Popcornography
The best caramel corn comes from butterflies combined with mushrooms. Some people use only mushrooms—the kernels that pop into smooth, round balls—but Sharon Yoder of Yoder Popcornsays butterflies—the kernels that...
Chicago has more distinctive local specialties than any other city. Some are unique, such as Italian beef, breaded steak sandwiches, chicken vesuvio, and shrimp de jonghe. Others were invented here or taken to unequalled extremes, like deep dish pizza, hot dogs dragged through the garden, Chicago mix caramel corn, and, arguably, the corned beef sandwich. Hyperbole aside, Chicago has a dizzying variety of eateries, plain and fancy, traditional and cutting-edge, foreign and domestic. South Side soul food, cooked in aquarium smokers, is in a class by itself. Quality, and quantity, of portions at the great steak houses defies modesty. At least two of the city’s donut shops would be among the nation’s top five. And pizza culture beyond the original deep dish is always expanding.
The best caramel corn comes from butterflies combined with mushrooms. Some people use only mushrooms—the kernels that pop into smooth, round balls—but Sharon Yoder of Yoder Popcornsays butterflies—the kernels that...
From the shockingly priced cup of hot chocolate Tom Cruise drinks in the soigné Palm Court of The Drake Hotel in Risky Business ($4 in 1983) to the cheap eats Jim...
By the time John Belushi was elected Wheaton (Ill.) Central High homecoming king, Bill Charuchas had already made his reputation at Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern & Grill parroting owner Sam Sianis’s...
By Jane and Micheal Stern CHICAGO'S LIVELIEST culinary sport is rating city specialties. Food journalists and freelance eaters are forever debating whose Red Hots, deep-dish pizzas, Italian beef, and rib...
Before you eat a hot beef sandwich in Chicago, you need to talk to Chris Pacelli, Jr., who owns Al's #1 Italian Beef with his brothers Chuck and Terry....
Before Ralph Nader, cars were fun. For generations of joyriders, a purring V-8 was a vehicle for play and pleasure. "Companion of carefree days" is how Chevy advertised itself...
As a matter of principle, we are committed to finding food with ample fat, from marbled steaks to chocolate cakes, but even we sometimes yearn for light fare. On...
Monday is the slowest day of the week at Manny's cafeteria, because Monday is the day people diet, trying to make amends for weekend excess. At Manny's, on Jefferson...
We have for you a list of some of the top eats on a budget when you are visiting Chicago, Il. This enticing city has it all from architectural...
A road trip along the the southwest shore of Lake Michigan offers a wild taste-buds adventure (assuming you can get out of Chicago with any appetite remaining ... but...
Unique Regional Dishes After 40 years and 5 million miles spent on the road looking for America's best regional food, we've assembled a list of the quintessential, must-eat food in...
Is there another dish as diverse as pizza? It can be an utterly simple tomato pie – nothing but sauce on crust – or it can be a multi-meat...
Whatever you like to eat, Chicago has it – humble and swanky, familiar and exotic, healthful and decadent, from anywhere on earth and in every imaginable setting. But what...
Are you looking a flavor that is unique Chicago? Eating experiences that are found only in the city or at their very best here? If so, savor these memorable...
If you are looking for a true taste of Chicago -- eating experiences that are unique to the city or at their very best here -- savor these memorable...
Outdoor Dining in the Windy City Some of the best casual outdoor dining in Chicago include meals that are eaten standing up at a counter or at outdoor tables. Here...
Chicken Vesuvio is served nowhere outside of Chicago, and even many Chicagoans are unaware of it. A dish of sautéed and baked, bone-in, skin-on parts of chicken and wedges...
It is not quite right that deep-dish pie gets all the attention when it comes to Chicago pizza. Yes, the forkworthy casserole-style pizza was first created in Chicago, in...
Long before the apotheosis of food trucks, Chicago was a city where a person could eat extremely well without picking up a knife and fork. Here is a day's...
Why is brunch so wonderful? One, it almost always includes adult beverages. Two, it's far more bountiful than either breakfast or lunch. Three, there's no hurry to eat it:...
The term diner has come to mean almost any inexpensive cafe that serves breakfast. But true diners are an elite class of eatery. They are mid 20th century design...
For some passionate eaters, a great cafeteria can be a source of tremendous anxiety. How on earth can a person choose from among dozens and dozens of good-looking desserts,...
First, we apologize to the Stockholm Pie Company in Wisconsin, to Nick's Kitchen in Huntington, Indiana, to the Bang Bang Pie Shop in Chicago, and to Beardsley Cider Mill...
The only possible happy exclamation incited by corned beef hash spooned from a can is "Arf!" But freshly chopped and sizzled to a crisp, crowned with poached eggs eager...
Donut devotion as fervid as the commitment devotees have for barbecue. Everybody has a favorite kind. From robust cake sinkers to featherweight glazed, styles vary dramatically. In our experience,...
"Drive-in" has come to mean just about any cheap-eats restaurant with car-friendly parking. A genuine drive-in is a place where customers park and are waited on and eat in...
Steamy hot, soft and supple, perfumed by spice and smoke, infused with the dripping succulence of animal fat, pastrami is the most voluptuous of delicatessen meats. Great pastrami sandwiches...
Crumb-topped, lattice-topped, or layered with caramel and welcoming a scoop of ice cream on top, apple pie is everywhere from coast to coast. For your pleasure, a baker's dozen...
Many restaurants serve steak, but some places are dedicated to it. Although no great steak house is cheap, some of the best are extremely informal (like Doe's Eat Place...
There's no point getting into a flame war over which American hot dog is best. It's impossible, because the nation's hot dogs are so diverse. However, we will go...
When barbecue migrated up the Mississippi from its homes in the Deep South and in Texas, it took on a new personality -- similar to what happened to the...
When people think of good corned beef sandwiches, they tend to envision New York, or maybe Miami or Los Angeles. But in fact, the Midwest's best corned beef sandwiches,...
Chicago is a Hot Dog City Frankfurter historians believe the Chicago red hot (aka hot dog) was first configured in 1929. Abe "Fluky" Drexler first served it at the street...
More New-World than Old-Country, the Italian beef sandwich was invented on Chicago's near West Side and it has become a city signature dish as beloved as red hots. It...