Chicago’s independent grocery stores
Six business owners share the stories of how they started and continue to serve their neighbors.
FOOD & DRINK
Mapping Chicago’s independent grocery stores
Up against the corporate chains, these shops carve out a living while
serving their neighbors.
Immigrants power Chicago’s food industry
Still think anti-immigrant policies only impact immigrant communities? Your stomach would like a word.
Guava is a bridge between past and future for immigrant cafe and bakery owners
For Colombian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Venezuelan, and Cuban cooks, the fruit allows the memory of home to live on.
Latest Stories
Art-rockers Sweeping Promises step up their home-studio game on You Say I Romanticize
Fri 10/30 at Empty Bottle
Taper’s Choice are the perfect gateway drug for the jam-band curious
Fri 10/30 at Garcia’s
TV on the cinema
David Lynch’s soapy epic gets the big screen it deserves at the Music Box Theatre’s Twin Peaks: Moving Through Time.
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival maintains twenty-twenty vision in its 20th year
The fest’s biggest-ever crowd came out for a dazzling roster whose wide-ranging talents brought us two days of music with open borders.
Darshita, Sarah, and Shivani embrace friendship as a practice of hope
Connected through their love for poetry, this trio have created a trusting friendship built on radical acceptance and celebration.
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News & Politics
Cook County groups want a budget freeze for the sheriff and state’s attorney
A coalition of more than 55 organizations wants Cook County to freeze spending on the sheriff and state’s attorney amid a $550 million deficit and redirect the money to public defenders and violence prevention.
Automated license plate readers, explained
What you need to know about the network of surveillance cameras cropping up in communities across the U.S.
Feds tapped local surveillance networks in botched Chicago prosecutions
During their failed efforts to prosecute Marimar Martinez and Anthony Ruiz, federal authorities accessed a network of Chicagoland license plate readers and surveillance cameras.
Music
Casa Cafe takes a hiatus from hardcore
The venue’s bookers are pursuing a city license so they can safely restart shows. Plus: DJ Paul Nixon launches the pop-up shop Happy Home Records, and more.
Musclecars center New York City’s dance history in their omnivorous house tracks
Fri 10/23 at Smart Bar
Muggsy Spanier’s hot cornet gave extra shine to early Chicago jazz
His tremendous energy helped keep the Windy City’s distinctive style alive, even after it was eclipsed by big-band swing and bebop.
Blasphemy reigns at the 2026 Sanctum Dark Music Festival
Fri 10/30 and Sat 10/31 at Thalia Hall
Film & TV
Chicago cinephiles still want something to hold
Local vendors and collectors say the appeal of physical media isn’t just nostalgia; it’s ownership streaming platforms can’t revoke.
Reeling is still where queer cinema goes to find its people
Our critic caught 11 features at Reeling: The 44th Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival. Here are four favorites.
CUFF stuff
Every Contact Leaves a Trace (2025) and A Stranger Has No Eyes (2026)
Review: Digger
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s swaggering, self-devouring satire turns American ambition into a joke.
Theater, dance, comedy
Detroit ʼ67 tackles grief, love, and legacy in a Black family
Dominique Morisseau’s drama gets a moving and funny revival with Pulse Theatre Chicago at eta Creative Arts Foundation.
Red Bike gives a child’s-eye view of late-stage capitalism
Backyard Theatre Company stages Caridad Svich’s poetic disquisition on the death of an American town.
Dead Girl’s Quinceañera brings a police procedural spin to a coming-of-age tale
Three Latine girls in Miami search for their missing friend in Phanésia Pharel’s cunning play at the Goodman.
Vampire Playlist takes the Eurocentrism out of undead stories
Concrete Content’s latest uses movement and music (but not bad techno!) to explore the undead.
Visual Arts, books
Gladys Nilsson: ‘I was here’
The Hairy Who artist talks about aging, Olive Oyl, and why creative people don’t retire.
Trapped in stasis
At Shanghai Seminary, Chicago artist Geof Oppenheimer stages voyeuristic interventions under an orange glow.
Man vs. nature
In Dear Water, artist Jiaqi Liu shows that humans have less control over the natural world than we may think.
CITY LIFE
Objects of memory
The Little Palestine Project charts an oral history of Chicago’s southwest suburbs through treasured possessions.
Food & Drink
Rohingya roots take hold in West Ridge
Through festivals, gardens, and groceries, this southeast Asian community in exile weaves itself into Chicago’s food fabric.
How comedians eat it before and after grabbing the mike
Chicago comics fuel and refuel on raw bagels, spinach deep dish, and tuna pouches.
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Spend your summer immersed in art and performance at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art
This summer at the MCA will be filled with new exhibitions, interactive performances, and artists talks.
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