The Antique and Resale Shoppe antiqueandresale.com If you travel on Harlem Avenue so far north that you’re practically in Niles, you’re likely to notice Nick’s Drive-In, with its mural of a stern-looking Uncle Sam instructing you to try the “best homemade gyros in America.” However, you might not spot the place right next door, the […]
Category: Goods & Services 2015 Critics’ Picks
Posted inBest of Chicago
Best introduction to healing crystals
On the Rocks ontherockschicago.com When friends first started gushing about the healing power of crystals, I brushed it off as New Agey nonsense. But after stepping into On the Rocks, I realized how easily the interest could snowball into obsession. The store stocks a large variety of sparkling, visually mesmerizing crystals; the pleasing sight of […]
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Best place to step into an antique collector’s fever dream
Zap Props and Antiques zapprops.com At first glance, Zap Props and Antiques might seem like nothing more than an enormous, highly disorganized pile of junk, but this three-story, 36,000-square-foot warehouse, tucked away in one of Bridgeport’s more nondescript enclaves, is a ramshackle museum of ephemera. Everything belongs to owner and proprietor Bill Rawski, who rents […]
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Best reason to not ditch your CD player
Laurie’s Planet of Sound’s Sharkula section lauriesplanetofsound.blogspot.com These days a portion of the music-consuming public talks about CDs as if they’re the child kept in a crawl space beneath the stairs and fed an unsteady diet of fish heads. When it comes to music media, even the eight-track tape has more cool cachet. But CDs […]
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Best clothing designer for urban pixies
Anastasia Chatzka anastasiachatzka.com That Anastasia Chatzka hasn’t experienced burnout is a wonder. The 31-year-old has financed her own business by working multiple jobs, designed her own fashion line, managed two boutiques (located in Ukrainian Village and Hyde Park), handled on-site alterations, presented seasonal fashion shows, and now plans to open pop-up shops in LA and […]
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Best clothes for biking
Tenspeed Hero store.tenspeedhero.com Last November, Reader street-style maven Isa Giallorenzo snapped a picture of Aleia Murawski, one of nine friends who create cycle-centric clothing under the label Tenspeed Hero. The company prides itself on making pieces that look good in or out of a velodrome, and sure enough, Murawski’s reflective leggings (which she’d paired with […]
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Best streetwear gear for the whole family
Joe Fresh Goods’s “Glo Up” line dont-be-mad.com/glo-up When gossip outlet TMZ abushed Chief Keef in November 2013, the world got a taste of a brand-new Keefism: “I growed up—I glo-ed up, I mean.” “Glo” has since infiltrated Keef’s persona, and in 2014 he ditched Glory Boyz Entertainment, aka GBE, for a new label called Glo […]
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Best multipurpose beauty product
Sparrow for Everyone sparrowforeveryone.com In recent years a beauty essential has been added to the standard cosmetics arsenal: so-called “miracle oil,” a cocktail of essential oils applied to soothe skin. I thought I’d found the right one, which cost more than three digits and was made by a high-end national chain. But I was wrong: […]
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Best tire repair after the inevitable pothole-induced blowout
All Day Tire Shop If you’re a car owner in Chicago, one thing is inevitable: when spring hits and the streets are riddled with potholes, you’re going to smash into one of these fissures and blow a tire. (And once fall rolls around and those potholes remain unfilled, you’ll probably rip up another one.) All […]
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Best rug cleaner
Mathew Klujian & Sons klujianrugs.com Of all my household furnishings, my rug has been with me the longest. We’ve been through a lot together, my rug and I. For years, it has faithfully protected my feet from cold floors and covered up depressing-looking stains. And yet I treat it so shabbily! I track mud and […]
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Best piercing shop for adults
Insight Studios insightstudiosonline.com As a piercing veteran, I’ve gotten over the adolescent impulse to rebel at the nearest body shop. I still have the urge to get pierced, but these days it’s in the most cautious, mature manner possible. At Insight, “Santi,” aka Juan Santiago, one of Insight Studios’ resident piercers, took hold of my […]
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Best reason to kick off your shoes
Relax Feet relaxfeet.us Pulp Fiction’s Vincent Vega would agree that a foot massage is a touchy matter. Relax Feet takes them seriously, providing certified massage therapists, a soothing and thoughtfully decorated environment, clean premises, and very competitive fees. There’s even a separate room for two people where you can throw the most relaxing party ever—if […]
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Best new store for furniture and odd ceramics
Utotem Furniture utotemfurniture.com There used to be a convenience store chain in certain parts of the country called UtoteM, which was bought out by Circle K in the mid-80s. Pilsen’s year-old Utotem Furniture is nothing like those. One of the shop’s three owners, Jordan Grimes, is a furniture designer, and his work is sold in […]
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Best schvitz with a side of politics
Red Square redsquarechicago.com On a Sunday afternoon not long after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced into a runoff in his bid for a second term, Jesse Jackson sauntered through the men’s locker room of the Wicker Park sauna Red Square wearing nothing more than a towel and flip-flops. The reverend’s six-foot-three-inch frame entered my line […]
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Best record store for a musicological dig
Out of the Past outofthepastrecords.com Record collectors like to dig, but few shops in town really give you the sense you might actually unearth something quite like this West Garfield Park spot. At Out of the Past, you’ll want to set aside a few hours, roll up your sleeves, and prepare to get dust on […]