Josh Noel

People enjoy summerlike weather June 3, 2021, on the large patio at Recess in Chicago's West Loop.

Reopening day: Illinois on Friday to take biggest step yet back to normalcy after more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions

June 11, 2021 at 11:51 a.m.

On a Saturday in late March of last year, employees walked out of public libraries carrying plants and boxes of personal items, parents and young children took one last chance...

Michael Hernandez take a photo of the messages painted outside Nini's Deli in Chicago June 7, 2020.

Nini’s Deli announces plan to reopen, 1 year after its homophobic, anti-Black Lives Matter messaging drew outrage

June 16, 2021 at 9:48 a.m.

A year after shutting down in a firestorm of controversy over its unapologetically homophobic and anti-Black Lives Matter messaging, Nini's Deli will return next month with plans "to double down...

‘We’re not ready for it’: As bars in Chicago reopen Friday, some say labor shortage makes full capacity impossible

June 11, 2021 at 9:59 a.m.

The kegs have been tapped. The jukeboxes plugged back in. Karaoke voices are warming up. Now what? Bars across Chicago and Illinois will be able to pack customers in at...

Martha and Rich Melman with their children Jerrod, Molly and R.J. on June 3, 2021, at R.J. Grunts in Lincoln Park.

An oral history of Chicago’s biggest restaurant group as it turns 50: From ‘one of the worst restaurant names of all time’ to a possibly cannabis-laced future

June 10, 2021 at 10:31 a.m.

The Pump Room. Ed Debevic's. Everest. Studio Paris. Restaurants that have found themselves woven into the history of Chicago and the fond memories of countless diners. At the helm of...

A sausage and peppers thin crust pizza is seen in 2016 at Aurelio's Pizza in Homewood. Joe Aurelio said a sign at the Aurelio's Bourbonnais location that blamed "government handouts" for discouraging workers "doesn't represent who we are as a company."

Aurelio’s Pizza owner denounces sign at Bourbonnais franchise decrying lack of workers due to ‘government handouts’

June 9, 2021 at 6:28 p.m.

The second-generation owner of Aurelio's Pizza has denounced a sign posted at a central Illinois location of the chain complaining about being short-staffed because "sadly, due to government handouts, no...

Emilio Enríquez, izquierda, y Kodi Roberts trabajan con Restaurant Organizing Project, que aboga por los derechos de los trabajadores de restaurantes. Enríquez, quien ha trabajado en restaurantes durante siete años, planea regresar en el otoño. Roberts no tiene planes de regresar.

Dolores en la espalda. Bajos salarios. Sin seguro médico: Por esto es que los trabajadores de los restaurantes de Chicago no regresan

June 3, 2021 at 10:38 a.m.

Emilio Enríquez pasó de camarero a cocinero de línea durante sus siete años trabajando en restaurantes, y todavía sueña con convertirse en chef. Pero no ha trabajado durante la pandemia...

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Reopening day: Illinois on Friday to take biggest step yet back to normalcy after more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions

Nini’s Deli announces plan to reopen, 1 year after its homophobic, anti-Black Lives Matter messaging drew outrage

‘We’re not ready for it’: As bars in Chicago reopen Friday, some say labor shortage makes full capacity impossible

An oral history of Chicago’s biggest restaurant group as it turns 50: From ‘one of the worst restaurant names of all time’ to a possibly cannabis-laced future

Aurelio’s Pizza owner denounces sign at Bourbonnais franchise decrying lack of workers due to ‘government handouts’

Dolores en la espalda. Bajos salarios. Sin seguro médico: Por esto es que los trabajadores de los restaurantes de Chicago no regresan

Back-aching work. Low pay. No health care: Here’s why Chicago restaurant workers aren’t coming back.

Carryout cocktail laws are set to expire next week in Illinois and Chicago. Here’s what’s being done to extend them.

Pollyanna Brewing co-founder was forced out due to ‘numerous’ allegations of sexual misconduct, brewery says

How a box of beer sparked Hop Butcher for the World’s collab with Smashing Pumpkins to celebrate ‘Gish’ anniversary