Reasons We (Still) Love Chicago
Our city often takes a beating from outsiders who don’t understand (and insiders who do), but we adore it anyway. Here’s why.
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On any given day, you can find a spot that will stun you with its beauty, connect you to the past, and remind you that you’re part of something larger and more complicated than any individual. These are my top four: 18th Street Bridge: Refurbished in 2015, the bridge spanning the South Branch of the … Read more
We Embrace Old-School Holdouts
We lost Bozo’s Circus and Ray Rayner. Comiskey Park is now just souvenir rock fragments on basement shelves, and Marshall Field’s and the Magikist signs are singing with the commercial choir invisible. But there’s still a verdant patch of real, old-time Chicago at 1800 West Division Street: Phyllis’ Musical Inn. Bought by accordionist Phyllis Jaskot … Read more
Men in Shorts in January
To be a Chicagoan is to step outside on a frigid winter day and see a man in shorts. He may be walking his dog or grabbing something from his car. He may be a college student strolling to class. Silly boys. I scoff at them, but silently, I also salute them. Their hardiness borders … Read more
The Perfect Neighborhood Spot
If you focus your critical faculties too hard on Le Bouchon, the nearly 30-year-old Bucktown spot, you may see its flaws. The roast duck for two can be tough, and the specials too busy. The glassware is clunky, and some chairs wobble. So don’t focus. Instead, appreciate the blur of its rose-colored (or more accurately, … Read more
Where Else Does Giving Birth Feel (a Little) Like a Luxury Vacation?
As a first-time mom, I was wowed by the lake and skyline vistas from my suite at Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital. Not far away, people were dropping big bucks at the Drake for similar views, and all I had to do was sign up for 18 years of stress! I’ve now birthed three babies … Read more
Let Tourists Eat Deep Dish. We’ll Take a Pizza Puff.
Bright sauce, gooey mozz, and spicy beef wrapped up in a flour tortilla, then fried — the Pizza Puff, which was created by the Chicago-based company Iltaco, has been filling local bellies since 1978. The snack reminds me of rushing home after a long day at middle school and wanting something to hold me over until dinner. … Read more
Our City Photographs Well
Barry Butler’s arresting visual love poems capture a shimmering metropolis flexing its muscles in its best light. (You will find five of his striking photographs in this feature.) Butler started shooting Chicago’s skyline and cityscapes as practice for trips to Europe and out west. People responded so well to his social media posts that he was … Read more
The Enviable Weather (Yep, You Read That Right)
Tell an outlander you’re from Chicago and you’re likely to hear some version of “But, man, the weather.” Sure, it gets chilly here, but it’s not as cold or snowy as people think. (Boston receives significantly more snow, for instance, and we are hardly Fargo or Duluth on the teeth-chatter index.) And having to put … Read more
The Unsung Heroes of Tap Dance Live Here
You know of Gene Kelly and Gregory Hines. Maybe Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and the Nicholas Brothers ring a bell? Savion Glover might be on your radar. What about Star Dixon, Mark Yonally, and Sterling Harris? In Chicago, masters like Robinson, Hines, and Glover are just part of the story of American tap dance. Tap dance’s … Read more