A simple checklist can indicate whether or not a restaurant is a great spot for a dinner date. BYOB? Check. Cozy and welcoming interior? Check. Soft, romantic candle lit setting? Check. Great food for cheap prices? Check and Check. La Ciudad of Uptown is a neighborhood favorite that has it all. more ›

Restaurants, from white tablecloth concepts to McDonad's, have varied cycles of life. Pilsen's De Colores is currently capitalizing on the restaurant boom in that neighborhood in a way the restaurant that preceded it, Picante Grill, could not. Now a BYOB, simple taqueria using the family recipes of owners Sergio and Priscilla Reyes, the food at De Colores can be a hit or miss affair. more ›

"That mole was the hardest thing I've ever cooked in my life, as I didn't have a recipe available. The 27 ingredients I used were from memory," Rick Bayless told the assembled crowd between commercial breaks at Frontera Grill last night. Bayless threw what was essentially a victory party last night, screening the "Top Chef Masters" finale to a host of media, VIP and haiku masters like Benjy. If you've never witnessed Bill Kurtis firing off the fiercest finger guns this side of Joe Biden, you're missing one of life's guiltiest pleasures. more ›

Taquerias in Chicago are so prevalent that if you can't find one, you aren't trying. Even though the good ones tend to stand out like oases in a desert, some fly just underneath the radar of the recognition they deserve. more ›