The Bamboo Room Is Back With a Fresh Focus and Lots More Rum
The bar is highlighting specialty rums — and skipping the tiki mugs — for their signature cocktails.
Lynette Smith
Knitwrth’s Fresh Take on Chicago Streetwear
Wicker Park resident Kris Cantu puts pop culture idols on sweaters, trench coats, and more.
Historian Shermann ‘Dilla’ Thomas Shows Where It’s At
The TikTok star shares his favorite parts of the city with Chicagoans.
Ngozi Ezike: COVID-19 Fighter, Tennis Fanatic
How the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health makes time for herself.
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.
Views From All Directions
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