Chicago Rants and Raves is the best Chicago blog to keep up to date with Chicago events, restaurants, concerts, and rants
Rant all you want about the end-of-summer storms in Chicago, but they sure as hell make for some cool pictures. The best part about it is that you don't really need to know your way around a camera to get some cool shots. All you have to do is point and shoot. Good camera or not, storm pictures are always cool. As some of my readers know, I got a … [Read more...]
Costa Rican food and outdoor BYOB in Chicago I don't rave enough on here. So it's about time to post something that I can actually dig. BYOB restaurants. Irazú: Costa Rican Dining. It's one of those places that I've passed by 1,000 times without blinking. Costa Rican food? Huh, sounds interesting. Outdoor BYOB in Chicago? That's cool too. But … [Read more...]
What is the highest temperature Chicago ever had? While the streets and alleys are buzzing with the obnoxious hum of air conditioners, my window A/C is pulling a 'little engine that could' and is also working overtime to combat the heat, but its really just keeping my room lukewarm at best. It seems like this week has to be some kind of … [Read more...]
Technically, no, you don't have to pay the "suggested donation, but it's not like you're 'sticking it to the man' by cheaping out on the 5 bucks. So the festival site says a "suggested donation" huh? Sounds like a free entry rather than an entry fee. Which it is. Despite whatever the bitter, blow-hard of a volunteer ticket-taker tells you, it is … [Read more...]
NOOOOOOoooooo! It's that time of year for college students. No more school. No more finals. Time to go out and enjoy the summer... but without the free train rides that most universities offer full time students, as most all of the CTA U passes expire within the next few weeks. Time to dust off your bike or start buying 7 day or 30 day CTA passes … [Read more...]
The Chicago Lollapalooza 2012 rumors should say it all... The August 3-5 2012 Lollapalooza rumor lineup is looking pretty predictable. Once again, the theme of this year's Lollapalooza is "let's-book-all-of-the-biggest-mainstream-bands-to-draw-out-huge-crowds-and-charge-hundreds-of-dollars-for-tickets." Whether the rumors are true or not, I'll … [Read more...]
The Chicago Air and Water Show 2012 and the best places to watch the Chicago Air and Water show 2012, August 18, 19 2012 Now that it's starting to warm up, its time to start gearing up with some summer posts on Chicago Rants. First, we'll start with the basics, the Chicago Air and Water show 2012. It's one of the highlights of the Chicago … [Read more...]
The rain is moving out and this weekend might be the first with some consistent summer weather, so get your summer bucket-list started with these three essential stops. No Chicago summer is complete without going to Mario's Italian Lemonade in University Village. Since 1954, their fruit-covered italian ice has been famous city-wide and essential … [Read more...]