The Time Out Chicago blog

Play Pac-Man and eat "power pellets" at Level 257 in Schaumburg

Since his introduction in 1980, Pac-Man has always enjoyed chomping on power pellets, blue ghosts, cherries, pretzels and whatever else comes in contact with his endlessly masticating mouth. So, why has it taken this long for someone to open up an eatery dedicated to the little yellow video game character? When we heard that the world's first official, Pac-Man inspired restaurant would be opening in the Schaumburg, we knew that we had to make a journey to the suburbs to see if it lived up to our expectations. The newly-opened Level 257 in Schaumburg seeks to be the rec room you've always wished you could afford, boasting walls lined with arcade games, 16 bowling lanes, a full bar and a menu that boasts a "Filet Mig-Nom" steak. While it doesn't boast the depth of local barcades like Emporium and Headquarters, Level 257's selection of arcade games does include some more obscure titles, like the four-player Pac-Man Battle Royale and the hybrid arcade/pinball game Baby Pac-Man. A $15 card allows you to play any game you like for an hour, but if blinking screens and joysticks aren't your cup of tea, there's a small lounge equipped with board games like Battleship and checkers. Once you've tried of playing games, you can dig into Level 257's menu, which features a selection of pizza, pasta, sandwiches and meats, as well as cocktails named after video game items and characters. We can't remember Pac-Man ever eating a cauliflower steak, but there's one of those on the menu as well.

Read more

Negative effects of expanded construction hours on Wrigley Field

Chicago Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said that the team will seek permission from 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney to begin around-the-clock construction on the Wrigley Field bleachers and scoreboards in an attempt to complete as much work as possible by opening day on April 5. Despite the urgency and workload required to complete the bleacher construction project, the mayor's office has decided that the Cubs should not be allowed to work 24 hours a day because of the negative impact all that commotion will have on the neighborhood. Consider what a 24/7 construction project would entail: Loud noises at night: Can you imagine the kind of noise pollution night construction would cause? Between workers yelling back and forth with each other and construction equipment making thunderous noises as it operates, around-the-clock construction at the stadium would raise the noise to decibel levels the likes of which Wrigleyville has never heard. Bright lights: In order for workers to see what they are doing at night, construction companies will need to bring in artificial lighting to illuminate the area in and around the stadium. Given that the Cubs were the last team in the league to install permanent stadium lighting in their stadium back in 1988 and the city sets a hard cap on the number of night games they can have, we can see how bringing this newfangled "electricity" to Wrigley for construction might come as a shock for some residents in the area. Increased fo

Read more

ComEd gets FAA approval to fly drones

Most of the hullabaloo around drones these days relates to military undertakings or amateur pilots capturing spectacular videos. Chicago-based ComEd is set to start flying the unmanned aircrafts for a different reason altogether. The power company announced Tuesday that it is the first public utility in the country to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate drones, which will be used to inspect power lines and assess weather-related damages.  The project is a joint effort with Illinois Insitute of Technology. The school will provide a licensed pilot on top of engineering support for the project.  In the same statement, ComEd said that it is looking into using underground robots to investigate hazardous manholes. These new robotics programs from the local power monopoly are sort of freaky, but they also sound incredibly cool. 

Read more

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's new season: Baker, Galati, Guirgis, Letts and Norris

Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced five titles for its 2015–16 subscription season, the company's 40th and the last to be chosen by outgoing artistic director Martha Lavey. Among the slate are the highly anticipated Chicago premiere of Annie Baker's Pulitzer Prize winner The Flick, a world premiere by ensemble member Tracy Letts and the Steppenwolf directing debut of ensemble member Bruce Norris, on his own Domesticated. The season opens with Frank Galati's new adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden (September 17–November 15 in the Downstairs Theatre), directed by Terry Kinney. Galati's adaptation of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath famously transferred from Steppenwolf to Broadway in 1990, winning that year's Tony Award for best play. Next in the Downstairs is Norris's Chicago premiere of Domesticated (December 3–February 7), his 2013 dark comedy (aren't they all?) about a disgraced politician and his wronged wife. In the play's premiere at New York's Lincoln Center Theater, the leads were played by Jeff Goldblum and Steppenwolf ensemble member Laurie Metcalf, and the production staged by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, who takes the reins as Steppenwolf's new artistic director this summer. The Flick (February 4–May 8), Baker's much-talked-about, intentionally languid three-hour portrait of employees at a movie theater, will be staged in the Upstairs Theatre by Dexter Bullard, who memorably directed Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation at Victory Gardens Theat

Read more

Vince Vaughn poses for all your stock photo needs

Chicago-area native Vince Vaughn has been busy as of late. Last weekend, he participated in the Chicago Polar Plunge. This week, he's gearing up for the Friday release of his new movie, Unfinished Business. He carved out some time, however, to pose for some sleek stock photos along with co-stars Tom Wilkinson and the luckiest man on earth Dave Franco. Unfinished Business distributor Twentieth Century Fox paired up with Getty Image's iStock to create these clever promotional pictures.  They're releasing four stills a week for the next three weeks. The first four can be downloaded here. The photos are for "editorial use only," of course.  The pictures poke fun at the inherently cheesy nature of stock photos that are used for anything from brochures to business websites. The business-centric nature ties in with the plot of the movie in which Vaughn plays a small business owner who travels to Europe to close a very important business deal. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that everything does not go as planned.

Read more

Jessie Mueller named Sarah Siddons Society honoree

Chicago's own Jessie Mueller, who won the Tony Award for best actress in a musical last year for playing the title role in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, has been named actress of the year by the Sarah Siddons Society. Mueller will receive the award—given regularly since 1952, inspired by the fictional Sarah Siddons Award in the film All About Eve—at an April 27 event at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. Also appearing will be Tony Award winners and previous Sarah Siddons honorees Heather Headley and Deanna Dunagan, as well as Mueller's entire acting family: her parents, Roger Mueller and Jill Shellabarger, and her siblings Abby, Matthew and Andrew. All four Mueller siblings are expected to perform, as is Headley. Proceeds from the event benefit the Sarah Siddons Society's scholarship fund for theater students at Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University, Northwestern University and Roosevelt University. Tickets ($95, students $25) are on sale at beautiful.brownpapertickets.com.

Read more

Pivot Arts Festival announces third annual slate

Pivot Arts will return to the Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods this spring with its third annual festival of theater, dance, children's performances and more programming across multiple venues. This year's Pivot Arts Festival, set to run May 28–June 7, currently has confirmed performances and other events by BAATHHAUS, Lizi Breit, Bri-Ko, Pamela Chermansky, Edgewater Workbench, Dean Evans, Ayako Kato, Daniel Kerr-Hobert, Lucky Plush Productions, Jessie Marasa, Neo-Futurists, RE Dance, Tsukasa Taiko and Vanessa Valliere. Also on tap are kids' performances by CircEsteem, Lifeline Theatre, Merry Music Makers, Swift School and Storytown Improv. Confirmed venues for the fest, with tickets ranging from free to $20, include Francesca's Bryn Mawr, Lickity Split Custard and Sweet Shop, Loyola University’s Mundelein Center for the Arts, Granville Avenue, Loyola University’s St. Ignatius Community Plaza and the Uptown Underground. A complete lineup and schedule will be announced shortly, with tickets on sale April 7.

Read more

Farmer's Almanac predicts 'hotter than normal' Chicago summer

There may be hope yet for a sunny conclusion to our winter of discontent. According to Farmer's Almanac, an annual weather periodical published every year since 1818, if we can make it to April, Chicago will be in store for a summer that is "hotter than normal." This is welcome news coming out of a month that tied for the coldest February since 1875. Unfortunately, if the Almanac is to be believed, we first have to survive a March that will be five degrees below average. Although, for what it's worth, the Almanac predicted a "slightly milder than normal" winter in 2014, which of course was a little off the mark. In any case, you've made it this far, Chicago. Before you know it, the only dibs you'll need to worry about are the ice cream kind.

Read more

What to expect when the NFL draft comes to Chicago

For the first time in 50 years, the NFL will host its draft outside of New York. From April 30–May 1, each of the league's 32 teams will head to Chicago to select their next class of concussion patients.  ESPN's Darren Rovell spoke with Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's senior vice president of events, and reported on the plans for the weekend. Here's what he discovered: The Auditorium Theatre will be the primary host: ESPN and NFL Network will both have sets inside the theater, and about 3,000 seats will be made available for fans. Outside, there will be another 3,000 seats in an area called "Selection Square." There is not yet an established plan for how those tickets will be distributed, but they will be free.  Grant Park will turn into a meathead bonanza: Chicago's front lawn will become "Draft-Town" over the weekend, with a "small chalet" for each of the league's 32 teams. Here, attendees will be able to run a 40-yard dash and get autographs from players. ESPN and NFL Network will also have sets in the park, which is sure to lure hundreds of sign-bearing fans desperately trying to be on TV for a few seconds. After doing their required interviews with each network inside the theater, each draftee will come outside for an interview for the crowd in the park. Buckingham Fountain will be lit up in the colors of the team on the clock: It's going to blasphemous to see Chicago's most famous fountain glowing with Packers colors, but it's good to know Buckingham's lights can glow wi

Read more

El stop walking tour: 18th Street Pink Line

Chicago's melting pot gives way to a spectrum of diverse neighborhoods. Even better, CTA riders can benefit from two 25-cent transfers for up to two hours after their initial swipe. To help you spend your quarter and your time wisely, we suggest taking a walking tour from a station. We start in Pilsen, exploring 18th Street in an hour (or so). Take the Pink Line to the 18th Street station, which is about a 15-minute ride from the Loop, and head east.  Take Me Out (8 minutes for carryout) This place stands out for actually having Korean "hotties" instead of Mexican fare. These lollipop style wings—or boneless if you prefer—are covered in amazing sauces. Delicious, especially with the purple taro root rice. Get it to go. 1502 W 18th St. Pilsen Vintage & Thrift (8 minutes for browsing) Just across the street from Knee Deep Vintage, another excellent vintage and thrift store, this shop offers newer designer finds. Each shop offers reasonable prices and a wide selection of housewares, jewelry and more. Take a quick look at the merchandise and continue east. 1430 W 18th St. Birrieria Reyes de Octolan (20 minutes for a sit-down meal) Try it, you'll like it. Get the goat stew (or birria), which comes with homemade salsas, chilis, onions, tomatoes, cheese, cilantro, lime and hot sauce. A pound of meat is easily shared among 3 people. Don't forget the horchata. 1322 W 18th St.Modern Cooperative (8 minutes browsing) Head east for another four blocks for one of Pilsen's best gems. Th

Read more