be lines at all M Burger locations next Wednesday. more ›

If you get lucky, you can get your bill comped for Leap Day. more ›

A rotating schedule of free pours will be available next week, and all bottles will be discounted for Italian Wine Week. more ›

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 ›

They're giving away 1,000 free cupcakes in River North. It will be a frosting-fueled stampede! more ›

The Counter's veggie burgers have gotten rave reviews, and now they are giving them away for free on World Vegetarian Day. more ›

It's officially fall - the first caramel apples are coming out. Tomorrow looks to be chilly and grey, so brighten your spirits with a free caramel apple. Anyone who stops in at the JW Marriot in the Loop tomorrow who is a Facebook fan of the hotel gets a free, delicious treat - courtesy of pastry chef Kimberly Junior. more ›

Loop residents and workers, today is your lucky day. To celebrate the opening of the new Crumbs Bake Shop at 42 S. Clark, the location will be giving away free cupcakes. What better way to get your weekend started? more ›

Chicago's first Crumbs Bake Shop (a New York-based bakery chain) opened in January to long lines and frosting-smeared faces. The company is moving fast. Today marks the opening of their second Chicago store, at 134 N. LaSalle Street, and they're giving away free food to celebrate. more ›

Frankly, we're not particularly excited about the new Mrs. Fields store on State Street. We've never actually purchased one of their cookies (though we've had many brought in to office parties) and there are enough decent coffeeshops and bakeries in this town to keep our attention. But, free cookies are free cookies! Today, until 9 PM, the new Mrs. Fields store on State Street will be giving away free cookies and free lattes. If you work in the loop, or you're taking the red line somewhere, stop in and gobble them up. more ›

Do you love Vosges Chocolate? Do you like free stuff? Well, we just got a tip via twitter from Vosges. They were teasing the twitterverse about a free chocolate event tomorrow, and we poked them until they gave in. In what they are calling a "random act of chocolate," Vosges will be giving away free mini exotics bars tomorrow from 7:30-9 AM at Union Station. They have over 3000 bars to give away. Go get yours! more ›

Thanks to our sister site LAist for the heads-up on this one. Today is an important day in American culinary history - the 84th birthday of 7-Eleven. To celebrate, the chain will be giving away free 7.11 oz slurpees all over the country - 5 million of them. They're gonna go fast, so get yours early! more ›

Pinkberry, the trendy, California-based frozen yogurt shop, is opening its first Chicago store. To celebrate the grand opening, you get free food. From 5-9 P.M. today, stop by their new location and get a free small yogurt. Sounds like a great afternoon treat! more ›

Growing Home, a Chicago-based non-profit that provides job training through urban agriculture, is throwing a fabulous gala on Thursday - and you might be invited. The event, at the Chicago Cultural Center, will feature food by Paul Virant (of Vie and soon-to-be Perennial Virant) and desserts by Sweet Miss Givings. Bill Kurtis will be giving the keynote address, and a silent auction will be offering up a "Chef for a Day Package at Charlie Trotters," among other great prizes. Tickets are normally $125 each, but we have two to give away to a loyal reader. Enter to win after the jump. more ›

The list of places running events to support Japan relief keeps on growing and growing - a testament to the Chicago food community's committment to charity and helping others. This Saturday, you can participate in one of these events without having to drop $100 on a dinner ticket - and you can come away with some pretty awesome baked goods. truffle truffle, a friend of the site, in partnership with A Perfect Event, are hosting the only Illinois event in the National Bake Sale for Japan Series. Guests will be able to sample treats from truffle truffle and sip afternoon tea, and make whatever donations to relief efforts that they want. 100% of the proceeds will go to Peace Winds Japan. more ›

Tomorrow, starting at 4:30 PM, the Palomar Chicago will briefly morph into a sea of icing and gluttony. To celebrate their first birthday, the Palomar (home of Sable Kitchen and Bar) will be hosting the Sweet Ride cupcake truck and giving away four free flavors of cupcakes. According to the Palomar, the supply is "limited" - so be sure to get their early. Anyone who works in River North should be sure to stop by on their way home for a quick sugar rush, and stopping in for a drink at Sable wouldn't be a terrible idea either. The Sweet Ride truck will be parked in front of the hotel and waiting for your appetite. more ›

Falafill is getting good at making our snowy days a bit warmer. Just as they did during the Great Blizzard of 2011, Falafill will be offering free soup all day in honor of the weather. Just purchase any sandwich or salad bowl, and you can get a warm, steaming bowl of tasty lentil soup. The only thing better than hot soup during a snowstorm? Free hot soup during a snowstorm. more ›

It's Thursday, y'all - time to break out of those trapped-inside blizzard blues. What better way to do it than with free booze? Tonight, The Southern will be celebrating their first anniversary, and they are rewarding their customers. The reception was originally scheduled for last night, but the weather forced a change. But now, you can actually get to them! A free cocktail reception from 5-7 will start off the evening, and they will be pouring out a "low country boil" at 6:30 - we can't think of a better dish for cold weather. If you feel like spending some money on top of the free stuff, grab a glass of the apple pie bourbon and be thankful that you are safe and warm. more ›

Green Grocer, one of the best organic and local food stores in Chicago, is celebrating its third anniversary this Sunday, January 23rd. What better way to celebrate than to give their customers loads and loads of free stuff from some of the greatest food-makers in Chicago? From 10 AM - 7 PM, all sorts of vendors will be giving away free samples. Participants include Red Hen Bakery, Mint Creek Farms lamb, North Shore Distillery spirits, Pasta Puttana pasta and a long list of others. We're big fans of the Green Grocery here at Chicagiost, and we are also big fans of free treats - so get out there and start sampling! more ›

Normally, the opening of a new Einstein Bros. Bagels would probably not attract our notice. We enjoy a good bagel, but the shops are somewhat of a fixture of the landscape around Chicagoland. On the other hand, how often do you get a chance to win free food for a year? Tomorrow morning, at the Einstein Bros. Bagel shop opening at 948 W. Armitage, you could do just that. more ›

Restaurants and social media seem to lead an uneasy coexistence. Many chefs and owners don't quite know how to handle Facebook and twitter, except as outlets for press releases, and mentioning the word "Yelp" can evoke pan-throwing from some chefs. As more and more people get their news and gossip through social networking sites, a few restaurants have risen above the pack and are attempting to figure out how to use this new medium to their advantage, and to the advantage of their customers. more ›

Next week, for a limited number of lunchtime customers, there is such a thing as a free lunch. To celebrate the opening of their new location on Dearborn, Hannah's Bretzel is giving away free food throughout the day on next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Hannah's is tasty, and they are deeply committed to running a sustainable business, which is rare for a counter-service/fast food enterprise. They are the only fast casual establishment nominated for one of Mayor Daley's Greenworks awards, and have the highest Zagat rating of any sandwich shop in Chicago. more ›

Last night, when I got home from a late-night appointment, I found a package in my mailbox. Some other tenants in my building were there to watch me open it - it contained a bottle of spiritous liquor. "You're so lucky, I want your job," seemed to be the common refrain. The bottle had been sent as a free sample by a company that wanted me to try mixing it into some cocktail recipes, and at the time I didn't give it a second thought. more ›

Head to any Chicagoland Panera Bread location tomorrow (Thursday, September 10) anytime between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. for their "September Sampler Day" and try free samples of some of their menu items. They'll be serving samples of their Power Breakfast Sandwich, BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad, Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich, Chocolate Fudge Brownies, Macadamia Nut Blondies. more ›

Yes, it's true: Chicago's blue bag recycling program has been a resounding success. So much so, that we're now the greenest city in the world. And if that wasn't satisfaction enough to get the good people of the City that Works to step up to the plate and sort all those empty long necks out of their coffee grounds and chicken bones, the city is starting a pilot program that awards points to households that recycle on a regular basis. more ›

This Friday, the Museum of Science and Industry is hosting the inaugural session of a new farmer’s market. Tomorrow morning, starting at 7:30, there will be a grand opening celebration featuring the Hearty Boys, as seen on the Food Network. They will be doing cooking demonstrations, making Orange Blossom pancakes with Mascarpone and fresh berries (yum).The farmer’s market, featuring produce, flowers, baked goods and other local products, will be held in the Museum’s East Parking lot. The cooking demos will be in the garden of the Smart Home. more ›

Screwed in this economy? Thinking about dusting off the old resume and looking for something more secure? Good news, job hunters! FedEx Office will print 25 copies of your resume for free today. more ›