Northalsted, formerly called “Boystown,” is known as the center of LGBTQ life in Chicago. As Pride celebrations begin, the community has just started to recover the vibrant character that made it famous following last year’s pandemic and civil unrest.

Spicy popcorn cicadas, anyone? Not so fast, the Food and Drug Administration warns, if you have a shellfish allergy. The insects are related to shrimp and lobster. 

Illinois bars and taverns can now offer their thirsty patrons an incentive for getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The new law starts June 10 and runs through July 10. 

The proposal brought an immediate backlash not just from those who enjoy an impromptu late-night tipple, but business owners who said the rules would push sales outside the city — and give bars and restaurants an unfair advantage over stores. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot included the cap on fees as part of larger package designed to help Chicago businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic “quickly and holistically.” 

The long-awaited reopening of Chicago’s culinary hot spots should come as welcome news. But for the owners of those restaurants, finding the line cooks and servers they need has proven to be a tall order.

Starting Thursday, Navy Pier’s indoor spaces will be open to the public as it moves into its second phase of reopening. The iconic lakefront attraction aims to fully reopen by the end of the month.

It’s illegal to forage in Cook County forest preserves. Every year, 100 citations are issued for poaching, a significant number of which involve ramps, the wild leek that gave Chicago its name.

One of Chicago’s only weekly, nearly year-long farmers markets opened on Sunday, just in time to provide some extra help to the farmers, restaurateurs and other food producers selling their goods in the city’s Northwest Side neighborhood. We meet some of this year’s vendors.

Chicago is loosening its pandemic restrictions. As part of our community reporting series, we spend the day reporting in and around Navy Pier as it begins a phased reopening.

Crop prices are expected to surge and spill over onto grocery shelves. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer takes us behind the headline of that story and more.

According to a Drexel University study, 42% of young adults with autism never worked for pay in their 20s. We meet a Chicago woman has cooked up a way for those young adults to develop crucial social and work skills while contributing their own unique flavors to the business.

One of the state’s top tourist attractions will soon begin reopening its doors after closing for eight months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

When Avelino Maldonado started his spice distribution company in Chicago, the biggest waves of Latino immigrants had yet to arrive. Sixty-four years later, Latinos comprise nearly 30% of the city’s population, and La Criolla’s new owners hope to bring their Latin flavor to another generation of cooks.

For the first time since 2019, fans are back at Guaranteed Rate Field to watch the White Sox in person. As part of our community reporting series, we visit the area to see how fans are settling in — and how the area is faring one year into the pandemic.

A rural Illinois bar opening event in February was linked to a COVID-19 outbreak of at least 46 cases, a school closure and the hospitalization of a long-term care facility resident, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.