Five months into a health crisis that’s reshaped the quality of life around the world and the dining scene still isn’t looking the best. Restaurants have reopened with limited inside seating and; especially in the posher parts of town, doing as much al fresco as they can muster. Not as profitable as seated dining with …
Mi Tocaya Antojeria made such a splash when it opened three years ago, there was hardly a drop of water left in the pool. And rightly so. Here was a Mexican restaurant intent on being unapologetically authentic in addition to unabashedly wonderful. Even though Chicago boasts the second largest population of Mexican immigrants in the …
Born just when the virus that stopped the world landed in Chicago, Gadabout, a new entrant to the Andersonville food scene, quickly got with the revised program. Having never been able to do dine in, they went immediately to the only thing they could do; distance dining. Better known as take out. Specializing in …
Soul satisfying comfort pretty much sums up what you’re getting in that brown paper bag restaurants are using for food pick-up and delivery these days. Whether it’s braised ribs at Wherewithal or Pork Chops and whipped potatoes at Funkenhausen, chefs and restauranteurs know the world craves food of solace when the future looks murky. It’s …
Cream rises to the top and so do exceptional kids. GoodKids, MadCity had originally come together to help stem the relentless gun violence terrorizing their neighborhoods of North Lawndale, Austin, Englewood, South Shore and Woodlawn. They have cohorts in Back of the Yards and Humboldt Park. Adopting the philosophy, “if nobody else is going to …
The restaurant industry in the US is one of the hardest hit as the world fights to dull the exponential consequences of the coronavirus. Nationally, restaurants supports 15 million jobs, 600,000 of them here in Chicago. The ability to offer meals for pick- up and delivery has helped; but not nearly enough. With these options, …
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Was eating out ever just utilitarian? Something you do to satisfy your hunger and nothing else? If those days ever existed, they’ve gone the way of the brick sized cell phone. Eating out is doing something adventurous, satisfying a curiosity, indulging a craving, commemorating something special or succumbing to a guilty pleasure (Crisp). We dine …
Sometimes that rare occasion arises when “first tastes” takes you both to the old and the new in short order. Late in November, we saw and tasted how three accomplished chefs at two restaurants harnessed their ambition, drive and skill to claim their places at the summit of Chicago’s restaurant hierarchy. Sarah Gruenberg’s Monteverde has …
Approach matters when it comes to a restaurant crawl. Now in its eighth year, the Wicker Park-Bucktown Fall Dinner Crawl can consider itself a veteran of this kind of dining sport. With the neighborhoods’ dense restaurant proliferation and a broad spatial footprint, splitting the crawl into two routes made perfect sense. Held last Tuesday night, …
Why ramen? It’s just broth, noodles and toppings, so what’s the fuss? Fortunately, more of us are discovering the irresistible appeal of one of Japan’s most generous gifts to the world. There are lots of reasons why one of Japan’s most popular soul food/fast food wonders is gaining in popularity. The main one is taste. …