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The Chicago Reader

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Arts & Culture, Comedy Oct 18, 2018
Serenity Now! creates a sober space for performers in a booze-filled industry

Stand-up Whitney Wasson wanted to create a healthier environment for people in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction.
- By Brianna Wellen
- Tags: Comedy, Serenity Now, Whitney Wasson, alcoholism, drug addiction, recovery, variety show, Shannon Noll, Nire Nah, Josh Levine, Katie Sirles, Crowd Theater, drinking, stand-up

Blogs, Bleader Jun 29, 2015
In Blackout, Sarah Hepola shines a light on alcoholism

Her new memoir is honest and refreshingly free of self-pity.
- By Aimee Levitt
- Tags: Blotto, Books, Arts, sarah hepola, blackout, drinking, alcoholism, rehab, memoirs

City Life, Feature Aug 6, 2014
What lies at the bottom of the Playpen, Chicago's floating daytime clubland

As the name implies, this party-hearty pocket of Lake Michigan is notorious for juvenile behavior.
- By Jake Malooley
- Tags: Feature, Amy Raven, beer, beer bongs, bikinis, blood alcohol limit, Boat Scene, boats, Bodi, breakwaters, breasts, Brian Pfeiffer, Bud Light Mix-a-Ritas, Buoys n the Hood, cannabis, Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Scene, Chicago Scene Boat Party, club events, cocaine, cognac, CPD, dancers, dancing, Dave Lobo, David Izsak, DCASE, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, dinghies, DJ Quira, DJ Torio, drinking, drugs, federal open waters, gender politics, Honey I Shrunk My Wallet, Irish whiskey, Jackson Harbor, Jardine Water Filtration Plant, Jared Burkett, jetboats, juice, Lake Michigan, Leigh Ann Reilly, marijuana, marine rescue, Martinis and Bikinis, Mary May, Modelo Especial, Montrose Harbor, New York Deli, nightclubs, nightlife, nightlife promoters, no-wake zones, Oak Street, parties, police, police marine units, Prohibit, punch, raft ups, Raptor Delivery Service, Sea Monkey, sexism, skyline, special event permits, Special Ops, sponsorships, Surreal, Ted Widen, tequila, The Flying Lady, The Mid, The Playpen, U.S. Coast Guard, Verry Necessary, vodka, vomit, WaveRunners, Who's Your Daddy, yachts

Best of Chicago, Arts & Culture Jun 25, 2014
Critics' Picks
Best Drunk

Sean Flannery
- By Kevin Warwick
- Tags: Arts & Culture, Best of Chicago 2014, Sean Flannery, stand-up, storytelling, Comedy Bar, drinking, Wilsons Leather, alcohol, one-man shows, comics, Critics' Picks

Music, Music Feature Mar 20, 2014
An oral history of the Green Mill

The neon-lit bar at Lawrence and Broadway, now a legendary jazz club, has been around for 107 years—and has more stories than any tavern in town. Here are a few from the past three decades.
- By Patrick Sisson
- Tags: Music Feature, Green Mill, Uptown, bars, jazz clubs, history, oral history, Chicago Tribune, Phohibition, jazz, Pop Morse's Roadhouse, beer gardens, Tom Chamales, Green Mill Gardens, Moulin Rouge, Uptown Theatre, Jazz Age, Jack McGurn, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, Al Capone, tunnels, smuggling, Joseph Lewis, Rendezvous Cafe, comedy, The Joker Is Wild, movies, Billie Holiday, Al Jolson, Texas Guinan, cabaret, 300 Club, James Doherty, nightlife, Jason Cole, Batsis brothers, Steve Brend, Dave Jemilo, bar owners, American Indian Center, Patricia Barber, speakeasies, bartenders, Brad Goode, musicians, performers, halfway houses, hillbillies, Sharon's Hillbilly Heaven, liquor licenses, Marc Smith, Uptown Poetry Slam, paintings, statues, Jimmy Moscarello, plumbing, Aragon Ballroom, Ed Pedersen Quintet, Ed Pedersen, Brad Goode Qunitet, Vu Jazz Quintet, Susie Hansen Band, Deja Vu Big Band, Mike Finnerty, Mike Finnerty & the Heat Merchants, 4 AM bars, Neil Tesser, jazz critics, cocktails, Ted Sirota, Sabertooth Organ Quartet, Clifford Jordan, Jazz Showcase, Wilbur Campbell, Blackstone Hotel, Katerina's, The Jazz Bulls, Fred Anderson, London House, Mr. Kelly's, Von Freeman, Andy's, Elastic, poetry, poetry slams, football players, Chicago Fire, Chicago Poetry Ensemble, martinis, booking, Mighty Blue Kings, old-fashioneds, manhattans, classic cocktails, E2, Gold Star Sardine Bar, Sheila Jordan, accents, Starbucks, drinking, Malort, Malort face, Chicago Reader

Blogs, Bleader Feb 13, 2014
New digs for the Lincoln Lodge and Blackout Diaries

Both the Lincoln Lodge and Blackout Diaries have found a new home at Subterranean.
- By Kevin Warwick
- Tags: Arts, Booze, Food & Drink, Comedy, Lincoln Restaurant, Lincoln Lodge, Blackout Diaries, Subterranean, Sean Flannery, stand-up, drinking, booze

News & Politics, Chicagoans Feb 7, 2014
This week's Chicagoan: Angie Morrow, collection manager at the Art Institute

"I spent most of my time on the floor, removing the parrot, so we would not crash and die."
- By Anne Ford
- Tags: Chicagoans, Art Institute of Chicago, museums, Art Institute, collection managers, Ancient and Byzantine art, moving art, art storage, conservation, curators, museum logistics, traveling, couriering, art installation, underwear, flight crews, parrots, trucks, Field Museum, China, drinking, alcohol, China

Blogs, Bleader Dec 21, 2013
Reader's Agenda Sat 12/21: Christine Sneed, Sappho's Salon, and winter-solstice drinking

What's on the Reader's Agenda for Saturday, December 21
- By Brianna Wellen
- Tags: Do This, Arts, Christine Sneed, Little Known Facts, City Lit Books, Sappho's Salon, Women and Children First, Winter Solstice, drinking, bar guide

News & Politics, Feature Oct 30, 2013
Death of a cyclist

Bobby Cann was a 26-year-old bike commuter who preached safe cycling. Ryne San Hamel was a 28-year-old motorist who'd just left a crowded bar. Their collision raises questions about whether we're too lenient toward those who drink and drive.
- By Keith Griffith
- Tags: Feature, Bobby Cann, Lincoln Park, REI, cycling, Groupon, Ryne San Hamel, Cubs, White Sox, drinking, Allyoucandrink.com, Ron Neville, Frank San Hamel, Chicago Daily News, William San Hamel, Thomas Tully, Cook County assessor, Ted Kennedy, Center for Robotic Technology, Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois Board of Higher Education, Michael Sneed, Cheryl Lavin, Chicago Tribune, Bonny San Hamel, Henniker, New Hampshire, Philip Bird, cars, University of New Hampshire, bike helmets, DUI, drunk driving, Loyola Academy, underage drinking, DUI arrests, DUI convictions, Cathy Stanley, Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, suburbs, Donald Ramsell, Lake County, Moe's Cantina, Wrigleyville, bars, Debonair Entertainment, Amp Rock Lounge, Vertigo Sky Lounge, Cuvee, River North, Jake Muellner, Clybourn Avenue, Larrabee Street, Yojimbo's Garage, Marcus Moore, Julie Dziak, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, IDOT, Illinois Department of Transportation, bicycle-injury crashes, car crashes, Ron Burke, reckless driving, speeding, Active Transportation Alliance, Wells Street, bikes, bicycles, Neill Townsend, dooring, Steve Vance, Steven Vance, Streetsblog, Streets for Cycling Plan 2020, crosstown bike routes, protected bike lanes, bike lanes, state routes, Maria Augustus, New Zalka, security cameras, Catherine Bullard, ghost bikes, reckless homicide, aggravated DUI, William Hook, Honary Bobby Cann Way, Walter Burnett Jr., Maria Cann, John Santini Jr., felonies, misdemeanors

Arts & Culture, Festival Jun 27, 2013
Pride Weekend events 2013

It's not just about the parade.
- Tags: Festival, Pride Weekend, Back Lot Bash, Pride Parade, Chicago Dyke March, Pride Cruise, Melissa Etheridge, Frat Night Thursday, Jawbreaker!, dance parties, parties, gay composers, music, theater, drinking, run, Melissa Ferrick, Edie Carey, Dot Dot Dot, Uh Huh Her, DJs, Jane Beachy, Scott Cramer, Teen Witch Fan Club, Baathaus, City Winery, Goose Island, Sahara Kabob, Mayne Stage, Berlin, Margate Park, Navy Pier, Ravinia Festival, Scarlet, House of Blues, Lake View Presbyterian Church, Victory Gardens Theater, Center on Halsted, Neo-Futurarium

Columns & Opinion, Savage Love Jun 13, 2013
A relationship gone to pot?

Plus: A military wife strays and a dom’s girlfriend gets nervous.
- By Dan Savage
- Tags: Savage Love, Afghanistan, bisexual, cannabis, cunnilingus, drinking, drug problem, lesbianism, marijuana, marriage, Michael Douglas, sex, Skype, wedding

Food & Drink, Food & Drink Feature Jun 6, 2013
Who does Brandon Baltzley think he is?

A chef whose mesmerizing creativity is deserving of fame? A drug addict in recovery who rightly eschews sobriety? A twentysomething memoirist whose brief history is worth your time? Or is he none of those things?
- By Sarah Nardi
- Tags: Food & Drink Feature, Brandon Baltzley, Leigh Hansen, pop-up dinners, chefs, WD-50, New York, memoirs, addiction, books, Rock 'n Roll Ghost, Wylie Dufresne, Hugh Acheson, Top Chef, Empire State South, restaurants, chef personalities, 6th Street Kitchen, Jacksonville, Florida, Grant Achatz, Alinea, Schwa, Michael Carlson, Mado, Rob Levitt, Allie Levitt, Eater, blogs, online comments, David Richard, Essex Inn, cocaine, drugs, Twitter, Kevin Pang, Chicago Tribune, Tribute, Andy Warhol, Emily Belden, smoking, rehabilitation, ICM Partner, talent agencies, Pittsburgh, Michigan City, Indiana, Steve Newman, TMIP, happiness, sex, sobriety, drinking, Crux, farms, Cherry, Illinois, Kevin Sousa, Salt of the Earth, Stagioni, Bar Marco, zoning, licensing, business

News & Politics, Feature May 8, 2013
Audio
Addicted to guns

Is there a cure for Chicago's crippling dependence on firearms?
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, 24th Ward, 911, addiction, Anita Alvarez, Antonio Villaraigosa, ATF, Barack Obama's house, basketball, cannabis, CeaseFire, Charlie Beck, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Tribune, Christopher Koper, City Colleges, City Council, conflict resolution, conflicts, Connie Rice, Cook County state's attorney, CPD, crime, drinking, drug dealing, drug territory, Englewood, Evans Mob, ex-offenders, Frederick Seaton, gang members, gang territory, gangs, Gangster Disciples, Gary McCarthy, George Mason University, Greater Grand Crossing, gun laws, gun violence, guns, Hadiya Pendleton, Hales Franciscan High School, high school basketball, interruption, Jack Tweedle, Kennedy-King College, liquor stores, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Develop, marijuana, Marilyn Pitchford, Michael Chandler, Michael Davis, murder, Napoleon English, neighborhoods, Phil Cline, police overtime, policing, poverty, prison, Project Safe Neighborhoods, punishment, race, Rahm Emanuel, restaurants, Richard M. Daley, roots of violence, Safer Foundation, Sheldon Smith, shootings, social services, South Side, The Crime Report, Tony Wade, Turkey Chop, U.S. attorney, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, U.S. Department of Justice, Vice Lords, violence, violence interrupters, Violence Reduction Strategy, West Humboldt Park, Audio

Blogs, Bleader Apr 18, 2013
The Other Side is a brand-new alcohol-free bar and music venue

Crystal Lake is home to the Other Side, a brand-new "sober bar."
- By Luca Cimarusti
- Tags: Opening, Whoa, Music, The Other Side, bar, sober bar, addiciton, recovery, drinking, sobriety, Crystal Lake, suburbs

Food & Drink, Food & Drink Feature Mar 14, 2013
A hangover cure—at a cost

Two Reader staffers intentionally drink too much, purposefully get hungover, and determine whether Chicago's first hangover clinic is really all that.
- By Gwynedd Stuart and Mara Shalhoup
- Tags: Food & Drink Feature, hydration, hangovers, hangover cures, hydration clinics, Revive Hydration Clinic, River North, drinking, whiskey, wine, beer, Malort, shots, US Weekly, coconut water, hangover remedies, B12, water, Lacuna Inc., fluids, IV therapt, intravenous therapy

Food & Drink, Food & Drink Feature Mar 15, 2012
The person behind the person behind the bar

Some of Chicago's savviest bartenders detail their favorite drinks, hangover cures, pit stops, and more
- Tags: Food & Drink Feature, bartenders, drinking, bar guide, karaoke, Jason Baldacci, Janada Halbisen-Gibbs, Sean Benjamin, Steve Mosqueda, Ken Ellis, Julia Rosenwinkel, Bill Nowlin, The Bluebird, Telegraph Wine Bar, Webster's Wine Bar, Big Chicks, Rainbo Club, Drinking & Writing Theater @ Haymarket Pub & Brewery, VFW Post 7975, Huettenbar

Food & Drink, Food & Drink Feature Mar 15, 2012
The Reader Neighborhood Bar Guide

Chicago's best bars for Croatian grog, go-go boys, expensive Japanese whiskeys, and late-night mistakes
- By Reader staff
- Tags: Food & Drink Feature, bar guide, bars, dive, cocktail bar, lounge, drinking, drinking responsibly, getting sloshed

Blogs, Bleader Sep 23, 2011
Learn everything you wanted to know about the water you drink

The James W. Jardine Water Purification Plant, which provides Chicago with most of the one billion gallons of water it uses each day, is the biggest water treatment facility in the world.
- By Asher Klein
- Tags: Science, Flotsam and Jetsam, Environment, Eco, the James W. Jardine Water Purification Plant, water, The Lake, crib, Lake Michigan, drinking, fountains, Crown Fountain

News & Politics, Feature Aug 25, 2011
Back to school with Stephanie Izard, class of '94

"I started partying all the time and acting like a delinquent"
- By Stephanie Izard
- Tags: Feature, Stephanie Izard, high school, drinking, Victoria's Secret, delinquent, swimming, tattoo parlors, biker dudes

Blogs, Bleader Dec 29, 2009
12/29 — Free Guinness Beer Tasting

Free Guinness beer tasting at Smoke Daddy Tue 12/29 at 7 PM.
- By Robyn Chang
- Tags: Free Shit, Food & Drink, Swag, Smoke Daddy, free beer tasting, Guinness beer, Guinness 250 Anniversary stout, Guinness, drinking, beer

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