Given Chicago's recent heat wave, perhaps it was only natural that I went running for the ice cream parlors. On the other hand, I sip malts in winter, spring, and fall, so the heat may just be an excuse for the calories. In any case, after searching high and low, north and south, here are five of the best milkshakes in the city of Chicago. More

Good restaurants have long been scarce in Hyde Park, the southside Chicago neighborhood of my youth. Things have gotten a little better in recent years, but it's still not much of a food destination. There are, however, a nice variety of pizzerias. Giordano's (reviewed here) and Edwardo's (reviewed here) both offer stuffed pies, while Italian Fiesta (reviewed here) serves thin crust, and Caffe Florian (reviewed here) has some excellent deep dish. But predating all those places is Medici on 57th, which has been serving pizza for more than 45 years. More

Many a president has had a regretful dalliance. For Kennedy, it was Marilyn. For Clinton it was Monica. And for Obama: a cornmeal pancake. In 2001, Obama appeared on Chicago's citizen reviewing program Check, Please! and talked about gorging on... More

Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. --The Mgmt. Edwardo's Natural Pizza Restaurant... More

Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. --The Mgmt. But President-Elect Appears to... More

The family that owns and cooks at Chicago's Italian Fiesta Pizzeria, which has a location in President-elect Barack Obama's Hyde Park neighborhood, is being flown out to D.C. to cook up a batch of its thin-crust pies. The pizzas will... More