Results tagged “northavenue”

Seems we're not the only ones who have trouble finding sports stories newsworthy enough to cover this time of year. With the Bears' season over, the Bulls and Hawks dwelling near the cellar, and the start of spring training still a couple weeks away, these are cold days for Chicago sports fans.

After months of anticipation, the $21,400,000 suspension bridge that's gradually been taking form at North Avenue appears to be nearing completion. This morning, for the first time since construction began in mid-2006, traffic is actually passing over the bridge, instead of being diverted to the temporary bridge that sits just to the south.

Bin 36 hosted their annual Bubbles Bash last night where 450 revelers ate and drank, then drank ome more, to their heart’s delight. Champagne, cava, prosecco, sekt, and sparklers from a full range of countries flowed for hours making a dark and drizzly Wednesday night into a scintillating celebration of friends, flavors, and holiday festivities.

Marina Café on Jackson Harbor is one of many restaurants on the South side we'd love to recommend to readers without hesitation, but can't. We're convinced that tables without a reservation would be hard to come by if this restaurant was located at Monroe Harbor or North Avenue Beach. We also suspect that, if it were in one of those locations, Marina Café's owners and management would place a bigger emphasis on restaurant basics. As such, we can't eagerly endorse their combination of Creole and Caribbean for lunch or dinner. We were hoping that yesterday's jazz brunch would see them raise their level. But the food was still hit-or-miss.

Cyrano's Bistrot is open again, after a week and four inspections to combat a roach infestation caused by condo renovations above the restaurant. Congratulations, Chef Didier. Just don't expect us to visit anytime soon. Gabriel Magliaro of Half Acre Beer Company has been busy. Half Acre and Bloodshot Records have a promotion where Bloodshot is offering a sampler album as a free download to Half Acre fans. Magliaro will also be at Whole Foods...

The most popular museum in the world is the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which sees nearly 9 million visitors come through its doors each year. So it is no surprise that Chicago's Annual Air & Water Show is the largest two-day spectator event in the United States, with audience numbers reaching nearly 2.5 million. The free annual event is back for its 49th edition and has a great line-up ready to...

The Association of Volleyball Professionals return to the Chicago lakefront this week for the sponsorship-heavy McDonald's AVP Chicago Open by Nautica. Play begins tomorrow morning at 8 with the tournament qualifier matches, which are free for spectators. The main draw begins on Friday morning at 9. The competition runs on through the weekend with the Men's final slated for 3pm on Saturday and the Women's final at 3pm on Sunday. Both finals will also be broadcast on NBC.

August 8. August 8 is the day some have been waiting for and some have been dreading. The day Whole Foods will open in the South Loop's Southgate Market. We originally disliked the idea. Then we were pissed when it didn't open in the fall. We also worried that Whole Foods might give up on us all together when their profits were falling. But yuppies, hippies, and everyone in between rejoice: South Loop Whole...

One of the things we like the most about Chicago is that when the weather agrees, this city behaves much like a resort town. You can walk, jog, ride a bike, rollerblade, or skateboard along a massive lakefront to any number of beaches. And when you arrive at the beach of your choice, you can hang out for the afternoon, drinking, eating, and more drinking like there isn’t a care in the world. We stopped...

All right, people. It's the moment you've been waiting for: as of Friday, the beaches are now open. Glee! Last one to dive headfirst into Lake Michigan is a piece of raw sewage ... much like Lake Michigan itself. Ah, but we poke fun at that body of water of ours. To be honest, the city is putting a pilot program into effect this bathing season in order to help out with that pesky E....

We know our readers probably have their favorite Mexican place, possibly an undiscovered hole-in-the-wall with the best mole in the city. We’d love to hear about it. When it comes to dining out with our baby, however, one of the best Mexican restaurants in Chicago has got to be Uncle Julio’s Hacienda on North Avenue.

Chicagoist was taking an excursion down North Avenue this weekend, when we decided to stop and buy some groceries at what looked to be a standard Cub Foods. Upon closer inspection (a.k.a. actually reading the sign) we discovered it was not a Cub Foods. What was it? Though the "Foods" part of the "Cub Foods" name was still on the side of the building, a new set of lettering also read Grand Mart. Ans then there was another set of lettering that read Mercado Grande. And there was also some Korean lettering that we couldn't decipher, mostly because Chicagoist isn't fluent in Korean.

The North-Clybourn shopping district is about to get a lot more congested. Crain's ran a piece this weekend about more retail development in the areas around Clybourn Avenue between North Avenue and Division Street, including a massive 350,000-square-foot shopping center at the New City YMCA site. That complex will be joined by the new home of the British School of Chicago on Halsted, which will include 90,000 square feet of retail, redevelopment of two industrial sites, and undisclosed plans for a lot near Kingsbury and Division.

We haven't really heard too much from so-called "big box" retailers since City Council unpredictably voted against Daley to decide how much they pay their workers and were subsequently and somewhat-predictably vetoed by Daley. We're not sure where you stood, stand, or sit on the issue, but you should add one more tidbit of info to your argument: Home Depot has announced it will be hiring 2,000 people in the Chicago area.

It’s the beginning of the year, and that means it’s time for architectural institution Preservation Chicago to unveil its picks of the seven most endangered buildings in the city, colloquially known as the Chicago 7. We’re always interested to see what buildings, structures or districts the little-organization-that-could deems worthy of its annual list. The finalists: North Avenue Bridge. We mistakenly believed this was the bridge someone asked Chicagoist about last week, but 'tis not the...

The CTA put out their 2006 ridership figures on Monday, showing a 0.5 percent increase from last year, and boosting figures to their highest level since 1993, according to CTA officials. Several things in this report were unexpected to us. First, that buses account for two-thirds of total CTA ridership. We would have never guessed, frankly. A lot of buses don’t run 24 hours, and after rush hour a lot of buses don’t seem...

What's Going on with the North Avenue Bridge?

Hundreds of Chicagoans rang in the New Year with a polar plunge into Lake Michigan. Safely on the shore of North Avenue Beach, the swimmers were supported by hundreds of camera and towel toting friends and family. All it took to get the party started was one loud kamakazee-esque run into the 39 degree waters of Lake Michigan. The lone swimmer started a chain reaction that resulted in a full-out assault of the lake. Most made it in and were back out well under a minute. Many marveled at one man, who seemed impervious to the cold and spent several minutes swimming.

If you’re nostalgic for the caravan of moving trucks tooling around the city in late September—and really, who isn’t?—John Song and Ries Productions have an event for you. “Mobile Exhibitions” is a Humboldt Park art show on wheels, a commentary on urban evolution, and an excuse to play with balloons and piñatas. The one true sign of neighborhood gentrification is constantly debated. The new Starbucks on the corner? The Urban Outfitters next to American Apparel?...

We're pretty opinionated about the safety of the lakefront bike path. Apparently, so are you. Why not join in the Dick Herron Bike and Walk this Sunday? This 15-mile ride along the lakefront path, or short walk through Lincoln Park, is in honor of Dr. Richard Herron, a cyclist killed two years ago in a traffic accident. Proceeds from the walk will be funneled toward the Dick Herron Memorial Fund, which helps build the self-confidence of young people through bulding bikes, or the Chicago Bicycle Federation's "Drive With Care" initiative.

All year we’ve been hearing the hype and the promises. This week, two Chicago cultural institutions invite the public to see the results of their high profile face lifts. The venue once known as the Chicago Historical Society regularly provided modest, helpful insights into local and regional history. Now it’s been renovated and renamed the Chicago History Museum, sporting 16,000 shiny new square feet for robust programming, heeding Burnham’s command to “Make no small plans.”...

The Hideout Block Party - including Touch and Go's silver anniversary celebration - merely headlines what is shaping up to be a busy weekend of neighborhood and city-endorsed festivals. As people throughout the city scramble to enjoy the waning moments of prime tanning and outdoor drinking weather, here are some other festivals and events around the city for you to check out: - The Windy City Wine Festival gears up for another weekend of oenophilia...

Anyone working downtown realized today that the 48th Annual Air & Water Show is this weekend. Aircraft participating in this year's event started roaring up and down the lakeshore today in preparation for this weekend's show. Chicagoist had the opportunity fly with the AeroShell Aerobatic Team this morning to check out the pilots to ensure they were ready for the show. The AeroShell Team is comprised of four T-6 Texans and four planes used to...

Goose Island Building?

The AVP McDonald's Chicago Open Volleyball tour is in Chicago this weekend. Action started on Thursday and continued with preliminary rounds today. The tournament features some of the best men and women beach volleyball players in the world.

With Memorial Day behind us and a streak of days breaking 80 degrees, we think we can say summer is on its way. And, nothing says summer in Chicago quite like drinking a $6 margarita overlooking the lake. That’s right, we’re talking about Castaways Bar & Grill, and as crowded and cliché as it might be, it’s a Chicago summertime landmark. If you’ve lived in Chicago for more than a minute, then you undoubtedly...

Tired of the dog bias rampant in this city? Need a little culture? Head on over to the Caro d’Offay Gallery for the closing reception of Annie Stone and Nuria Melero’s exhibition tonight. None other than the Acro-Cats/Rock Cats will be showing us their talents. From skateboarding tricks to feline rock-n-roll, these cats have it all. Chicagoist knows that nothing is sweeter than pussy and rock. Tuna, Pinky, Dakota, and Nue are only going to...

Ever hear of a pumpkin whoopie pie? Neither had we, until we got a note in the mail from Land Grant College Review editor Richard Benjamin, who describes the apparent treats as "cream cheese frosting between pumpkin cookies." He'll be bringing some with him tomorrow for the first-ever Chicago release party of the LGCR at Estelle's--and giving them away for free! We have to say, we're both intrigued and a little bit skeptical. Pumpkin confections, if done properly, can be a delight - spicy, creamy, sweet; overwhelming and dull if not.

Days before last summer's Taste of Chicago, Mayor Daley's new Traffic Management Authority, the same think tank that brought you flourescent green human speedbumps, decided to remove the stoplight and pedestrian crosswalk on Lake Shore Drive at Buckingham Fountain. The spot, named "Queen's Landing" after Queen Elizabeth II came ahsore there during her 1959 visit to the city, had had a stoplight since a teenager was killed by a car there in 1988. After removing the light, the city also continued its lakefront beautification project by erecting rustic wooden fences along the bike path to prevent pedestrians from crossing mid-block. "It's a touch of Olney, right here in the city," said a spokesperson at the time.

Anyone with even a passing interest in hip-hop secretly wishes they could roll on dubs. C'mon, admit it: you saw that Dr. Dre video with the low riders and their hundred spoke gold rims and you said, "Damn those would look sweet on my Corolla." But you probably talked yourself out of it because you thought they would be too expensive, or that you wouldn't know where to buy them, or more likely, you worried about what it would do to your social standing. But fear not. Chicagoist is here to do the research and accept the social ridicule for you.