Hamburger Mary’s [5400 N. Clark St.; 773-784-6969] is expanding,” says Stacy Malow-Williams, a partner at Tomboy, which closed on December 21st. “I have an eight-month-old baby at home and we got an offer we could not refuse. It’s the perfect opportunity.” Ashley Wright, a partner at Hamburger Mary’s Chicago franchise, says his restaurant will double its seating capacity when the new space opens in the spring. “It will be mostly high-topped tables,” says Wright, who promises the same...

" /> Hamburger Mary’s [5400 N. Clark St.; 773-784-6969] is expanding,” says Stacy Malow-Williams, a partner at Tomboy, which closed on December 21st. “I have an eight-month-old baby at home and we got an offer we could not refuse. It’s the perfect opportunity.” Ashley Wright, a partner at Hamburger Mary’s Chicago franchise, says his restaurant will double its seating capacity when the new space opens in the spring. “It will be mostly high-topped tables,” says Wright, who promises the same...

" /> Hamburger Mary’s [5400 N. Clark St.; 773-784-6969] is expanding,” says Stacy Malow-Williams, a partner at Tomboy, which closed on December 21st. “I have an eight-month-old baby at home and we got an offer we could not refuse. It’s the perfect opportunity.” Ashley Wright, a partner at Hamburger Mary’s Chicago franchise, says his restaurant will double its seating capacity when the new space opens in the spring. “It will be mostly high-topped tables,” says Wright, who promises the same...

" />
Events Newsletters Subscribe

December 2008
Hot Dogs and Hamburgers
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby

Getting Mary’d

After 11 years of anchoring Andersonville, the idiosyncratic Tomboy (5402 N. Clark St.; 773-907-0636) is getting out while the getting’s good. Tomboy’s neighbor “Hamburger Mary’s [5400 N. Clark St.; 773-784-6969] is expanding,” says Stacy Malow-Williams, a partner at Tomboy, which closed on December 21st. “I have an eight-month-old baby at home and we got an offer we could not refuse. It’s the perfect opportunity.” Ashley Wright, a partner at Hamburger Mary’s Chicago franchise, says his restaurant will double its seating capacity when the new space opens in the spring. “It will be mostly high-topped tables,” says Wright, who promises the same...

Read more
Coffee Table Talk

We’ve written about Jan Janders in the past and we just found out that he will have an exclusive line of coffee tables (made from his trademark concrete) at Haute Living. It’s not easy to find a modern coffee table that also has some heft to it (the ones I see tend to be skinnier and geared toward small spaces). These two certainly fit the bill.

—Gina Bazer

Read more
Housing Bulletin: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Realtors Have Left the Building
By Dennis Rodkin

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring—not even a real-estate agent eager to show off the granite countertops in the kitchen or the triangular Jacuzzi for two in the master bath. Instead, with home sales down more than 40 percent from the height of the market in 2006, agents have been departing the industry in large numbers. At the end of November, with roughly 57,100 members, the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR) had experienced a...

Read more
The It List: Happy Holidaze

1. Bye-bye, Kevin; hello, Theory. An upscale sports bar from Joel Sorinsky, a former manager at Joe’s, and Brian Merel, a partner/exec chef of Stefani Restaurants, has opened in the old Kevin space. Highlights include oversized booths and more than 20 plasmas, some of which you—the barflies—will control. We smell the sports-bar competition getting fierce in River North.

2. Meanwhile, Bull & Bear (431 N. Wells St.), from the Stone Lotus team, is aiming for...

Read more
Last Minute Gift!


This cracks me up, and it would make for a great pop of color in any room. Don’t know how practical it is, but it’s definitely amusing. Price: $45 at Zella Brown.

—Gina Bazer

Read more
Eco Art in Bucktown
By Katherine Lee

Green Machine

Ever wonder how the green ethos can blend with urban chic? Then check out the new Bucktown gallery and shop 360SEE (1924 N. Damen Ave.; 773-698-6340, 360seegallery.com), a new minimalist space that features one-of-a-kind sculptures and furniture that uses reclaimed materials, such as a coffee table made from the hood of a 1972 Chevy truck. In all, the store showcases the work of 20 artists...

Read more
Paying with the Past
By Gwenda Blair
Lawyers for victims of two 20th-century terrorist bombings are trying to force the sale of a cache of 2,500-year-old Persian tablets currently on loan to Chicago's Oriental Institute. Read more
Weekend Photos: Rebel Bar & Grill
It's go-time for holiday sweaters. Tacky pullovers that almost never see the light of day get not one but two airings this week: Once on Christmas Day in honor of Grandma Gertie, who crocheted the darn thing in the first place; and once this past Friday, when revelers donned their kitschiest knitwear for Chicago Sport and Social's holiday sweater party at Rebel Bar & Grill... Read more
Bagging the Media Queen
By Josh Schollmeyer
From December 2008: For two years, Kitty Kelley, America’s most notorious celebrity biographer, has been tracking Oprah, a notoriously private subject. The multimillion-dollar game of cat-and-mouse promises to play out in an epic cultural showdown Read more
Gifts under $50

At Cambium, very cool salt and pepper shakers made of water buffalo horn ($24); a three-bowl pewter snack set (round or square; each $45). The Simon Pearce crystal tea lights ($30 each) are from Sawbridge Studios.

—JAN PARR

Read more