Apparently, it's falafel day here at Chicagoist! We love the sandwiches (and everything else) at Taza Cafe. more ›

Rittergut Wine Bar and Social Club may have a mouthful of a name, but it's a great place to stop in for a quiet lunch. more ›

Don't be fooled by the name - Toni Patisserie is a good source for all your favorite French cafe standards, sweet and savory. more ›

If you aren't, here are some great places to start. And don't worry - it's not all quinoa, tofu and kale. more ›

Some things were simply meant to go together. Take for instance, peaches and cream, gin and tonic, or even Starsky and Hutch. To quote the old Reese's commercial, they are "two great tastes that taste great together". But what about curry and pizza? It may not sound like a match made in heaven, but then again we neither eat with our ears nor our eyes. If this combination strikes you as even the least bit intriguing, then head on down to Curried in the Loop and get a little taste of something divine. more ›

Vegetarian fast food. It may not be an oxymoron, but it is also not a phrase that usually elicits excitement - especially among vegetarians. For us, "grab and go" usually means a handfull of celery or carrot sticks. For those with a little more time, you might be able to get a salad made to order. Then again, it is probably going to be the same salad you ordered last time. Truth be told, though, things are better than they have been in the past. Thanks to greater acceptance of the meat-free diet, most places now have some kind of vegetarian offering on the menu. Then there's Hannah's Bretzel. These little shops have eight! more ›

Ever pushing the boundaries creatively through both their ever-expanding catalog of experimental pop and their new and innovative marketing strategies, the British rock phenomenon that is Radiohead has set to release a newspaper of all things. This coming Tuesday, March 29, they will not only present the public with their newest LP The King of Limbs to be purchased in record stores on vinyl, compact disc and also via digital download, but will also release this newest innovative art and/or marketing ploy, a newspaper entitled The Universal Sigh. more ›

Police are investigating a hit-and-run that happened last night at the intersection of State and Monroe that left two women critically injured at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. more ›

We know what you're thinking - "Chicagoist, is this really the BEST deal of February? How can you tell? It's only the first day of the month!" Let's just say that it would take some serious effort for any other restaurant to top this. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Petterinos is offering a $10, three course meal all day on February 7th. Even better, the meal isn't completely pre-set. You get choices and a great deal. Beat that. more ›

Though Chicagoans are a hearty bunch in the winter, it is odd to find them lined up outside on a snowy weekday waiting for lunch. Imagine our surprise to find just such a queue of hungry patrons on Wells Street in the Loop yesterday. It seems that two storms were unleashed on the downtown yesterday. One was a product of Father Winter and the other was caused by the grand opening of Jersey Mike's Subs. Judging by the throng of eager eaters, it was a grand opening indeed. more ›

We have all heard of the proverbial "one-track mind". It happens to us all when we get obsessively focused on a single idea. But how many of us have eaten in a truly one-track restaurant? The type of eatery that serves one thing and one thing only. The guys at Pierogi Heaven have just such an obsession - a tasty, single obsession. Their one-track lunchspot serves up pierogies and only pierogies. more ›

Just because it's winter doesn't mean we can't enjoy outdoor movies, right? We may have snow on the ground and temperatures in the teens, but this is Chicago. If anyone can layer up and watch an film outdoors in December, it's us. Just maybe not the whole movie. more ›

• Ald. Bernie Stone (50th) is in no hurry to retire and announced he'll seek reelection next year.
• A bomb threat created a bit of havoc in the Loop this morning but no explosive devices were found.
• Citing a long list of issues, the Art Institute of Chicago has filed a lawsuit against Ove Arup & Partners International for what they claim is shoddy work on the Modern Wing.

Russell Marcordes, 46, of south suburban Oak Forest, was caught on camera early Friday morning with a ladder and wire cutters, after stealing two Chicago Blackhawks banners from the lamp posts outside of City Hall, police said. Marcordes has been charged with misdemeanor theft, according to the release from police News Affairs via the Chicago Sun-Times. more ›

The Old Navy shooting on Friday morning in the Loop that resulted in the death of a Beverly couple has been ruled a suicide-murder due to autopsy reports. The Cook County medical examiner's office said that Tranesha Palms, 22, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and Eugene Robertson, 27, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The couple also had a child together, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. more ›

A shooting happened just half an hour ago at the Loop Old Navy location on N. State and the Sun-Times is reporting one person dead. Twitter user justinmassa took this photo of the chaos outside the store following the shooting. He also told us, "lots of cops, some in riot gear. unclear if whatever happened has ended..." more ›

Chicago Police are looking for a man who posed as a City Inspector and robbed a Subway restaurant in the Loop before fleeing the store...and leaving the money behind. The incident happened over the weekend at the Subway in the 100 block of North Wells Street. According to CBS 2: more ›

A construction accident at Jackson and Wacker - right next to the Willis Tower - killed one utility worker and injured another this afternoon. The accident occurred around 1:45 p.m. after a report of an explosion. Peoples Energy said there was no explosion but two workers were working on a gas main. Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis said, "They were pumping air through the system when something went wrong. It blew the pipe apart and it hit them." Streets around the area were closed to traffic and several CTA buses were rerouted. more ›

Since its closing in the winter of 2007, the historic South Loop location of Carson Pirie Scott has stayed relatively empty. But a big-box store chain may have its eyes on the space as a future home, according to the Sun-Times. more ›

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, who represents the north end of Chicago's downtown, is opposing efforts by the city's commercial property owners to establish a TIF district in the East Loop, bounded by Wacker, Randolph, Columbus and Wabash. "Owner reinvestment and market forces should ultimately decide ‘winners’ and ‘losers,’ not TIF subsidies,” Reilly said in a press release. “The East Loop TIF proposal appears to provide a competitive advantage to those properties within the proposed TIF boundary. The intent of TIF was never to place surrounding properties at a leasing disadvantage. This proposal would very likely have exactly that effect.” Reilly seems to understand that TIFs were intended to combat blighted neighborhoods, not subsidize established business. more ›

Those of us who've been jonesing for a conveniently located high-end movie theater complete with tableside liquor service and extra-wide, plush seating have been dissed once again. The Trib is reporting that Muvico Entertainment, which was to have opened such an establishment as part of Block 37, actually withdrew from the project back in June. Block 37 in trouble? News to us! Oh well--back to the Brew & View we go. more ›

On Saturday, a team of Eyewitness News Chicagoist scribes were walking the streets of downtown Chicago (which we enjoy), scribbling metaphors about the gritty city into our Pulitzer Prize-winning notebooks and getting all hopped up on coffee drinks, when we encountered this young man and his sign standing on the Boule Mich, just outside the Art Institute. "Will play Nietzsche trivia for a dollar," it says. "If you win I will give you 50 push-ups." He told us his name is Michael, and that he comes here by way of San Francisco. He'll be sticking around town for a while, so brush up on your Zarathustra and pay him a visit. Oh, and yes, that's a Nietzsche tattoo. more ›

On Saturday, Chicagoist decided to play tourist and take some photos of life in the Loop. Our favorite subject of the day was this man (pictured), who with CD player in hand and dance moves in motion turned a N. Michigan Ave. median strip into his own stage from which to entertain pedestrians and traffic. We don't know your name or your mission, Mr. Dancer, but your moxie makes you our new hero. more ›

The man shot dead by police during the incident in the Loop yesterday afternoon has been identified as 45-year-old Jacob Paul Stolarz. After yesterday's flurry of unconfirmed reports, here's what we now know: more ›

Starting Monday morning River North residents heading to the Loop have a new option for their weekday commute. The Water Taxi will be making a new stop along the River Walk at the edge of Erie Park between North Larrabee and West Erie, in addition to the stops at Michigan Avenue and Union Station. Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) plugged it as the “first ever residential-oriented stop” and told the Tribune it would “ease downtown congestion at no cost to the city.” more ›

We're having flashbacks to when Marshall Field's became Macy's or when Comiskey Park became U.S. Cellular Field. Forget about that proposed paint job. The Sears Tower, currently the tallest building in the U.S, is due to be renamed Willis Tower. London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. is about to become the tower's largest tenant, taking over 140,000 square feet of space. And that means bragging rights. “Having our name associated with Chicago’s most iconic structure underscores our commitment to this great city, and recognizes Chicago’s importance as a major financial hub and international business center,” said Joseph J. Plumeri, the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. They'll have about 500 employees working in the building when the move is complete. more ›

In an attempt to cater to more than just tourists and business types, a new web-based initiative called Loop U Chicago launched Thursday. The site links up 35 businesses - ranging from Old Navy to the Art Institute - with 16 campuses and an estimated 60,000 Loop students. It offers users access to coupons, exclusive discounts, scholarships, job and internship offerings and news and event listings. more ›

Illinois ranked ninth in the country for total number of foreclosed properties in 2008 -- at almost 100,000 -- but it’s not just homeowners who are suffering. A New York-based investment firm has only a few days left to pay off more than $48 million in loans on the building at 500 W. Monroe St., or it could be become the first Chicago skyscraper in a decade to face foreclosure, Crain’s Chicago Business reports. more ›

After years of talking, the City of Chicago might finally get cracking on the Carroll Avenue project, which would utilize the old bridge near Kinzie and the connected tunnel that runs beneath the Merchandise Mart as a means to connect train stops (presumably both Metra and CTA) in the West Loop to Michigan Ave.

The city envisions a streetcar -- or an express bus -- picking up passengers at the train stations and carrying them north along Clinton. City officials would like to create an underpass under the Metra tracks so cars and buses wouldn't have to wait for the train. more ›

An electrical fire broke out in a residential high-rise located at 54 E. Madison in the Loop earlier this morning. The fire occurred in the basement and was put out 45 minutes after it broke out. The CTA is rerouting some buses but said trains running on the adjacent elevated tracks along on Wabash were not affected. The biggest inconvenience was a mile-long traffic jam extending south on Michigan as that street was blocked to allow access for fire trucks. more ›