The single, unthinkable thing that could salve our wounds from McGee's departure from The Whistler has actually happened - a brand new tiki bar in Chicago. more ›

This evening marks bartender Paul McGee's last shift behind the stick at the Whistler. more ›

New videos were released this weekend showing Pandel, chef of the soon-to-open Balena, making homemade Tajarin and Chitarra. Watch and drool. more ›

Today in restaurant news: Alpana Singh is opening a new wine bar and one of the owners of Fox and Obel denies bouncing paychecks. more ›

And what a year it's been. A raft of exciting openings (and not just the Aviary), a sad closing or two and a ton of great drinks. more ›

Today in restaurant news: Yusho opens in Logan Square, BLT American Brasserie opens in River North and Tribute restaurant closes. more ›

Tony Mantuano's new casual Italian restaurant opens today and is sure to be a hit. more ›

Today in restaurant news: Patrick and Mike Sheerin finally start finalizing the details for The Trencherman, upscale Chinese in River North and a possible retail addition to Ruxbin Kitchen. more ›

- Some restaurant news that we're genuinely excited about - Vera, the recently-renamed restaurant from Mark and Elizabeth Mendez, opens Wednesday. Last seen at Carnivale, the Mendezes have had a restaurant in the works for quite a while. The teasing is finally over, though they did have a last-minute name change when a lawsuit threatened their use of "Uva," the original moniker. They have created a wine-focused Spanish small plates restaurant and wine bar that looks ready to take the West Loop by storm. After so many locally-focused openings in the last few years, they took a different direction - "worldly" wines, sherry and imported Spanish products. Don't worry, there are some good Midwestern cheese on their list. Grub Street Chicago has a pre-opening video, if you want some visuals. We'll be first in line. 1023 W. Lake St. more ›

Our constant complaint about food trucks: They never come to us! Of course, we live and work in strange, far-flung neighborhoods, so this isn't really a complaint that they should feel obliged to do anything about. However! The Southern Mac and Cheese truck is going to make it a little easier to predictably get that gooey goodness - they're opening up a storefront. Yes. It's mindblowing - from restaurant to truck based on a restaurant to restaurant based on a truck based on a restaurant. Whew. more ›

7931 Lincoln Avenue, Skokie. more ›

- The drama at the Black Sheep might be at an end, but we're not placing bets. First, Chef James Toland (or someone claiming to be him) bitchslaps Julia Kramer over a bad review, then attempts to get some fake endorsements from Chicago food personalities (including yours truly). Last week, the whole kitchen staff walked out over a dispute. But, we've gotta give him credit - he's not quitting! Eater reports that The Black Sheep is back open with a new staff. Anyone want to take bets on how things are gonna go? On the one hand, publicity and notoriety - on the other hand, fear and reputation. Only time will tell. more ›

The Scout may be exactly what the South Loop needs - a comfortable, upscale bar. While we're not huge fans of the scads of big-screen TVs, sports watchers will love it. And we are definitely partial to the beautifully-renovated space, the reclaimed wood bars, the wonderful natural light and the huge beer list. The Scout took over the space that formerly housed Opera, the Jerry Kleiner-designed temple to over-the-top red velvet and mosaic tiles. The new owner, Chris Bravos, has done such extensive re-building that even Opera fans will hardly notice that it's the same space. more ›

To ensure its liquid offerings were up to snuff with Chicago's cocktail-savvy diner, Roka Akor Sushi & Steak brought on bartender Dante LoPresti, formerly of Mercadito's basement cocktail lounge, Double A, to assist with the Japanese-leaning bar program. When it opens to the public on Monday, the expansive 200-plus-seat River North space will become the second Roka Akor location from Arizona-based JNK Concepts. (Bombay Spice, also opening Monday next door, is another of the restaurant group's concepts with a location in Arizona.) We met up yesterday with LoPresti at Roka Akor's bar to hear about what he and his team have in the works. more ›

- Next's new menu, an interpretation of Thai cuisine, starts this weekend. Tickets went on sale yesterday at 4:45, and, according to Next's Facebook page, "every table was in held mode within 2 seconds...." So, if you didn't happen to get one, what can you do? The tickets released were only for this weekend, so you have plenty of time to eat their Thai food. Our suggestions? Follow them on Facebook, and be flexible - if Paris 1906 is any indication, after a couple of weeks there were plenty of night-of tables. Also, they have a new logo and the new menu is up on their website. 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 ›

Pending approval from the Illinois Gaming Board, Des Plaines' long-planned casino complex is set to open July 18. more ›

-Time Out announced yesterday that North Shore Distillery, a Chicagoist favorite, will be announcing a new addition to their line-up. Sol Chamomile Citrus Vodka will hit shelves on June 1. "We wanted it to be a fun, not so serious, really delicious spirit that is accessible to a broad range of people," says co-owner Sonja Kassebaum. This isn't one of their super-secret limited edition spirits, so it will be available permanently. more ›

After a three year standoff with 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis, businesses and residents, a judge ruled that Express Grill owner Alex Lazarevski has a right to open an Express Grill hot dog stand at the northwest corner of 18th and Halsted in Pilsen. more ›

Calling all locavores, market shoppers, friends of farmers and lovers of fine food! Green City Market, the city's premier organic farmer's market, opens for the season on Wednesday. We've enjoyed Green City's fall and winter offerings at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, but there's nothing like getting into the park again. We'll be attending the opening day and taking pictures, so if you can't get down there, you can be worked up for the Saturday market. From here on out, Green City is every Wednesday and Saturday from 7 AM to 1PM. Green City isn't the only market that's about to start up - a schedule of May openings is after the jump. more ›

We reported a few weeks back that Gioco, the South Loop Italian spot owned by KDK restaurant group, had mysteriously closed. Red Light, another KDK restaurant, had closed for good the same week, but Jerry Kleiner insisted that Gioco would re-open. He was telling the truth. The restaurant will re-open tomorrow at 5 P.M. with a new menu which includes home-made gnocchi with wild mushrooms and an antipasto assortment of cured meats and cheeses. Kleiner restaurants have been having some difficulties in recent years, so we'll see if the redesign of Gioco sticks. Here's hoping things work out this time, though with the upcoming opening of Tribute, Gioco may have some competition on their hands. more ›

Looks like the Aviary is finally ready for its closeup. Grant Achatz made the announcement via twitter that the cocktail lounge will open at 6 p.m. tomorrow. Line up now, people; the Aviary does not take reservations. more ›

Next isn't Alinea. That might seem an obvious statement, but it's the most important premise to keep in mind when dining at Grant Achatz's new project. If you go in expecting modernist gastronomical fireworks, you may be disappointed. And that would be a shame, because the cuisine at Next has its own pleasures in store. more ›

We toured the about-to-open GT Fish & Oyster last Friday, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures, since the restaurant was still finishing up construction. The Feast got in once things were a bit more in order, and Chef Tentori showed them around the about-to-open restaurant. We are excited to see the rotating series of chalk paintings on the back wall, and to add this to our growing list of "restaurants with ampersands." If you are breathless with anticipation, and you want to eat oysters at the GT-branded boomerang table, this video should keep you sated for a few days. Hints of the decor and menu have been trickling out for weeks, and it seems likely that this spot will be packed to the gills (ha ha) once it opens. Feast also has the entire menu. more ›

While former Sushi Wabi executive chef Worachai "Chao" Thapthimkuna and his business partner Mike Schatzman are putting the final touches on Chicago's first kushiyaki, Union Sushi + BBQ Bar in River North, for its planned May opening, they are letting out little teases of what they have planned on youtube, their website (Mike and Chao Chow), and on their entertaining Twitter feed. more ›

There has been a lot of buzz about Tribute, the upcoming South Loop restaurant helmed by Chef Brandon Baltzley, formerly of Alinea and Mado. His audition dishes wowed the owners, and his hiring last month created plenty of gossip for the new operation. We're more interested in the food than the gossip, and were excited to see that menu testing has begun. The restaurant uploaded this video yesterday, of Baltzley (and his spectactular assortment of tattoos) plating a "tribute" to Mississippi made with watermelon, jalepeno, rye, pearl onions and anchovies. If the food at Tribute looks like this, we'll be first in line. Warning: if you're at work, turn off the sound. It's a bit loud. more ›

Eater Chicago is reporting that Stephanie Izard (pictured here at Chicago Gourmet 2009 with Hot Chocolate's Mindy Segal and Urban Belly/Belly Shack's Bill Kim) is in the works to open an East Coast-style diner steps down from the Girl & the Goat. Izard tells Ari Bendersky: more ›

Last month, we confirmed that Homaro Cantu, the mad scientist behind Moto, was opening another restaurant. It was to be called "ING" and promised to be our favorite restaurant named after a suffix, but no other information was available. Bits and pieces have come out - due to a quirk of postage, Time Out Chicago got the invitation to the media preview first and posted some potential menu items. Cantu sent Kevin Pang at the Tribune an unmarked pill (Pang made another staffer try it) and we got an email over the weekend telling us that all Otom Groupons would be refunded - the final confirmation that Otom was out and ING was in. Now Cantu has started tweeting out videos of the new space. 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 ›

We got the news over the weekend that The Butcher & Larder was open for business! We knew during our visit that the time was coming soon, but it wasn't clear exactly when the big day would arrive. They opened on Sunday, and will be open today from 10-7. Rob Levitt wrote an evocative passage on his blog, Butcher's Grip, that will make you want to run right in and start gnawing on things: more ›