Hey all you cocktail-loving, pizza-eating, cruise-taking canines: Here are five events to which you’re more than welcome to bring your well-behaved human. Sip & Give dog-friendly cocktail party A dog-friendly cocktail party/fund-raiser to benefit Found, a nonprofit, no-kill shelter focused on the rescue, rehabilitation, and re-homing of dogs and cats that would otherwise be euthanized. […]
Tag: Vol. 40 No. 35
Issue of May. 19 – 25, 2011
Posted inCity Life
Alfresco: 25 notable spots for outdoor dining
Hundreds of the city’s restaurants and bars set up outdoor dining catering to customers starved for summer. We’ve selected 25 notable spots, including some newcomers; for complete alfresco listings search under “features” at chicagoreader.com/chicago/RestaurantFinder/Page. 90 Miles Cuban Cafe | Wicker Park/Bucktown | $ The second outpost of Alberto and Christine Gonzalez’s 90 Miles Cuban Cafe […]
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Savage Love: We come in all sizes – deal with it
Dan takes on questions about dealing something no one can help.
Posted inArts & Culture
The photographs in Conflict Zone document endless war and daily life.
Every modern war has its iconic photographs—the ones that get seared into memory and reproduced in history books. Matthew Brady’s picture of the Confederate dead at Antietam. Joe Rosenthal’s view of the Iwo Jima flag-raising. Nick Ut’s shot of a naked Vietnamese girl fleeing a napalm attack. Perhaps no image better illustrates the confusion and […]
Posted inCity Life
Blarney Island: A mile away from reality and dangerously close to paradise
“Babes. Bikinis. Bands. Boats. Beer. We think we’ve got it covered!” That’s the loaded promise that greets visitors to Blarney Island’s website. Each of the B-words pops up next to an empty square, which is promptly filled in with a large, exaggerated check mark as calypso music blares. Naturally, the checklist sits next to a […]
Posted inCity Life
The return of Benton Harbor’s old-school blues fest
It’s about as far from the stereotypical backstreet juke as you can get: a breeze wafts off the lake, easing the scorch of the midsummer sun. There’s sand underfoot, barbecue smoke in the air, and several thousand people relaxing in lawn chairs or dancing to the funk-driven blues blasting from a stage at one end […]
Posted inCity Life
From scavenger hunts to beachathons to obstacle courses, the race is on
Mud pits, banana costumes, ice cream flavor identification . . . these are some of the summer’s more idiosyncratic competitive events. Most require advance registration, with prices—listed per person unless otherwise noted—increasing as race dates approach. Urban Assault Ride In teams of two, cycling scavenger hunters head to a dozen-odd checkpoints, stopping for activities like […]
Posted inMusic
Punk’s not dead at Reggie’s Rock Club
Hardcore legends T.S.O.L., along with Shot Baker, Counterpunch, and the Neutron Bombs, packed Reggie’s Rock Club last Saturday. The all-ages show proved to be a punk rock equalizer, between longtime fans and kids who hadn’t yet been born when T.S.O.L. first took the stage 30 years ago. Ever-charming vocalist Jack Grisham got some laughs with […]
Posted inMusic
The Secret History of Chicago Music: The Late Results
Horns-driven garage band had multiple seminary students
Posted inMusic
Three Beats: Local MC Vic Spencer goes in on Odd Future; Jeanine O’Toole leaves the Hideout; My Silence borrows Sharon Van Etten
HIP-HOP | Vic Spencer goes in on Odd Future Advance copies of Tyler, the Creator’s Goblin were hard to come by, and his label, XL Recordings, managed to keep it from leaking until just days before its release date—but it seems like every music critic alive wrote about Tyler and Odd Future before the album […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s far is near for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Stamping Ground is proof that the world just keeps getting smaller. One of three pieces offered by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet—an American repertory company specializing in European contemporary dance—the 1983 work by Czech-born, Netherlands-based choreographer Jií Kylián honors the aboriginal dance he saw in Australia. But his freewheeling take on the tribal also echoes Monty […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Key Ingredient: City Provisions’ Cleetus Friedman shows that, like bacon, bourbon makes everything better
The Chef: Cleetus Friedman (City Provisions) The challenger: Barry Sorkin (Smoque) The ingredient: Bourbon One thing Cleetus Friedman learned years ago is that you shouldn’t cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. The same goes for bourbon, which is why one step of the recipe he came up with for bourbon-glazed ham is: “Pour half […]
Posted inCity Life
Exploring Chicago Craft Beer Week
Now in its second year, Chicago Craft Beer Week features dozens of tastings, beer dinners, brewery tours, and new brew debuts between May 19 and 27 (chibeerweek.com). A Beer Passport, available online and at all events for $10, serves as a guide to the week’s events and a ticket for a few featured events each […]
Posted inCity Life
Best of the rest of the fests
Whether you like your summer weekends loud with a side of light beer or a little more eclectic, the options for fairs and festivals that suit your mood are plentiful. Admission fees listed for most neiighborhood festivals are suggested donations for charity or community projects. May International Mr. Leather Chicago’s homegrown leather-man competition packs the […]
Posted inCity Life
The Reader’s 2011 Chicago Summer Guide
The best food, booze, beaches, concerts, festivals, and activities in Chicago – and beyond