Remember "Cheers," with Sam hanging out behind the bar, often leaving his post to do some classic, cheesy sitcom activity with Cliff and Norm? Paddy Mac's offers its own take on Sam with Brian at the bar. Walk in this old-school Chicago corner establishment, and within three beers you'll be treated as if you've been holding the bar down forever. Paddy Mac's has the requisite flat screen HDTVs (usually tuned to sports or the Game... more ›

In one of mankind’s greatest wars — the battle of the breakfast bulge — McDonald's is stepping it up a notch. To keep competitive with Burger King and its frightening (and un-fun Xbox gaming) mascot, McDonald’s will start offering a $1 breakfast menu in limited markets. We figured this might be a yogurt parfait of only one color or a stick of trans-fat; but the new dollar menu includes a sausage biscuit with cheese but... more ›

In an effort to be your one-stop McDonald's shop, Chicagoist has the following sad news to report: A unique, historic Crystal Lake branch of the mighty empire is shutting down. Granted, that's not as tragic as the overall fast food gentrification trend, but there's something special about this particular Mickey D's: it's housed in a piece of Chicago. Four years after the very first McDonald's opened in Des Plaines, Crystal Lake became home to the... more ›

Chicagoist hates to admit it, but we’ve always been one of those irrational people who orders a Diet Coke with whatever else we order at McDonald’s. It just makes us feel slightly better about eating food that we are positive will one day kill us. Trans fats, greasy meat, fries with beef powder — we know about it all, and yet, every once in a while (when we are on an interstate or in an... more ›

For those of you who, like Chicagoist, are fans of anything that plugs into the wall (Lamps! Woo!), here are a few Chicago-related technology stories we saw this morning. McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner told attendees of a technology consumer forum at the Palmer House Hilton that the company is trying to make its restaurants more interactive. We thought walking up the counter prior to ordering, receiving and consuming food was pretty interactive already. In fact,... more ›

Chicagoist loves a good McDonald's story. Hell, we should probably set up a McDonald's Archive Section for all the stories we've published about them. Much like their fries, if we see a news morsel about Mickey D's, we must consume it. Then we lick our fingers, wipe them on our shirt, and feel guilty for indulging the rest of the day. Fine, we overdo it it because we're lucky enough to be the only -ist... more ›

Today at 11 AM, the McDonald’s at 600 N. Clark (nee The Rock and Roll McDonald’s) will serve as the launch party for Nintendo’s Mario Kart DS and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Mario himself will take time out of his busy ‘shroom-ingesting schedule to appear along with Ronald McDonald, as customers with a Nintendo DS system compete against Nintendo game programmers and others from around the world in a Mario Kart showdown. The Nintendo Wi-Fi... more ›

Wait, Chicagoist is confused...don't they already serve steak at Chipotle? What have we been eating all these years, horse meat/mostly filler? Ohhhhhh, STAKE. We get it. That's a relief, because occasionally we get a little crunchy thing in our burrito that kinda concerns us. McDonald's is actually offering an IPO for Chipotle, everyone's favorite place to eat burritos before midnight. Does it make you feel creepy to know that Mickey D's owns 90% of... more ›