In November we took a look at La-Van Hawkins, a Chicago-born restaurateur who made a fortune in fast food franchises. Hawkins was planning on opening a slew of Nancy's Pizza and Al's Italian Beef franchises on the South Side even as he was waiting to be sentenced to 33 months in prison on corruption charges. more ›

Think reaaaaal carefully about what fashion mistakes you're going to make on bank-robbing day. Because those choices? Well, those choices become who we are. Take the case of the "Kangol Bandit." more ›

Ew, ew and ew. The Sun-Times released their list of Chicago's "Dirty Dozen" yesterday; the 12 restaurants in the city that have received the most "critical" health code violations between July 2005 and July 2006. "Critical" violations are the type that "bring immediate closure and a $500 fine: rotten food, plumbing backups, rodent and insect infestation, lack of proper hand-washing facilities and inadequate cooking and cooling temperatures." more ›

We don't know what is going on this weekend; the news is full of hit-and-runs, drive-by's, and general horrific murders more ›

If you’re like Chicagoist, the longer you live in the city, the more of an expert you become on calculating traffic lights. We now know exactly how much time it takes us to cross each street in our daily commute and at which point we’ll have to run to make it across before the light turns. And the people who don’t know these things and hesitate unnecessarily? Well, they just get in our way. more ›

If you rely on the Dan Ryan Expressway to get anywhere on a regular basis, we feel really sorry for you. Starting on April 1, the Illinois Department of Transportation will begin a major renovation of the roadway that is scheduled to last for nearly two years. The construction will modernize the Dan Ryan, which now handles twice as much traffic as it was originally built to handle, but in the meantime it will take... more ›

The Starbucks at 71st and Stony Island celebrated its July opening yesterday, and Magic Johnson, Mayor Daley, and Alderman Leslie Hairston (5th) were on hand for the ceremony. The tone wasn't all smiles and caffeine though, as Daley, of course, unleashed some haterade. more ›

Many neighbors see the shop as a mark of newfound respect for black buying power and a harbinger for more new stores. Hairston, for one, dreams of a Target, a Best Buy and maybe a Kinko's. ... more ›