Today's listings include a birthday celebration at Pastoral, beer and sliders at Sheffield's and a preview of a play based on a Bette Midler movie. more ›

Frontier restaurant has gained a reputation for its whole-animal service, in which you and a dozen or so friends can feast upon an entire smoked pig, lamb, goat or wild boar. Chef Brian Jupiter's menu reflects a commitment to farm-to-table eating, but the place is just as serious about oysters; Frontier offers up to 20 different varieties daily. (Hmm, an oyster obsession? We can dig it.) Now the Milwaukee Avenue restaurant plans to toast our shelled friends with a weeklong special menu, starting this Sunday and running through August 7, that features oysters in several of its most splendid forms. more ›

Today's listings include the Chicago Sidewalk Sale, Yoga in grant Park and mussels at Jake Melnick's for Belgian Independence Day. more ›

We have been inundated with deal-a-day apps lately, to the point where we're pretty much impossible to impress. The field is getting so crowded that the deals are often laughably bad, featuring bars and restaurants we wouldn't wander into if we were already in the neighborhood, let alone go out of our way for. DrinkOwl is a refreshing change - it promises no discounts on its own, but allows users to see all the different drink specials going on, all over the city. Using your GPS location, it will find you beer, wine and cocktail specials close to you - and best of all, you don't have to bring a coupon. more ›

Stephanie Izard is wrapping up a trip to New York to attend the Beard Awards. Before she left, she posted this interesting blog entry about an limited seating pork tasting she's putting together for Memorial Day weekend. more ›

Today's listings include a spring fiesta, a bike-themed reading and a theatrical reading. more ›

Every bar and grill in this town has specials, yes? We've been hitting them up recently, and have discovered that a lot of specials aren't... you know... special. Giving us $5 pints when pints are usually $5 is not a deal, friend. Hark - Logan Square's Dunlays on the Square recently started a special that we can enthusiastically get behind: Thursdays are ½ price ribs. Full and half racks! Like most of the dudes we know in Chicago, we prefer a full rack but we'll take what we can get (heyoh!). We stopped in at Dunlays to give this new weekly special a try. more ›

Today's listings include a Local H performance, a screening of a Nuremburg documentary and special dinner at North Pond. more ›

We can't quite believe we're posting this, but based on the sheer volume of news coverage over the past few days, some people must care about this huge wedding that's happening on Friday across the pond. Frankly, we're almost tired of hearing about it - the number of press releases pushing special wedding cocktails that we've gotten have just about pushed us over the edge. On the other hand, we're as interested in pretty dresses and flower tossing as the next man, though, and if there are good drinks involved, you might be able to get us on board. Might. Anyway, a lot of decent bars and restaurants are offering neat events specials, if you want to watch the blessed event - they might even make it worth it. more ›

Today in "Pencil This In:" a screening of Deliverance, $6 spaghetti, and more. more ›

If you have an event you wish for us to consider for "Pencil This In," please e-mail out Tips inbox, Chuck, Tankboy (for arts and events), or Anthony (for food and drink-related events). more ›

Despite the green river, drunken hordes and large parade, some of you may remember that St. Patrick's Day hasn't happened yet. In fact, since the holiday falls on a weekday, there are two weekends of fun, and two weekends of great food and drink specials all over the city. We're gonna focus on the places that go above and beyond with food - cheap green beer isn't news in Chicago, and we bet that you've read plenty about drink specials already. Some of these events happen on the actual day (March 17), some during this week and some next weekend. Whenever they occur, eat something new and exciting on the day of green this year. more ›

Over the past couple of years, the dinners Mindy Segal hosts to mark Hot Chocolate's anniversary have been circled in ink as must-attend events. Segal always corrals chefs and brewers who bring their "A" games to these dinners. And there's about eating fresh Lake Superior smelts from Paul Kahan while Black Sabbath blasts through the restaurant's sound system in the dead of winter that's just the kick in the ass we need for spring to get here already. more ›

During the month of December, DMK Burger Bar will be showcasing two new menu offerings. First, a new burger called the "Holiday Ham Never Had it Better." Yeah, the name isn't great - but the burger sounds amazing, combining a turkey patty with Black Forest ham, and topping it with brie, granny smith apples and honey-dijon. Great for the non-beef eaters in your party! more ›

Localvore advocate and food science PhD holder Jim Javenkoski has put together another localvore dinner, this time partnering with Michael Kornick, Erick Williams, Tony Galzin and the staff at mk. more ›

one sixtyblue has a very interesting dinner scheduled for next Wednesday pairing the cooking of chef Michael McDonald with absinthe cocktails crafted by absinthe historian and chemist Ted Breaux. Breaux was one of the folks behind the re-entry of absinthe in America a couple years back and helped develop Lucid Absinthe, so he's more than qualified to mix some cocktails with the Green Fairy. more ›

Finding food in the loop after dark can be a challenge. Usually it's terrible, overpriced or both - or, the restaurant closes at 6 PM once the businesspeople go home. We were surprised to stumble upon a fairly awesome deal at Petterino's that seems custom-made to fit that gap. more ›

Kevin kindly pointed out today's Groupon deal of the day is for $25 worth of steak at Polo Café and Catering in the wunnerful Bridgeport area. more ›

Now this is a deal anyone can get behind. Buy a bottle of wine at the Tasting Room (1415 W. Randolph St., 312-942-1313) every Wednesday — every and any bottle of wine — and get a free flatbread pizza. more ›

From the inbox: interest and demand for Wednesday's Wild Arctic Char dinner at Kith & Kin has grown to such a point that the restaurant has now decided to make it the only menu available that night. The cost is now $100 per person; $180 for couples. more ›

It is no secret that we're fans of mk. Pastry Chef Tony Galzin once made a sorbet that caused our dinner companion to close her eyes and moan. (See our interview with Tony here and a video of Chef Galzin plating dessert here.) He's struck the fine balance between sweet and savory and is now turning his expertise towards making the most of Chicago's sustainable markets. more ›

American Craft Beer Week kicks off next Monday and, in what has been shaping up to be a high watermark year for local beer, local bars and restaurants are working closely with the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild to give events here a very local feel. more ›

In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo commemorates an unlikely military victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla. North of the still-free-to-cross border (offer may not be valid in Arizona), liquor distributors and bars regard Cinco de Mayo as "Mexican St. Patrick's Day." Simply replace Guinness with Mexican beer, Irish whiskey with tequila, corned beef with taquitos...you get the idea. more ›

Last Sunday, we were bowled over by the best brunch deal we've encountered in ages. Mercat a la Planxa is running a promotion called "Sunday Funday" (we know, it's a horrible name) which accomplishes all of the goals of a great brunch: amazing food, social dining, lots of booze and a low low price. We've mentioned our love of Mercat in the past, but the restaurant's relatively high prices and recent popularity (thanks in part to Chef Jose Garces appearance on Iron Chef) may have deterred some visitors. If so, this is your chance. more ›

Foodie, the popular iPhone app offering discounted dinners and fixed price specials at some of the city's top restaurants, is now taking reservations for their offers online. Now those of you waiting for Ari Bendersky and company to get their collective act together and create a Foodie app for Android and other smartphones can at least be able to experience the same specials we iPhone lemmings have been able to take advantage of for months. more ›

With all the tastings, tappings and events happening around town related to Craft Brewers Conference, it's wise to formulate a plan of attack. The first step to putting together a successful plan is to recognize you aren't going to hit every event. Your wallet and liver will thank you later. Blackbird put together two sold out special beer dinners this week. Last night's beer dinner featuring the beers of Stone Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin and Norwegian brewery Nøgne-Ø (pronounced "Noon-yeh") made the list for three reasons - 1) It's Blackbird. that's always money well spent. 2) Chef de Cuisine and Food & Wine 2010 Best Chef winner Mike Sheerin's revamping of the Blackbird menu has been nothing short of astonishing. 3) The most intriguing brewery of the three was Nøgne-Ø. Brewmaster Kjetil Jikiun intimated last night that they're pretty much the vanguard for Norway's craft beer movement. That these three disparate breweries became comrades speaks volumes about the way good beer — like music, art and food — can bridge seemingly unbridgeable gaps. more ›

One of the best beers we had last year was the Goose Island/mado beer brewed in collaboration between Rob and Allie Levitt and Jared Rouben. Rouben intimated in our visit to the Clybourn brewpub a couple months back that they were collaborating on another beer for Craft Brewers Conference using cocoa nibs provided by Allie Levitt. more ›

Via Time Out Chicago's "Eat Out" team, check out this video with a not so subliminal message, then call Socca to RSVP. This is a dine-in only promotion; no carryout. more ›

Here is a deal that is the very epitome of "budget-friendly." On Wednesdays Province (161 N. Jefferson St., 312-669-9900) serves up a burger made from fresh Dietzler Farms all natural Wisconsin beef with a Three Floyds beer for only $10. It's available for customers dining at the bar from 4:30-10 p.m. more ›

Nella Pizzeria Napoletana (2423 N. Clark St., 773-327-3400) is just the latest pizzeria to pop up on our radar. Today only, they're offering $5.99 pizzas in conjunction with Fox News Chicago's "Good Day Chicago" as its "Deal of the Day." more ›