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If you love a good fast food hot dog or are curious about what it tastes like when you blend an entire slice of chocolate cake into a shake, you've probably heard of Portillo's. The Illinois-based chain has become a staple spot for many that offer Chicago-style street food. Whether you're looking for tourist trap restaurants that are actually reall...

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Tre Dita and Bar Tre Dita opened in March at the St. Regis in collaboration with two-time James Beard-nominated chef Evan Funke and Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants. Tre Dita marks the Los Angeles-based Funke’s first Chicago restaurant. Italian for “three fingers,” Tre Dita refers to Funke’s precise thickness of a properly cut Bistecca alla Fioren...

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The skies above the Chicago lakefront will be painted green, white and red this month when the Frecce Tricolori pay an aerial visit. The legendary military aerobatic team will put on a 20-minute show at 9 a.m. on July 27 above the Balbo Monument just east of Soldier Field. Their performance will coincide with the 91st anniversary of Italo Balbo’s h...

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Paolo Pininfarina, the internationally celebrated Italian engineer, designer, and businessman, and famous head of Pininfarina SpA (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) headquartered in Cambiano, Turin, Italy, has been awarded The American Prize for Design for 2024 by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for...

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Serving as the first principal of The Chicago Academy for The Arts was never the plan for Frank Mustari. A guidance counselor at Niles West High School in suburban Skokie, Mustari asked to take a leave of absence in 1981 to help establish the academy, the first of its kind in the city. “I thought the concept was a great idea. I was working at a hig...

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This week's Made in Chicago is a humble lemonade stand which has been delighting Chicagoans and visitors for 70 years. Since 1954, Mario's Italian Lemonade at 1068 W. Taylor Street has been serving up the sweet summer staple to generations of customers including David Buffer and Mishawn Davis-Eyene. “Great flavors and great prices,” Buffer said. “I...

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Road courses can be some of the most challenging tracks for NASCAR drivers, and the Chicago Street Course is even more difficult than most. That’s why Trans Am Series and ARCA Series regular Thomas Annunziata will once again team up with JD Motorsports for an exciting NASCAR Xfinity Series race, and this time they’re headed to the windy city. The N...

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FX’s “The Bear” was, for many viewers, a first introduction to the deliciously messy Italian beef sandwich. In the show’s first season, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) is a fine-dining chef who comes home to Chicago to take over the family’s beef stand following his brother’s death. The show, which returns Wednesday for its highly anticipated third seas...

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One of the most thrilling and glamorous events in the Chicago-area Italian-American community is the contest to determine who will reign as La Bella Regina of the Columbus Day Parade. “Few events in the community can match the pageantry of the annual Columbus Day Queen pageant,” says Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Ame...

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Summertime in Chicago is in full effect, which means boating season for the luckiest of us. Boaters and lakefront enthusiasts alike can join in on the fun at the Venetian Night boat parade on Saturday, July 20, at Lake Michigan’s Monroe Harbor.  Organized by Chicago Yacht Association, the Italian American Human Relations Foundation and the Chicago...

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