#LoveLocal: Time Out Chicago celebrates local shops, food and culture

Chicago has officially reopened, and we've got a packed roster of events on the docket this week to prove it. Fill your weeknights with virtual events, like the 80th anniversary party for the South Side Community Art Center, or sip mixed drinks from local bartender extraordinaire Nick Kokonas during his book launch at Avondale Bowl. Then, catch the hotly-anticipated opening of “The Obama Portraits” on Friday (Illinois residents can go for free during the first week, by the way) before checking out a weekend full of Juneteenth celebrations ranging from a tour of the Walk of Fame in Bronzeville to a pop-up market featuring tons of local Black makers. It's also Fathers Day on Sunday, so be sure to schedule some quality time with Dad—we think he might like sipping brews from the best Chicago breweries during one of the two beer festivals happening this weekend. Last, but certainly not least, our very own Time Out Market Chicago is reopening this Thursday with a flurry of live music and events that you won't want to miss. Say cheers to a newly-opened city and read through the rest of the best things to do in Chicago this week.  RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in Chicago right now

June 2021: Congratulations, Chicago—we've made it to official beginning of the city's best season. Celebrate and boost your vitamin D intake this month with some outdoor adventures, like a trip to the stunning, large-scale "Human+Nature" exhibition at the Morton Arboretum in suburban Lisle or a much-needed day in the sun at one of Chicago's newly opened beaches. Plus, check out the Art Institute of Chicago's long-awaited exhibition of the Obama presidential portraits, which debut at the museum on June 18. Summer is here, so make the most of it with the best things to do in Chicago.  No matter where your interests lie, you can always find something to get excited about in this no-nonsense Midwestern metropolis. The best things to do in Chicago run the gamut—from seriously fun to awesomely educational. Looking for culture? Spend a day exploring Chicago museums. Hungry? You've come to the right place. There are tons of amazing restaurants in Chicago that highlight the city's rich and diverse culinary landscape. (And plenty of uniquely Chicago bars that do the trick, too.) We've searched all across the city to assemble this list of the best things to do in Chicago. Follow it and never get bored here again. Done something on this list and loved it? Share it with the hashtag #TimeOutDoList and tag @TimeOutEverywhere. You can also find out more about how Time Out selects the very best things to do all over the world, or take a look at our list of the 50 best things to do in the worl

Bridgeport nonprofit the Public Media Institute (PMI) has stayed busy over the past year, helping to launch brand new initiatives like the outdoor Community of the Future Market and the Community Kitchen and Canteen at Kimski, which provides free meals on a pay-it-forward model. But now that much of Chicago are opening up again, the nonprofit will finally get to debut a project that predates the pandemic era—a massive art shop and event space in the Chicago Cultural Center's Garland Gallery called Buddy, which opens its doors to the public on June 2. A collaboration between PMI and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Buddy showcases the work of more than 200 artists and small manufacturers from across the Chicagoland area, selling everything from fanciful sculptures and photography prints to tie-dyed sweatpants and handmade earrings. The store is an evolved version of the Small Manufacturing Alliance, which used to put on events and pop-up shops in venues across the city—it also shares a name with a defunct Wicker Park artist-run space that once served as the headquarters of local publication Lumpen magazine. When the opportunity arose for a permanent spot at the Cultural Center via a DCASE call for project proposals, PMI jumped at the chance to open up a centralized location for artists to sell their wares to a downtown audience. "The idea of the shop is was always that we have this amazing opportunity to be in downtown Chicago and to bring

Since 2008, a building on Lincoln Avenue has been the home of Half Acre Beer Co., a business that arguably helped kick off the explosion of craft breweries in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. When Half Acre opened its Balmoral brewery in 2015, it kept the original Lincoln Avenue taproom, bottle shop and brewing facility intact, providing customers with two places to snag cans of fresh Daisy Cutter and Pony Pils. But later this year, Half Acre will consolidate its operations in its much larger Balmoral facility, selling its original home to a rapidly-expanding upstart brewery. Known for its weekly cadence of new can releases that typically revolve around extra-hoppy hazy IPAs, Hop Butcher For the World will be the new occupant of 4257 N Lincoln Ave—according to the Chicago Tribune, the deal is expected to close in October. Hop Butcher founders Jude La Rose and Jeremiah Zimmer are currently brewing their creations at Miskatonic in suburban Darien, Illinois, but the move to Lincoln Avenue will give the brand a physical presence in Chicago as well as increased production capacity. "Lincoln Ave is a place where people have come to enjoy good beer and connect under the umbrella of shared interest for many years. It has significance beyond being Half Acre, it’s a piece of Chicago culture. It was our responsibility to place it in hands that would carry that torch," reads a post on Half Acre's Instagram account. La Rose's status as a regular at Half Acre Lincoln helped seal the de

A city as beautiful as Chicago deserves to be documented, and thankfully there's no shortage of local photographers snapping images that capture the city's street in all their glory. Anyone with a camera and a bit of patience can take an aesthetically-pleasing picture of the Bean, the Japanese Garden in Jackson Park or the Foreman Pavilion in Lincoln Park, but we set out to find some Instagram accounts that go beyond the typical deluge of Chicago attractions and perfectly-framed skyline views. From moody photos of Chicago at night to documentation of ephemeral street art on surfaces throughout the city, these Instagram photographers are providing a way to experience the city's street life by simply scrolling through your phone. Need some additional Chicago pride on your Instagram feed? We've gathered 17 accounts that capture different aspects of the city's streets and scenery. After you've followed and liked, you can set out and see some of these local spots for yourself—and maybe take a few photos of your own. @snappy.chan View this post on Instagram A post shared by 🎤🐑 (@snappy.chan) @relaxocat View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fayth aka Relaxocat (@relaxocat) @vashon_photo View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vashon (@vashon_photo) @chicagoquirk View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chicago Quirk (@chicagoquirk) @wade____hall

We've known that many music festivals—including Riot Fest and the new ARC Music Festival—were making plans for September, but the city's new Open Chicago initiative is accelerating the timeline for the return of large-scale events featuring live music. During a press conference this morning, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was joined by Lettuce Entertain You president R.J. Melman to announce that country music festival Windy City Smokeout will kick off Chicago's summer festival season in July. The four-day event is scheduled to take place from July 8 through 11 in the parking lot by the United Center, featuring headlining sets from country artists Brett Eldredge, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Jon Pardi. Windy City Smokeout also features barbecue cuisine provided by pitmasters from throughout the country, including Houston, Texas's Truth BBQ and Nashville's Peg Leg Porker. Tickets for the event are currently on sale, with prices ranging from $35 for a single-day ticket to $625 for a four-day VIP pass. According to Melman, Windy City Smokeout organizers are consulting with experts to ensure the safety of attendees at the event. The festival be making use of Health Pass by Clear, an app that allows individuals to keep track of their COVID-19 test results and verify the status of an individual's COVID-19 vaccination, clearing them for entry. It's unclear if the event will also make use of the city's recently-announced Vax Pass, which we're expecting to learn more about next month. Windy

Ready to dine out again? We've got some new spots to add to your Chicago restaurant bucket list, thanks to the release of the 2021 Michelin Guide star rankings. As usual, Michelin sent its anonymous inspectors to restaurants around the globe to rate the best dining experiences, though a recent New York Times interview with Michelin's director of guides revealed that limitations due to the pandemic were taken into consideration this time around. A total of 24 Chicago restaurants earned Michelin stars this year, down from 2020's crop of 25 spots. Some of the restaurants that dropped off the list did so due to permanent closures over the past year, including Blackbird, Everest and Band of Bohemia. Many of the star-winners are still closed to the public, awaiting increases in capacity and a safer environment for staff before reopening—most notably, Entente (which closed indefinitely) and Elizabeth (currently offering takeout). Newcomers to Chicago's two-star rankings include Ever—the latest concept from chef Curtis Duffy, who formerly helmed the three-star fine dining institution Grace—and Moody Tongue, which opened a 28-seat fine dining restaurant overseen by executive chef Jared Wentworth after the brewery moved into its new South Loop home in 2019. There's only a single entry that's new to the one-star category: Porto, a West Town seafood restaurant and wine bar inspired by the cuisine served along the coasts of Galicia and Portugal. As a quick refresher, here's what the prest

Looking for something a bit more long-lasting than a city-issued sticker to celebrate your Covid-19 vaccination? The button-crafting folks at Logan Square's Busy Beaver Button Co. have a solution in the form of a new "I Got Vaccinated" button pack, which lets newly-vaccinated folks flaunt their jabs to friends, family and passersby. Christen Carter, who launched Busy Beaver in 1995 as a punk and DIY button business, says her team was inspired to create the buttons as more and more people at work got vaccinated, and as they noticed friends starting to inquire about each other's vaccination status.  "I feel like everyone is asking, 'Have you been vaccinated yet?'" Carter says. "And if we're not asking, we're probably wondering." By pinning an "I Got Vaccinated" button to coat jackets and tote bags, she figured, vaccinated people could easily (and semi-permanently) both signal and celebrate their doses. The team devised their six-pack of 1.5-inch buttons with three separate designs, with the goal of allowing friends and family to share the buttons amongst themselves.    Photograph: Courtesy Busy Beaver Button Co   Though they might seem like a simple fashion statement, buttons, stickers and other merch are considered important tools for raising awareness about the vaccine. When the U.S. vaccine rollout started late last year, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued design templates for stickers and buttons as part of its vaccination communication toolkit, one of

For his first restaurant venture, Top Chef winner and Chicago native Joe Flamm sought inspiration from the personal, drawing from his own Italian heritage as well as that of his wife's native Croatia. The resulting cuisine—Flamm calls it “Adriatic drinking food”—anchors the menu at his debut restaurant Rose Mary, which opens in Fulton Market on Tuesday, April 20.  What does Adriatic drinking food look like, you ask? The 130-seat restaurant's menu centers around Croatian- and Italian-style dishes that might be found in a roadside tavern, like grilled shrimp in buzara (buzara means "stew" in Croatian) and gnocchi with wine- and fruit-stewed beef cheek pašticada. Flamm, who's also the former executive chef of the Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Spiaggia, leans heavily on Italian cooking techniques to achieve this effect, along with flavors imparted by a custom charcoal hearth.  Accompanying the dinner menu is a list of Italian and Balkan wines selected by wine director Sarah Traynor, with a focus on organic and biodynamic bottles. Pastry chef Hillary Grossman devised a dessert menu stocked with gelato and delicate treats like rosewater fritule, a fritter-like pastry filled with black walnut citrus and roasted stone fruit curd. Though the restaurant's name functions as a tribute to Flamm's maternal and paternal grandmothers (Mary and Mary Rose, respectively), it also gestures at the the herb of the same name, which flourishes along the flinty coasts of the Adriatic and Medite

While we're still anxiously awaiting hip-hop duo Run the Jewels' return to the stage in Chicago when live music resumes (they're included in the 2021 Riot Fest lineup), Killer Mike and El-P have kept themselves busy releasing new tracks and collaborating on tasty liquids over the past year. Last November, the pair enlisted 13 breweries around the world (including Chicago's own Pipeworks Brewing Co.) to create the No Save Point IPA, celebrating the release of a new single included in the soundtrack of the Cyberpunk 2077 video game. Run the Jewels' latest foray into the world of adult beverages comes via a new collaboration with City Water, the hard seltzer brand produced by Naperville's Solemn Oath Brewery. The duo and their team helped develop and taste test Ooh La La Pink Lemonade hard seltzer, a sugar-free and gluten-free alcoholic seltzer with notes of fresh squeezed lemon, strawberry and pink grapefruit. Named after the track "Ooh La La" that appeared on Run the Jewels' 2020 album RTJ4, the 16-ounce cans of hard seltzer sport artwork from illustrator Jourdon Gullett, including a rendition of the group's signature pistol and fist logo. The collaboration came about thanks in part to Solemn Oath marketing director Jared Saul's pre-existing relationship with the group—Saul helped organize the Run the Jewels pop-up bar that took over the now-defunct Emporiums Pop-ups space during Lollapalooza 2017. Want to get your hands on some cans of City Water Ooh La La Pink Lemonade? The