The Chicago Reader’s annual Best of Chicago is generated entirely by nominations from the community. The ballot will be revealed on December 6. Voting begins at noon on Dec. 13, 2023 and continues until 11:59 PM Jan. 14, 2024. CLICK HERE for our Best of Chicago promotion toolkit, which includes standard images for social media […]
Tag: Best of Chicago 2022
Posted inBuy Local
Best place to start your own fashion line from scratch
Fashion entrepreneurs of Chicago, behold! The Apparel Industry Board, Inc. (AIBI) has much of the equipment and instruction you need. In AIBI’s Fashion Lab, designers have access to 14 industrial sewing machines, multiple specialized machines, and three cutting tables. They also offer a Gerber pattern-making system—which includes a large format plotter to print patterns and […]
Posted inBuy Local
Best place to reminisce about childhood
I found the tiniest naked Troll doll here. It was lying on its stomach, with its feet kicked up, holding its little face in its hands. As a kid, I really hated Troll dolls; their miniature grotesque faces scared me. But now, as an adult, I find them sweet and endearing—their inordinately long tufts of […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Best coffee shop patio for the COVID cautious and/or those who just like their space
Anyone who’s ever spent much time with me could tell you that I love iced coffee, and—somewhat ironically for a person who’s spent half their life in small music venues—I hate tightly packed indoor spaces (the pandemic just made me hate them more). So, naturally, I’ve been raving about Hexe Coffee Co.’s gigantic patio since […]
Posted inBuy Local
Best woman-owned bra shop where every bra-wearer is welcome
The right bra can improve your posture, relieve back pain, help clothes fit better, and sometimes make you feel a little sexier (or a lot), but let’s face it: shopping for bras can be a major pain in the boob. Many top-selling brands prioritize fashion over quality (as if we can’t have both), and center […]
Posted inSports & Recreation
Best development in Chicago pro wrestling
Hearing that wrestling promoter Lolo McGrath was moving to Chicago was one of the more quietly exciting moments of the past few years. With their former copromoter Billy Dixon, McGrath put on shows that avoided the “Pride section at Target” vibes that plague so many queer-focused wrestling shows (which are usually bankrolled by straight promoters […]
Posted inSports & Recreation
Best neighborhood wrestling show
From 20th-century wrestling promoter Fred Kohler to former WWE Champion CM “Chick Magnet” Punk, Chicago is a town steeped in professional wrestling history. We’ve got it all. Chicago boasts a historically strong wrestling scene (including groundbreaking independent women’s professional wrestling promotion SHIMMER), we’re a constant tour spot for larger companies, and there’s a strong lucha […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Best art show on the southeast side’s ecology
It can be hard to wrap your head around the complex ecological makeup of the areas surrounding the Calumet and Little Calumet rivers. Formerly heavily concentrated sites of industry, parts of these southeast neighborhoods are now in the slow process of getting cleaned up, via the green development of places like the Marian R. Byrnes […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Best local stage director ready for next big steps
A few years ago, I wrote a story for American Theatre on Chicago as a great town for stage directors. One name that wasn’t totally on my radar then has since become a top favorite. Georgette Verdin, who has been managing artistic director for Interrobang Theatre Project since 2015, has a special gift for bringing […]
Posted inCity Life
Best place to receive overdose prevention and response training
I learned how to administer naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversal medication, through the Chicago Recovery Alliance. In 2019, a family member had recently relapsed: though his drug wasn’t dope, that experience made me want to learn more about this miracle med I’d heard of. Most of the attendees were medical workers, but some were just ordinary […]
Posted inBuy Local
Best local alternative to the Gap
Clearly, Robert McMillan is not trying to make a quick buck. After leaving a more lucrative (yet less personally fulfilling) job in trading, he established Dearborn Denim in 2016. “It was exciting to build an apparel manufacturer from the ground up. I had a bunch of old, beat-up sewing machines in an abandoned laundry and […]
Posted inCity Life
Best housing case manager who takes no shit while getting shit done
In the history of human existence, there occasionally is someone who becomes so famous for excelling at what they do that they only need one name: Buddha. Beyoncé. Sylvia. Sylvia Hibbard is a case manager for the street medicine organization The Night Ministry. I’ve heard her name uttered with respect from what feels like pretty […]
Posted inCity Life
Best action to take when an unhoused Chicagoan is sleeping across three seats on the train
Nothing. Do absolutely nothing. Don’t take a picture of someone at their most vulnerable. Don’t post it online for the world to see. Don’t tag the CTA in a post of faux-compassion that reveals your panic and discomfort at having to share a public space with someone who is desperately poor. Don’t be a snitch. […]
Posted inCity Life
Best use for the lakefront in a cold snap
I finally got COVID-19 in December, first testing positive on the 16th. For Christmas my family was gathering at my parents’ home in Texas—my brother, his wife, and my precociously deranged seven-year-old niece were traveling from New York. I had one chance all year to see everybody together, and suddenly it looked like I’d miss […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Best ‘don’t go here, go there instead’ Chicago food TikToks
The first time my girlfriend sent me a TikTok from @plateswithp, she said, “I don’t know why, but I trust everything she says.” I, too, became an immediate fan. Paige Serena started making food and lifestyle content on TikTok in 2022. Born in Chicago and raised in Milwaukee, she fell in love with Chicago’s food […]