Try out the Trencherman's new drink offerings, created by WD-50 alum Tona Palomino. more ›

Tonight, Saturday and Sunday Riot Fest will be in full swing at five venues across the city, with a great line-up that's bigger and broader-stroked than previous years. more ›

As festival season comes to a close, Chicago still has one big punch it’s packing. The second annual North Coast Music Festival kicks off tomorrow for three days of a wide range of music. more ›

Today, a sample of some of the vendors at this year's Taste of Chicago will be setting up in Daley Plaza. A selection of the new vendors, including Texas de Brazil, Lao Sze Chuan, Beggars Pizza and Chicago Sweet Connection Bakery, will be on hand, according to the Sun-Times, which recommends Lao Sze Chuan's Dry Chili Chicken (we'd have to agree). Though, if it actually gets to 98 degrees, going outside to hunt down inferno-chicken might not be quite as popular. more ›

We're willing to beg, borrow, steal or commit minor acts of vandalism to get into Next, even as a paying customer after opening day. A contributor to LTH Forum, "yellow truffle," was invited to a preview dinner there, and posted an entire gallery of wonderful pictures, along with his comments. more ›

In a little more than 48 hours, the Bears will play what many are calling their biggest game ever... except for Super Bowl XLVI or that one game in New Orleans 25 years ago we still talk about. The Monsters of the Midway take the field at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon against their archrival Green Bay Packers, with the winner earning a trip to Super Bowl XLV. more ›

The Bulls are set to tip off against the Memphis Grizzlies at noon in Memphis, TN (WGN-TV, WMVP AM 1000). And they'll be doing so without Carlos Boozer in the lineup. Boozer sprained his left ankle in the waning moments of Saturday night's win over the Miami Heat, which turned into a duel between Derrick Rode and Dwyane Wade. more ›

At just 25-years-old, Blackhawks rookie goaltender Corey Crawford is on his way to create some goaltending déjà vu, slowly but surely dimming Marty Turco’s spotlight. more ›

By: Angie Wiatrowski more ›

Lake Claremont Press, the publisher of Dennis Foley's The Streets & San Man's Guide to Chicago Eats, is set to come out with another guide to the best of the city's cheap eats. David Haynes, a sargeant with the Chicago Police Department, has penned "The Beat Cop's Guide to Chicago Eats," a guidebook detailing the special spots where Haynes and his colleagues get their grub. Haynes, asked why his book was better than the previous guide, responded "We're funnier, better-looking, and have the street smarts, girth, and weaponry to meet [Foley] in any alley, taqueria, or rib joint." more ›

There have been a whole lot of changes for the Bulls since last season drew to a close. Following their second straight 41-41 season under Vinny del Negro, the placeholder coach was sent packing. That he'd performed even that well was rather remarkable, as team management tweaked the roster to maximize salary cap space over fielding a competitive team as the team geared up to court the long list of elite free agents coming on the market. But two years of trading players for expiring contract to amass a war chest of cap room wasn't enough to land one of the top free agents. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh decided to team up in Miami and the Bulls were forced to turn to Plan B. more ›

We’re not going to waste your time with a post about which band to pick over another in a schedule face-off, or even which bands we think you should see. more ›

The 2009 Chicago Cubs went 83-78 (one rainout was never made up) and finished 7.5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, missing out on the playoffs after back-to-back appearances (and back-to-back first round exits) in 2007 and 2008. Like their South Side counterparts, the result wasn't a surprise. Which is disappointing considering they did have the third highest payroll in the majors. While the Cubs had power, landing in the top third of the NL in homers, they were otherwise anemic offensively, ranking in the middle of the league for runs, runs per game, and RBIs. They barely scored more runs than they allowed (707 to 672) and that number was a dramatic decrease from the 855 runs they scored in 2008. Perhaps the most telling sign of the 2009 Cubs was that they had the third oldest offense with an average batter age of 29.9 years. And with last offseason's two big signings - Milton Bradley and Kevin Gregg - proving to be huge flops, the Cubs look to get energized in 2010 but they may be running out of time. more ›

The Chicago World Music Festival keeps rolling this week, with tons of concerts going on throughout the city through Thursday. If you didn't make it to any performances this past weekend, you're in luck. Not only are there still lots of good acts, apparently most of the venues got tired of taking money. Look at all the free concerts! more ›

All foods sustainable and local web hub the Local Beet is gearing up for its inaugural farm dinner at Genesis Growers in St. Anne, IL Sunday. The dinner's sold out; we warned you. more ›

Today marks the start of the eleventh annual Chicago World Music Festival. The week-long event will feature fifty-seven artists performing fifty-five concerts at twenty-one venues stretching from Rogers Park to Beverly. If it sounds overwhelming, well, it is. We've split the week into two parts for easier digestion, beginning with today through Monday. A preview of the Festival's final three days will go up next week. more ›

Jay Cutler -- one addition forever changed the course of the Bears' franchise and one name changed the expectations of Bears fans for the upcoming season, which begins on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. When the unique opportunity to transform the team by adding a young, Pro Bowl quarterback presented itself, GM Jerry Angelo boldly traded for cannon-armed Cutler. Denver's loss is Chicago's gain, as the Bears gave up Kyle Orton and a package of draft picks to add their best passer since Sid Luckman. more ›

Taste of Chicago starts tomorrow just a little bit smaller. Only 54 vendors will be serving the teeming masses descending on Grant Park for the next 10 days. That might actually turn into a postivie. more ›

Matt Motyka more ›

There have been a lot of things said on this site about Taste of Chicago over the years. There are over 750,000 people who head downtown every year to sun, frolic and get their fill of giant turkey legs and corn on sticks. 'Course, that isn't all Taste of Chicago has to offer; even with Chicago Gourmet set to launch in September, Taste is still the food event for the everyman. more ›

Since its release last October Raising Sand, the critically lauded collaboration of former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and high priestess of bluegrass Allison Krauss, has become something of a phenomenon. Working in tandem with producer T Bone Burnett, who picked and arranged the songs, Raising Sand is a joy to the ears. Its emphasis on blues, country and old R&B is reminiscent of Bob Dylan's records of the past twenty years, while Burnett's production at times evokes the ethereal moods of Emmylou Harris' Wrecking Ball or Willie Nelson's Teatro. more ›

, Chicago has long been home to one of Steve Earle's strongest fan bases. He's such a gifted songwriter that fans often overlook the fact that he's essentially made the same record since 1996, right down to the obligatory duet with a female singer, "state of my life" liner notes and beautiful artwork by his good friend, the local artist and noted unemployed film-goer Tony Fitzpatrick. more ›

The Chicago International Film Festival is one of the highlights of the Chicago movie calendar. Every October for the past several years, we've purchased a festival pass and taken a gamble; in addition to catching films every year that we've already heard about, we always force ourselves to see at least a few films we know nothing about. In the past that's meant such pleasant surprises as Syndromes and a Century and 10th District Court.... more ›

Here's what happened while a punk rock choir distracted us from Doomsday: Fall arts season preview season is here. If you didn’t pick up a Reader over the weekend, you can still bookmark their A & E preview online. The Trib’s writers chose their 10 most promising in theater, art, dance, music (rock and otherwise), comedy and architecture. The Bright One previews Broadway in Chicago and upcoming rock concerts and CDs (remember those?). New City... more ›

Because we’re sickies, we love it when we slap a mosquito that was going for our sweet, sweet blood. There’s something extremely satisfying about kicking Pandora’s ass. That said, if we never had to deal with mosquitoes again, we would gladly give up the rush that comes from squashing them. We hate that we have to give up bananas for months at a time. more ›

Mr. and Mrs. Chicago, since you aren't going to see The Scissor Sisters this evening, we have suggested a few other things that may whet your appetite. The ArtWalk Ravenswood was so good we are suggesting it for a second day in a row. more ›

When you hear the word "Vox" you may think of that delicious vodka you were drinking the other night, but what we're talking about is Six Apart's new personal blogging service. more ›

Headed into this past weekend, Chicagoist was thinking about laying low and maybe going to see a movie. However, we were invited to attend the Lexus Press Preview event on Saturday, and our attitude changed. Sort of. When we heard that we had to get up at 7 am on a Saturday, we weren't sure we wanted to go. Really. Besides, did they know we drive a 1990 Honda Accord? Not only did Lexus not... more ›

Are you ready for some Bears football? Chicagoist sure is! The preseason is over, the roster is set and the Bears head into 2005 full of optimism but with a rookie QB leading the offense. Will they see an improvement over last year's woeful 5-11 campaign? Or will they continue to languish at the bottom of the NFL standing? With the Bears season starting on Sunday, we thought we'd take a look at what's in... more ›

Chicagoist has just about finished reading Alex Kotlowitz's and we think it's pretty fabulous. This 2004 book is a loving examination of our city as seen through detailed portraits of people who care about it deeply. It's less, as classified by the publisher, a travelogue, and more an essential history lesson for us young and/or new Chicagoans, wrapped in engaging biography for all. more ›