100 Chicago restaurants open Christmas Day 2011

You don’t have to cook Christmas dinner.

65 Chicago places to eat Thanksgiving dinner, 2011

North Side, South Side or in the Chicago suburbs, you don’t have to cook your own Thanksgiving dinner. Chicagoland restaurants offer bountiful holiday feasts. Call for hours and menu details. Reservations are highly recommended if not required everywhere. Many restaurants also offer complete Thanksgiving dinners for carry out — several days’ notice is typically required. [...]

Eat this! Chrysanthemum tea, China’s sweet cure-all

What it is: An infusion of the flowers of one of several types of chrysanthemums (such as Chrysanthemum morifolium or C. indicum), chrysanthemum tea is a refreshing beverage popular in China and elsewhere in Asia. Faintly honeyed on its own, it’s often brewed with rock sugar for additional sweetness. Chinese herbalists claim the tea has [...]

Mooncakes fete Chinese historic rebellion

Traditional mooncakes and other authentic fare mark the Mid-Autumn Festival menu at Shanghai Terrace on the Magnificent Mile. Legend has it that the cakes commemorate the 14th-century Chinese rebellion against Mongol oppression. The rebels communicated with their compatriots by hiding the slips of paper in smuggled cakes. From Sept. 6 through 12, Chef Ivan Yuen [...]

Alpana Singh leads Mag Mile tasting for new wine program

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises launches its new online wine sales program.

Happy 40th anniversary, Lettuce Entertain You

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, perhaps the single most influential company in Chicago restaurant history, celebrates its 40th anniversary on Friday, June 10, at the place that started it all, R.J. Grunts in Lincoln Park. Burgers will be $1.50 in tribute to the original 1971 price, and a DJ will spin ’70s tunes all day and [...]

Chicago celebrates a meaty month of May

Here’s what a few Chicago restaurants are doing to celebrate meat in May.

10 Chicago Mother’s Day freebies

Cherishing your mother needn’t break the budget. Just about every restaurant in town is offering brunch or dinner specials for Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, but these sweeten the pot with free items for Mom.

12 ways to go green for Earth Day at Chicago restaurants

Every day should be Earth Day, but here are a few upcoming Chicago events. Uncommon Ground, Edgewater, Great Lakes Brewing Co. Earth Day Dinner,6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, $55. The event begins with passed appetizers, followed by Chef Chris Spear’s four-course dinner including grilled asparagus, truffled deviled egg with ham praline and green goddess dressing [...]

14 places to celebrate Passover 2011 in Chicago

Passover, the Jewish commemoration of the Biblical Exodus, begins at sunset Monday, April 18. While most Jews will gather for ritual meals called seders at family homes, if you don’t have a seder to go to, a variety of local restaurants stand ready to provide you with traditional food, if not always services.