Junebug Café’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Junebug Café’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

As they planned their Louisiana-inspired Junebug Café (which now has locations in Portage Park, Near North Side, and West Town), Jacqueline and Chris Murphy had no shortage of source material: Jacqueline was well versed in the region’s flavors through her French Creole grandmother, June, while Chris’s parents own Oak Park’s Cajun-influenced Poor Phil’s Bar and … Read more

It’s All Gravy

The Montreal and Hangover

Poutine — the French Canadian fast food consisting of fries, cheese curds, and enough steaming gravy to turn the assemblage into a gooey-crisp object of supreme face-stuffability — had its trendy moment here. In Canada, however, its trajectory has been from street stalls and food courts into sit-down restaurants that take the idea and run with it. In Montreal, … Read more

Best New Bars

A sleek Chinatown cocktail den, a Nordic-inspired brewery, a funky queer hangout — the city’s latest top spots deliver fresh experiences and clever drinks. Here are our 11 favorites, ranked.

Lunch Bunch

Dosa and thali from Madhura Cafe

Every morning just before lunchtime my phone lights up with a message from Madhura Cafe’s WhatsApp group chat about the restaurant’s daily thali. And every day it occasions such an intense hunger pang that I consider making the 30-minute drive from my house to the little strip mall in Deerfield where the restaurant resides. Madhura … Read more