Earlier in the week, we brought you our favorite signs of the National Restaurant Association show. Taken out of context, they provide endless comedy gold, but they don't represent the true artistic potential of the NRA. That honor falls to the fake food. Now, we should be clear: we're not talking about "fake food" in the enviro-local-nutritional sense. While there was plenty of fried/preserved/artificial junk food being hocked at NRA, when we say "fake," we mean plastic. It makes sense that a restaurant show would need to display food, and most of it was real and ready to be sampled. But a fair amount of food at the NRA was sculpted, and some was better than others. In fact, we almost broke our teeth on a couple pieces that weren't glued down. Would you have known better? Check out the gallery. more ›

Trade shows always seem strange to an outsider - and the National Restaurant Association show, held in Chicago over the past weekend, was no exception. Most of these signs made some sense in context (though, the "vibrate your fat away" signs might not have) but for a member of the public, it looked like someone had gone mildly crazy. Our full impressions of the NRA show, including dining trends for the next year and a discussion of the new field of electronic menus and ordering systems, will be coming soon. But for now, enjoy the silly signs. more ›

The National Restaurant Association is calling all bartenders, both amateur and professional, to enter its 2011 Star of the Bar competition, which will take place during the NRA's International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event at McCormick Place May 21 to 24. To enter, you must submit a two-minute video to YouTube in which you demonstrate making an inventive, original cocktail that includes at least one product made by Bacardi, the competition sponsor. Six semi-finalists will be chosen to showcase their drinks at the IWSB event, and the grand prize winner will walk off with 5,000 bucks. more ›

The city's new hand gun restrictions - the one the City Council passed 24 hours after seeing it for the first time because Mayor Daley wanted to cram it through quick and dirty after that SCOTUS ruling - is already facing its first legal challenge less than a week after its approval. A group of people has filed the lawsuit in federal court saying the new laws infringe upon their rights. According to WLS: more ›

Just as was predicted earlier this week, the City Council not only passed Mayor Daley's new gun law, but did so by a unanimous vote of 45-0 just a day after receiving the legislation. The vote finishes off a week that started with the Supreme Court tossing of the city's gun ban. The new restrictions won't make pro-guns proponents very happy. Not that the enforcement of the previous gun ban did a whole hell of a lot of good but the new regulations are so restrictive it's as if MayDay hopes to make the desire to own gun still such a hassle that no one will bother. For starters, it's still illegal to sell guns in the city and puts some hefty financial requirements on gun ownership. According to the Tribune, other restrictions include: more ›

With a U.S. Court of Appeals recently upholding the city's handgun ban, another fight is brewing between the city and the NRA as the case is likely to head to the U.S. Supreme Court. And CBS 2 spent some time talking to gun owners here in the city who are carrying illegally. more ›

The Seventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals has upheld the current handgun in place in Chicago and Oak Park, rejecting the appeal by the National Rifle Association. You can read the decision here [PDF]. The Daily Herald has more information on the case. more ›