It's looking to be a heavy week for literary events in Chicago. So strap on your reading glasses and peruse the events on our radar that we think it worthwhile to check out. more ›

We're stunned and saddened right now at the news that Sheffield's owner and Friend of Chicagoist Ric Hess passed away last night. Hess had a heart attack at the bar. more ›

With holiday shopping in full swing, Sheffield’s has an interesting event for anyone looking for gifts for bookish friends and family. Tomorrow the bar will host four local authors for a Books and Beer Holiday Shopping Night. Bestselling Chicago authors Marcus Sakey, Laura Caldwell, David Ellis, and Gillian Flynn will be signing their books as the bartenders get everyone drunken and merry. All purchases will be 10 percent off, and purchases of four or more books will be 20% off. more ›

We’ll be the first to admit we have trouble keeping track of all the reading series that happen regularly across Chicago. But the theme for this month’s Reading Under the Influence series, which just celebrated its fifth anniversary, sounds so provocative and enticing, we couldn’t possibly forget to put it on our calendar. All local writers and authors at tonight’s RUI will be reading work about “Sluts!” We assume the trivia questions will also be slut-related, but we aren’t sure about the prizes. more ›

Here's a trio of literary events - two happening tonight and one still a few months - that caught our attention. more ›

Stop by Sheffield's this evening to bid farewell to Phil Kuhl. The self-described "Beer Dude" was one of the driving forces in expanding Sheffield's already extensive beer menu with rare selections, regular classes and beer/food pairings. kuhl is moving on to become the beer director at the Fountainhead, an upscale beer bar with hand-pumped beers set to open in spring at 1968-70 W. Montrose. more ›

This week's literary events aren't all readings by stuffy authors you've never heard of. Read on for details about mustaches, $1 book sales, and teen slam poets. more ›

This week, as we've mentioned, is National Soup Week. Today's Soup and Bread event at Hideout will feature soups from Milk and Honey/Cippolina's Carol Watson and the fine folks at Lula Café. All proceeds raised this evening will be donated to the Irving Park Community Food Pantry. more ›

• Tonight: The Essay Fiesta reading series will be featuring a lot of comedians this month. Robert Buscemi, Kelsie Huff, Bryan Bowden and Adam Guerino will join novelist and essayist Mary T. Wagner and creative writing instructor Janna Sobel at 7 p.m. at The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square. Entrance is free, and raffle proceeds go to benefit the Howard Brown Health Center.

With the weather being as brass bra cold as it was last Thursday we were simply hoping that a handful of people show up for the reader meetup. As always, you exceeded our expectations, packing both the Beer School bar and back bar at Sheffield's with a large crowd of folks coming and going throughout the night and a great haul for the Chicago Food Depository on a bitter, frigid night. Thanks to all of you — readers, twitter followers, staffers current and former — for showing up. As we've mentioned, this will not be a one-off affair. We will be doing these on a regular basis, so those of you who wanted to attend but couldn't will have another chance. more ›

We're slowly recovering from last night's awesome meet-up at Sheffield's where we collected a great haul for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold to stop by and have a beer next to the fire. We had a blast and can't wait for the next one. And as we catch our breath and get ready to head full steam through today, enjoy this, one of our favorite Christmas songs of all time. more ›

We're sure you're sick of these posts reminding you about this meet-up, but hey, we really just wanted an excuse to repost the nifty little logo you see to the right. We mentioned a few other events going on tonight but we hope know you'll make time for us, right? Sure it's cold but that just means to get the extra heavy coat out for the trip over to Sheffield's (3258 N. Sheffield) where we'll be keeping cozy with plenty of beer and awesome people tonight from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. (though likely beyond that). We're also using this as an opportunity to give back during the holidays, also making it a food drive benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which is seeing a greater demand for its services in this recession. So if you come, please bring a can or bag or two of food along with you to donate. Some of what the Food Depository needs the most of include: beans, chili, peanut butter, soup, canned veggies, cereal, pasta, rice, tuna, and canned fruits. So grab the cans, bundle up, and head over! more ›

We warned you we'd be bringing it with these reminders. We're a day away from our Holiday meet-up. Ric Hess, Phil Kuhl and the fine folks at Sheffield's (3258 N. Sheffield, 773-281-4989) have graciously allowed us the use of their Beer School bar for the occasion. We're also using this as an opportunity to give back during the holidays, also making it a food drive benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which is seeing a greater demand for its services in this recession. So if you come, please bring a can or bag or two of food along with you to donate. Some of what the Food Depository needs the most of include: beans, chili, peanut butter, soup, canned veggies, cereal, pasta, rice, tuna, and canned fruits. more ›

It's getting colder and the first snowflakes of the season may fall later tonight so it's time to think about holiday parties. Including ours! It's been a while since we've done our reader meet-ups on a regular basis so we're excited to bring them back and meet all of you, the awesome readers who make this site fun and worthwhile. Ric Hess, Phil Kuhl and the fine folks at Sheffield's (3258 N. Sheffield, 773-281-4989) have graciously allowed us the use of their Beer School bar for the occasion. We're also using this as an opportunity to give back during the holidays, also making it a canned food drive benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which is seeing a greater demand for its services in this recession. So if you come, please bring a can or two of food along with you to donate. more ›

Back in the early days of this-little-website-that-could we used to make it a practice of actually trying to meet our readers at a pre-arranged location to have some drinks, have a good time away from the flat-screen glow, get to know each other and (most important) thank you for choosing to spend a portion of your day reading Chicagoist. As you can see from this Flickr set, these "Reader Happy Hours" were very fun. more ›

Okay, so when we think "Bell's Oberon" we don't typically imagine snow on the ground and temps in the 30's. But damnit, when Larry Bell says it's Oberon season, it's Oberon season. We were at Sheffield's last night for the tapping of the first keg of the year, which means that spring must be somewhere nearby. We hope. more ›

Wanting to enjoy the thaw a bit, we attended Sheffield's "Beer School" festival Saturday afternoon. It was the second time in a year we braved the cold to visit Sheffield's; for the second time in a year it was also worth it. Under the direction of Phil Kuhl, the Lakeview tavern's special beer events have begun to rival Map Room's beer school for breadth and scope. When we briefly spoke with Sheffield's owner Ric Hess, he seemed to agree. more ›

Park West, 322 W. Armitage, January 12, 8 p.m., Tickets $30-$50 more ›

Sheffield's (3258 N. Sheffield) opened up a brand new beer bar in the back of the tavern at the beginning of summer. Since then, Ric Hess and company have been featuring a rotating list of rare draft craft beers and have established a "Beer School" series of fixed price dinners, lectures and events that rivals Map Room's "Beer School," Goose Island Clybourn's "Masters of Beer Appreciation" series, or hanging out with yours truly any given night of the week. more ›

Beer, Beer, and MORE BEER. Speaking of, if anyone knows where in Chicago we can get a bottle of some Feldschlosschen Dunkle Perle (pictured), we'll will trim your toenails (okay, maybe not - but dinner's in it for you). Let's see what's in the hopper, foodies! more ›

We've been reading My Last Supper, a book that asks 50 chefs what they would eat for their last meal. It made us wonder about what we'd choose for our last meal if our choices were limited to restaurants in Chicago. Here are some of our picks: more ›

The title says it all, folks. Meet up at Sheffield’s this Thursday at 8 p.m. to wage an intellectual war on those commenters that have been peeving you all these months. One of our lovely commenters will provide the game, and Sheffield’s will provide the booze. more ›

We chronicled our Saturday night earlier this week, and we need remind no one that it was colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra all day long. more ›

Common sense dictated that we should have stayed in Saturday night in the slightly drafty but hospitable environs of our apartment. However, when the fine folks at Unibroue plan a beer dinner, it's usually a great event. What made Saturday night's event stand out was the location of the dinner. more ›