Burt’s Place He may have started (and then sold) Pequod’s years ago, but it’s Burt’s own Place that turns the conversation of pizza, well, deep. Not every pizza maker knows how to acutely place a pan-sized sausage patty in the middle of the pie, nor do they have the exact combination for caramelizing the crust. [...]
Best pizza
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Best yoga studio
CorePower Yoga Regardless of whatever misgivings you might have about supporting a corporate yoga company, there’s no denying the advantage of having seven—soon-to-be-eight—studios located throughout the city, each with almost a dozen classes each day. Regardless of where you plan to get your next drink, there’s somewhere nearby that gets you a yoga high and [...]
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Best use of Speculoos
Edzo’s Burger Shop While everybody else can square off over the merits of peanut butter versus Nutella, we’ll be on the sidelines downing a Speculoos milkshake from the king of Evanston burger joints, Edzo’s. The off-the-menu item isn’t a new edition, but until the Belgian cookie spread, traditionally a winter holiday snack, becomes a household [...]
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Best place to sweat with a Russian
King Spa and Sauna Located in the suburbs, this Korean spa and sauna is probably the most popular place to hang out among the Russian population of the city of Chicago. It reminds one of a Russian “banya;” a place you go to get surrounded by steam, heat and lots of naked comrades. But King [...]
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Best Caribbean-style fish
Red Snapper in citrus-rum sauce at Hemmingway’s Chef Chris Ala’s Oak Park eatery Hemmingway’s Bistro is a long way from Key West, Florida, but the Ernest Hemingway enthusiast and Caribbean-fish-grilling guru cooks with the kind of flare even the Pulitzer-winning novelist could appreciate. Ala orders fresh fish daily from places like Bimini, an island where [...]
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Best sushi in an airport Champagne bar
The spicy rolls at Bubbles in Terminal 3 at O’Hare The old hole-in-the-wall spot by Gate K2 in Terminal 3 at O’Hare got a classy new facelift in February—complete with a jazzy baby grand piano that plays by itself. And no, it’s not a Baldwin. Surrounded by low-slung retro-style lounge seats, the ebony-colored piano is [...]
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Best Big Ten fans in Chicago
Northwestern Hey, where are all the Wildcats bars in Wrigleyville? Exactly. Though the Big Ten Conference prides itself on its fusion of academic excellence with athletic accomplishment, too often alums of the various schools leave their brains behind when it comes time to gather with the tribe and cheer for the alma mater on the [...]
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Best Russian literature class
Gary Saul Morson’s Introduction to Russian Literature class on Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky at Northwestern University His annual class attracts 500-600 undergrads, and is famous throughout the country. Professor Morson is not only a distinguished scholar; he is a performer and one-man theater, who manages to talk about “War and Peace” in a way that thoroughly [...]
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Best place to try the national food of the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (now Uzbekistan)
Chaihanna “Chaihanna” is translated as “tea-house.” This restaurant makes good tea served in a colorful piala, a traditional Asian tea cup. But it is not tea that you should come here for: it is the Uzbek food. The dishes are spicy and flavorful, rich, high in calories, and come in generous portions. This is the [...]
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Best cafe with a deceptively Russian name
Brothers K Alas, it has nothing to do with Dostoyevsky: “Brothers K” deciphers as “Brothers Kim,” and is named after its owners, not Dostoyevsky’s famous novel “The Brothers Karamazov.” Nevertheless, the place attracts the hip Russian population of Evanston and Chicago, who, after realizing the deceptiveness of the cafe’s name, still become regular customers for [...]
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Best reason to believe Northwestern is for real
The offense A caveat: This is “for real” by Northwestern’s admittedly lax definitions; no one presumes them to ascend to the throne of the nation, the Big Ten, or even their division. That being said, playing Ohio State close, then getting slaughtered in Camp Randall, should not be taken as the end of the season […]
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Best place to hook up with your future sugar baby or daddy
15th Ave. Adult Emporium There are probably about fifty million bad ways to go about this, most of which are online and involve random, late-night meet-ups in dark places with people who might kill you. But the 15th Ave. Adult Emporium in Melrose Park offers a sporting chance at finding that elusive relationship “arrangement” in […]
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Best Evanston-based arts advocate
Lisa Corrin, director of the Block Museum In the two years since Lisa Corrin was appointed the new director of the Block Museum on Northwestern’s campus, she has already raised the institution’s profile with major exhibitions of artists like Terry Adkins and the current survey of Wangechi Mutu. She’s overseen a smartly designed facelift to […]
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Best 1940s drive-in other than Superdawg
Hamburger Heaven Hamburger Heaven in Elmhurst, like Superdawg, has been in existence since 1948. But even though it doesn’t have Superdawg’s cool architecture, speakers and servers who deliver to your car door, it’s true Americana. Hamburger Heaven features an eclectic menu of olive burgers, Reuben sandwiches, and a double-decker burger that many say inspired the […]
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Best drive-in for really good soggy, limp French fries
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Best beer hall for an après-dinner spanking
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Best reason to drive to Aurora
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Best avant-garde resurrection
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Best place to drink lager from ye olden days
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Best cafe with a deceptively Russian name
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