The message from Central Lake View
I'm puzzled by the Central Lake View Merchants Association's street banners along Belmont and Sheffield. They're the only ones I've ever seen in Ch [...]
West Lakeview drive-by drive-thru?
I don't know about you, but I've never seen a drive-thru florist before this one.
The sign (above) in the window of Floral Bazaar, 2960 W. Belmont, [...]
Bucktown of tomorrow?
The latest area to receive the hype treatment from Chicago developers and real estate agents is the land roughly bounded by North Western, West Montro [...]
In either Loop, $50 is $50
Anyone who dines at the South Loop's Opera Sunday through Wednesday in January receives a $50 gift certificate to Red Light, chef Jackie Shen's pan-As [...]
Le Deal at Le Lan
The inventive River North restaurant Le Lan, a collaboration between chefs Roland Licciono and Arun Sampanthavivat, is offering a $20.06 two-course me [...]
One man's castle, a city's demolition order
Eyesore or constructivist art? The man in Tacoma, Washington who constructed this surreal home from flotsam and jetsam is selling the property for $36 [...]
Old Town, Fit Town
Old Town must be the fittest neighborhood in the city with three full-service gym/spas within a couple of blocks of each other. Obviously there are en [...]
Battle of the highrises: Da Bears or Da Park?
If you were shopping around new highrise condo towers which vista would have the most appeal? A bird's-eye view of Soldier Field on game-day from high [...]
Draper and Kramer loses appeal on Gold Coast condo highrise
Developer Draper and Kramer saw its chances of building a 30-story condo highrise at 1320 North Lake Shore Drive slip further away today when the Illi [...]
Another ugly Chicago penthouse
We are starting to suspect there's some sort of "Ugly Penthouses Are Us" developer operating along the Sheffield Avenue corridor in Lake View/Lincoln [...]
Luxury homes in Lincoln Park sit, and sit some more on the market
Could there be a glut of McMansions in Lincoln Park? It might be one reason the average price of the city's toniest residences (the single-family home [...]
So long, Berghoff
You wouldn't have guessed it by the lines snaking down the sidewalk on West Adams Street lately but The Berghoff Restaurant, a Chicago icon, is closin [...]
Watch your head near the Sears Tower
Steph, our woman in the West Loop, reports from downtown: Last night as I came off the Quincy el, I was puzzled to see a few big chunks of spattered s [...]
You vanna condo from Ivana?
It seems that Ivana Trump, the sheila with an Eastern bloc accent, a ute full of dough and collagen aplenty can't find any mates to live with her in t [...]
Fulton New Year's
Fulton Lounge, 955 W. Fulton St. (312-942-9500), in the emerging Fulton Market District, is hosting a New Year's Eve party featuring hors d'oeuvres, p [...]
Maxwell Street lounge
Junior's Sports Lounge, which counts Bear legend Gale Sayers as a business partner, officially opens on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Maxwell Street/UIC [...]
New Year's resolutions
If your New Year's resolution is to make money on the real estate market or even if you resolve just to stop lining the pockets of your landlord and b [...]
Merry Holidays
I couldn't care less about which decorations can or cannot go up at City Hall or the public library, or in the parks. But last week, when I bought my [...]
And the Grammy for Chicago's worst home renovation goes to — R. KELLY!
R. Kelly famously came up from the rough and tumble public housing developments of Chicago's South Side to become a huge R&B star, but judging from th [...]
Best bakery name
Colorado can have its punny Baked in Telluride--a clever name for a bakery in the legendary ski town that is also known for its neo-hippies and their [...]