Game Theory
A new happy-hour spot in River North bets on the upscale-sports-lounge trend
Ad Categories: Dining & Drinking
Weekend Photos: Day & Night of the Living Ales
Saturday’s Day & Night of the Living Ales was one scarily awesome-sounding slugfest we couldn’t pass up. And apparently, neither could you: Both the afternoon and the evening installment of the Chicago Beer Society’s fifth annual ode to…
Dumplings and Dragons
Stadium West’s crawl from just another neighborhood dive to the vegan-Korean-food-cheap-beer haven known as Dragonlady Lounge (3188 N. Elston Ave.; 773-597-5617) has been a slow and stealthy one, but, with its name change last December, the metamorphoses is complete. And what a work of wacky, wonderful goodness it is…
Achatz is Twitterpated
A Different Shade of Sepia
Kendal Duque, named the best new chef of 2008 by Chicago magazine last May, announced he will leave his chef position at Sepia (123 N. Jefferson St.; 312-441-1920) at the end of March to pursue his own restaurant in Chicago. “It will probably be a small, casual place,” says Duque, a 36-year-old native of Ecuador. “l have a very, very good concept in mind and I’m being as tightlipped as I can for now. But I can say that I have a lot of energy…
Weekend Photos: Avila
When the door to one Latin-inflected nightclub closes, another one opens. On Friday we checked out opening night at Avila, a spot that’s taken over Club 720’s River North location as well as its M.O.: Latin music, a VIP vibe, and plenty of dancing…
5 Bars That Maximize March Madness
Bull & Bear 431 N. Wells St. This newbie offers in-table taps, 25 TVs, one projection screen, and free WiFi (so you can trash talk your bracket buddies over IM). Stretch Run Sporting Club & Grille 544 N. LaSalle St. Talk about madness: This spot houses 240 TVs—that’s a 1.2:1 TV-to-barfly ratio. Plus, … Read more
The Chaser Checks In
Nightlifers, meet Chicago magazine’s new professional barfly, Kate Seamons. Kate, meet our very thirsty readers. By day, Kate’s the managing editor of newser.com, a site that could make us all a little smarter. (Before that, she spent four years at the helm of centerstagechicago.com, a post that required its fair share of bar hopping—you know, for research.) By night, she’ll be trolling the taverns of Chicago, looking for your next go-to spot for…
Cheap Sandwiches!
BYO Alert
“I have no restaurant experience,” says Hector Peña, owner of Café Bella (3311 W. Fullerton Ave.; 773-292-5040), a brand-new Logan Square BYO. “I’m a real estate broker. My experience is McDonald’s, when I was 17 years old. My buddy is the chef, and I have always wanted him to open up his own place because his food is marvelous.” The buddy in question is Cesar Casas, a veteran of Ambria who most recently ran…
Dining Out: Hog Wild
The Publican, The Bristol, and Province: three smart, approachable newcomers with the skills—and the pork—to satisfy the hungry masses during lean times
Dining Tidbits
Smak-Tak!, Chickpea, Trader Vic’s, Main Street Smokehouse