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Whatever your tastes in creepy flicks — monster movies, arty gore films, sleepaway camp slashers — the Brewed has something for you. (Even the name of this Avondale café is an Easter egg reference to David Cronenberg’s The Brood.) Inside these lavender walls, no one has to wait until October to indulge in all things Halloween. The joint … Read more
I usually feel like a smart and confident person — until I walk into Write Club, the monthly melee of minds at Gman Tavern in Wrigleyville. Every third Tuesday, fiery host Corrbette Pasko, delivering her best Tyler Durden shtick, pits writer against writer in onstage verbal combat. In three bouts, competitors get seven minutes to dominate each … Read more
Despite hopeful new construction, the area around Jackson and Kedzie in East Garfield Park is still pretty bleak: boarded-up storefronts, weedy vacant lots. So when I wandered into Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, it was like going from the desert into Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders: a magnificent 80-foot-high vaulted and coffered ceiling, a vast marble … Read more
By the salty sainted ghost of Mike Royko, how the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan has changed! It used to be a newspaper bar, but with both the Tribune and Sun-Times no longer nearby, ink-stained tipplers are scarce. Now the Goat has become a haven for locals to quietly mock tourists. Look at those … Read more
Forget Maggie Daley and Grant Parks. The best downtown spot tourists haven’t discovered is Lakeshore East Park, bounded by Columbus Drive, Randolph Street, Wacker Drive, and the lake. Surrounded by a mountain range of high-rise condo buildings, including Jeanne Gang’s Aqua and St. Regis masterpieces, the park provides a lush landscape of flowers and fountains. … Read more
You can hear the music thumping as you approach the outdoor patio. Inside Afro Joe’s Coffee & Tea in Beverly, DJ Stephen Cosey is busy on the turntable, masterfully mixing house beats with gospel tunes. That’s how you know you made it to Tabernacle Soul. It’s not a club party, and it’s not church. It’s … Read more
After a screening at the Music Box Theatre, cinephiles tend to linger outside, conferring about what they loved or hated, dissecting deeper meanings. Maybe it’s because the vintage marquee juts over your head, making you feel like you’ve stepped into the 1920s. Or maybe the Lake View venue’s programming — everything from century-old silent flicks to cutting-edge … Read more
Looking like a stately manor straight out of The Crown, Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest will have you feeling an ocean away, even though it’s just an hour north of the Loop by Metra. The moment you enter the lushly manicured, ivy-clad confines, you realize that traditional British hospitality is the order of the … Read more
At the south end of DuSable Lake Shore Drive, you’ll find Steelworkers Park, the perfect hidden-gem location for an outdoor 30-foot rock-climbing wall. Part of the U.S. Steel South Works plant, which shut down in 1992, it’s now the ideal place to learn how to scale an old ore wall without a gymful of people … Read more
The most beguiling way to appreciate the city’s skyscraper-driven topography is from below — as in, below street level. Cue the Chicago Water Taxi, making its post-COVID return to daily service this summer with $10 one-way rides ($20 for an all-day pass). Gently motor west from Michigan Avenue on the marigold boat, gazing up into an urban … Read more
