Those Small Bar guys have been busy: Even as Phil McFarland and Ty Fujimura’s third SB location hovers on the cusp of launching in Lincoln Park (word on the street is next week) and Fujimura readies his forthcoming Japanese restaurant, Arami, in West Town, the duo found a few spare moments to freshen up yet another property in their portfolio. Opening Tuesday in the address last home to the Wicker Park DJ den Lava is The Exchange…
BIG STAR Mexican street fare from a pick-up window? Sounds tacky. Until Paul Kahan and co. made it cool, that is. 1531 N. Damen Ave.; 773-235-4039 XOCO Mexican street fare worth waiting an hour for? Sounds dumb. Until Rick Bayless made it good, that is. 449 N. Clark St.; 312-334-3688 NELLA PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA We hear … Read more
Every day I wonder why I feel like I need a nap at 11 a.m., and then I remember: last night. Over the past week alone, I’ve visited (all in the name of research) the following Chicago bars: Quenchers Saloon, Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap, Rootstock Wine & Beer Bar, The California Clipper, Simon’s Tavern, Hopleaf, Uncle Fatty’s Rum Resort, Cuna, The Signature Lounge at the 96th, and, on the agenda for tonight, The Tasting Room (for a…
Setting Down Steaks
A branch of the New York–based BLT restaurant family is slated to open September 9th at 151 West Adams Street, along with the JW Marriott it will be housed in, says Alison Brockwell, a spokeswoman for JW Marriott Chicago. . Since the 2004 opening of the flagship BLT Steak in New York City, the chain has collected several constellations’ worth of stars from top reviewers and has sprouted…
Our top five picks for things to do this week: A second shot at August: Osage County … Wilco on the silver screen … meet the Trocks, men in tights … plus, Huffington, Pfleger, and more—for free
Remember that sweet, soaring flute solo in the 1992 Guns N’ Roses heartbreaker “November Rain?” I do. “November Rain” was released at the beginning of my estimable high-school flute-playing career. I watched the wedding-themed video and the subsequent MTV Video Music Awards performance on VHS at least once a day, and I always wished I had the sheet music and my own cover band so I could recreate the song’s… read more »
It turns out Saturday night’s low of 34 degrees was just chilly enough to keep Vertigo’s new outdoor bar, a ten-foot-long counter made from some 3,000 pounds of ice, cold—and most patrons indoors. Still, we spotted a clutch of jolly bar-hoppers hanging out on the 26th-floor terrace, ordering spiked snow cones and enjoying the view.
Just when I was gearing up for winter hibernation, the bait nightspots are dangling to lure drinkers in from the cold got the best of me. I’d be on liver-failure alert if I tried to make it to every opening, promotion, special event, and unveiling, but here—in no particular order—are my picks for the five most tempting reasons to leave the house this week. Well, these and the fact that it’s not really that bleak out. You know, for January.
Pollack’s Dinner at Cuna in 161 Words
With its sleek industrial design, Cuna (1113 W. Belmont Ave.; 312-224-8588) looks every inch a lounge scene: black and smoky gray colors, brick walls, high-top tables, red leather–padded eggshell-shaped stools. But Kendal Duque (opening chef at Sepia) runs the kitchen, so the place is serious about…
Below, our picks for the top ten suburban favorites: Bars in Flossmoor, Aurora, Naperville, River Grove, Villa Park, La Grange, Oak Brook, Libertyville and Glenview
