An American chef finds himself in Spanish cuisine.Read More

Police investigate Monday where two armored truck guards were shot at a Bank of America branch in Chatham. | Brian Rich/Sun-Times

Antwon Montgomery, 19, and Deandre Jennings, 21, were ordered held without bail Thursday for first-degree murder, attempted murder and robbery.

Two men involved in an armored car robbery that left a security guard dead and another wounded on the South Side also robbed a cellphone store before they turned their guns on their accomplices, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.

Judge Charles Beach called Monday’s crime spree a “brazen operation” and noted that 19-year-old Antwon Montgomery and Deandre Jennings, 21, could be sentenced to life if they are convicted given that they are accused of killing more than two people, including their cohorts in what amounted to an “execution.”

The GuardaWorld employees were loading an ATM with cash at a Bank of America branch in the 200 block of West 83rd Street around 10:20 a.m. Monday when a stolen Lincoln sedan with four people, including Montgomery and Jennings, pulled up, prosecutors said.

Montgomery and Jennings allegedly got out of the vehicle with weapons and demanded money.

Montgomery grabbed for a case a 46-year-old guard was holding that contained between $50,000 and $80,000, prosecutors said. As Montgomery and the guard struggled over the case, a third person emerged from the Lincoln armed with a riffle, prosecutors said. Then, Montgomery, Jennings and the third person allegedly began shooting at the guards.

One of the guards, LaShonda Hearts, 47, was shot six times and later died at the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. The 46-year-old guard was struck twice and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. A third guard was inside the armored truck during the robbery and was not hurt, prosecutors said.

While all three robbers’ faces were covered, their weapons and clothing were captured on the “grainy” bank surveillance video, prosecutors said.

The robbers were not able to take the cash and sped away after returning to the Lincoln, prosecutors said.

Shortly after, a witness saw an armed Montgomery and Jennings get out of a dark-colored sedan and into a parked Buick SUV, prosecutors said. The witness wrote down the Buick’s license plate number before it drove away.

Then, just before 11 a.m. at a strip mall in the 6700 block of South Stony Island Avenue, Montgomery got out of the Lincoln and allegedly robbed a Boost Mobile store, taking cash form a register and multiple cellphones, prosecutors said. He left when he wasn’t able to access the store’s safe, prosecutors said.

Roughly an hour after the armored truck robbery, police received a report of a traffic crash and gunfire in the 8700 block of South Saginaw Avenue, prosecutors said.

When they got to the scene, officers found the body of 21-year-old Naiqwon Harper, of Englewood, in the driver’s seat of the Buick. George Holmes, 27, was also discovered shot in the front passenger seat. Holmes was later pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Harper and Holmes were involved in Monday’s armored truck robbery, authorities said, and are believed to have stolen the Lincoln sedan at gunpoint earlier in the day. The Buick was registered to Harper’s girlfriend, prosecutors said.

Witnesses saw Montgomery and Jennings running from the Buick and into a building on the block after the crash, prosecutors said.

A SWAT team responded and took Jennings and Montgomery into custody, police said.

Several handguns and a rifle were found inside the building, as well as cash and clothing that matched what Montgomery and Jennings were wearing during the robberies, prosecutors said.

Shell casings at the scene of the armored truck robbery matched the weapons found inside the building, prosecutors said.

Several Boost Mobile phones were also recovered from the Buick, prosectors said.

Montgomery and Jennings, who were ordered held without bail Thursday, have been charged with several counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and robbery.

Montgomery was released on parole earlier this year on a weapons charge, Illinois Department of Corrections records show. Jennings also has previous convictions for weapons offenses, prosecutors said.

Jennings, a father of two, is currently unemployed and lives with his mother, an assistant public defender said.

Montgomery lives with his girlfriend and works in the hospitality industry.

Jennings and Montgomery are expected back in court Dec. 6.

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Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Oct. 20. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries and a high near 37 degrees. Tonight will also be mostly cloudy with a low around 25. Tomorrow will see increasing clouds with a high near 40.

Top story

Former Chicago inspector general clears Rahm Emanuel of wrongdoing in Laquan McDonald shooting

As ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel waits for a confirmation vote to be U.S. ambassador to Japan, former city of Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson has cleared Emanuel of wrongdoing in his handling of the Laquan McDonald police shooting.

Emanuel’s return to government has “resurrected questions” about Emanuel’s responsibility for the Chicago Police Department and whether “he engaged in a cover-up,” Ferguson said in a letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. The Chicago Sun-Times obtained a copy of the letter.

Ferguson wrote that while the questions are “appropriate” by those opposing his nomination “they are not fair, because they are not grounded in fact, because the facts simply do not exist.”

“I know, I was the inspector general for the city of Chicago leading the office which investigated the city’s handling of the aftermath of the McDonald murder.”

The Senate panel voted last month to send Emanuel’s nomination to the full Senate. There is no date set for a confirmation for reasons having nothing to do with Emanuel.

Ferguson, first appointed in 2009 by former Mayor Richard M. Daley, had at times a frosty relationship with Emanuel — described in one story by City Hall reporters as a “cold war” between the men.

Ferguson stepped down earlier this year when it was clear that Mayor Lori Lightfoot was not going to reappoint him.

Lynn Sweet has more on Ferguson’s letter here.

More news you need

A 60-year-old man was killed and another man injured in separate shootings early this morning on I-55. Both victims were driving in the inbound lanes of the Stevenson when shots were fired, but police declined to say whether they believe the incidents are connected.

Both Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department are investigating a recent scuffle between a student and an armed CPD officer working as a security guard at Westinghouse College Prep. The 17-year-old student says the encounter, which was caught on video, has left him questioning his safety at school.

Two men involved in an armored car robbery that left a security guard dead and another wounded on the South Side earlier this week also robbed a cellphone store before they turned their guns on their accomplices, county prosecutors said today. The men were ordered held without bail today on several counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and robbery charges.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s deputy floor leader today urged her to dump Police Supt. David Brown if he can’t get a handle on the city’s “crime pandemic” in a few months. Ald. George Cardenas spoke with our Fran Spielman about his position here.

City officials have chosen development teams for projects in three commercial corridors — two in Humboldt Park and one in South Shore — representing a $126 million investment, Mayor Lightfoot said today. Covering housing, community services and historic renovations, the developments are part of the mayor’s Invest South/West program for equitable investment.

From the Christmas tree lighting ceremony to the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and the Lincoln Park Zoo’s ZooLights, the Chicago holiday celebrations are kicking off this weekend. Check out our full rundown of seasonal events and other non-holiday highlights happening in the week ahead here.

A bright one

Simeon is ready to prove the doubters wrong

This is not the typical Simeon basketball team. The Wolverines don’t have a superstar and Robert Smith’s squad wasn’t a contender for the top spot in the preseason Super 25.

“I really like this team, maybe because of those reasons,” Smith said. “Everyone is coming in and working hard and respecting each other’s game. I like not being the hunted like we normally are. We can just cruise along and see what happens at the end.”

Superstar or not, underestimating this group would be a mistake. Simeon has three talented, experienced guards. Seniors Jaylen Drane, Avyion Morris and junior Jalen Griffith were key players on the team that won the city title in 2020.

Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times
Simeon’s Jalen Griffith shoots during a pre-season practice.

That’s an incredible base for any team to start with. Drane is one of the state’s elite passers. He’s a dependable point guard that can dictate the pace of the game. Morris is a disruptor on defense and Griffith is a scorer.

There might not be a senior signed with a Divison I school yet, but there is plenty of talent on hand.

The Wolverines will be in Class 3A this season. It’s the first time they have dropped below Class 4A since 2007-08, when they lost to Marshall in the state title game.

“We have a chance to be one of the best teams in the country,” Morris said. “A lot of people are doubting us, thinking we aren’t as good as we used to be. I think we’re better than a lot of old Simeon teams.”

Michael O’Brien has more on the underdogs here.

From the press box

Bears-Ravens predictions for Week 11
Ahead of the high school basketball season, our Michael O’Brien serves up his first Super 25 rankings of the year.

O’Brien also listed his top 50 players in the area, a group that includes some names with NBA potential.
And while the state’s previous top-ranked player, JJ Taylor, is now gone after transferring to a school in California, Taylor’s old team, Kenwood, still has high expectations for the coming season.

Get all of our high school basketball preview content in one place right here.
Despite Lukas Reichel’s strong start in the AHL, the Blackhawks are in no rush with the first-round pick, Ben Pope reports.

Your daily question ?

What’s the most underrated neighborhood in Chicago? Tell us why.

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: What food tastes most like home for you?

“Potato salad, boiled potatoes, onions, green peppers, celery, boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and vinegar — add mayonnaise and stir. Warm potato salad takes me home to when we all cooked in one small kitchen to get a massive meal full of love.” — Glynis Meeks

“Beet pickles. My mom made the best beet pickles.” — Betty Mantell

“Noquis/Gnocchi. It tastes most like home because it is a food that many people, I would say the majority of people, eat back home in Uruguay on the 29th of each month. It is served in homes and restaurants. Rich and poor eat it. You put some money under your plate and it is supposed to bring you good fortune the following month. No matter where I am living/traveling, I have noquis for lunch on the 29th.” — Mateo Alejandro Garcia Vazquez

“Pozole, my mom makes the best.” — Taty Anderfuren Portillo

“Mom’s chicken and dumplings.” — Oneda Zeman

“Meatloaf. It was one of the few things my mom could cook well. Day-old meatloaf sandwiches remind me of field trips to the museums.” — Erich V. Dahm

“My grandma’s tator tot casserole made with cream of chicken soup.” — Steve Price

“Kosha Mangsho (mutton curry). It’s a Bengali, Calcutta, India delicacy!” — Mohua Raichaudhuri

“Mom’s fruitcake. It tastes like stucco. Just like what our home is made of.” — Jon Tomasic

“Bruh, frijolitos de la olla — con quesito huele patas.” — Omar Ramos

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

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Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Beginning with the league’s 26th season, the eight teams with the highest winning percentage regardless of conference will be seeded based on their record and compete in bracket-style play with no team receiving a bye to start the postseason.

During the WNBA Finals, Breanna Stewart put the discussion on whether or not the league needs to adopt a new playoff format simply.

“Ya, it’s the format for college, but this isn’t college,” Stewart said ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

The 2021 playoffs were highlighted by the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury and sixth-seeded Sky advancing all the way to the Finals for the first time under the playoff format established in 2016. After the third and fourth seeds were eliminated in single-elimination games, the question of whether or not this format was suited for the WNBA grew louder.

Thursday afternoon the WNBA announced its Board of Governors approved a new playoff format that will include three rounds of series play. Beginning with the league’s 26th season, the eight teams with the highest winning percentage regardless of conference will be seeded based on their record and compete in bracket-style play with no team receiving a bye to start the postseason.

The playoff rounds will decrease from four to three, eliminating the single-elimination games in rounds one and two.

Instead, the first round will feature matchups between the No. 1 seed versus the No. 8 seed and the No. 4 seed versus the No. 5 seed in a best-of-three series. The opposite side of the bracket will feature the No. 3 seed versus the No. 6 seed and the No. 2 seed will meet the No. 7 seed. These first-round games will be played in a 2-1 format with the higher seed hosting the first two games and the lower hosting a third if necessary.

The winners of those four first-round series matchups will advance to the semifinals which will remain a best-of-five series. The WNBA Finals will also remain a best-of-five series. Neither the semifinals nor finals will see a change of format either (2-2-1) with the higher seed hosting Game 1, 2 and 5 and the lower seed hosting Game 3 and 4.

Commissioner Cathy Englebert said in a statement that despite the prior format creating a unique level of excitement, the new best-of-three series format caters to the creation of rivalries.

On their Championship run, the Sky were vocal about the challenges of making it through two single-elimination rounds. Two-time WNBA Champion, Candace Parker said on more than one occasion the playoffs don’t start until you get to a series.

Now, according to Parker’s standards, the playoffs will truly start in the first round.

“I think it’s good for the league,” Sky coach/general manager James Wade said. “I think professional basketball deserves series. This also assures fans that the best teams will always have the opportunity to recover from one game woes.”

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Police investigate Monday where two armored truck guards were shot outside a Bank of America branch in Chatham. | Manny Camarillo/Sun-Times

Antwon Montgomery, 19, and Deandre Jennings, 21, were ordered held without bail Thursday on several counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and robbery charges.

Two men involved in an armored car robbery that left a security guard dead and another wounded on the South Side also robbed a cellphone store before they turned their guns on their accomplices, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.

Judge Charles Beach called Monday’s crime spree a “brazen operation” and noted that 19-year-old Antwon Montgomery and Deandre Jennings, 21, could be sentenced to life if they are convicted given that they are accused of killing more than two people, including their cohorts in what amounted to an “execution.”

The GuardaWorld employees were loading an ATM with cash at a Bank of America branch in the 200 block of West 83rd Street around 10:20 a.m. Monday when a stolen Lincoln sedan with four people, including Montgomery and Jennings, pulled up, prosecutors said.

Chicago police
Antwon Montgomery

Montgomery and Jennings allegedly got out of the vehicle with weapons first and demanded money.

Montgomery grabbed for a case a 46-year-old guard was holding that contained between $50,000 and $80,000, prosecutors said. As they struggled over the case, a third person emerged from the Lincoln armed with a riffle, prosecutors said. Then, all three allegedly began shooting at the guards.

One of the guards, LaShonda Hearts, 47, was shot six times and later died at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. The 46-year-old guard was struck twice and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. A third guard was inside the armored truck during the robbery and was not hurt, prosecutors said.

While all three robbers’ faces were covered, their weapons and clothing were captured on the “grainy” bank surveillance video, prosecutors said.

The robbers were not able to take the cash and sped away after returning to the Lincoln, prosecutors said.

Shortly after, a witness saw an armed Montgomery and Jennings get out of a dark-colored sedan and into a parked Buick SUV, prosecutors said. The witness wrote down the Buick’s license plate number before it drove away into a strip mall in the 6700 block of South Stony Island Avenue, prosecutors said.

There, just before 11 a.m., Montgomery got out of the Buick and allegedly robbed a Boost Mobile store, taking cash form a register and multiple cellphones, prosecutors said. He left when he wasn’t able to access the store’s safe, prosecutors said.

Roughly an hour after the armored truck robbery, police received a report of a traffic crash and gunfire in the 8700 block of South Saginaw Avenue, prosecutors said.

Chicago police
Deandre Jennings

When they got to the scene, officers found the body of 21-year-old Naiqwon Harper, of Englewood, in the driver’s seat of the Buick. George Holmes, 27, was also discovered shot in the front passenger seat. Holmes was later pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Harper and Holmes were involved in Monday’s armored truck robbery, authorities said and are believed to have stolen the Lincoln sedan at gunpoint earlier in the day that was used in crime. The Buick was registered to Harper’s girlfriend, prosecutors said.

Witnesses saw Montgomery and Jennings running from the Buick and into a building on the block after the crash, prosecutors said.

A SWAT team responded and took Jennings and Montgomery into custody, police said.

Several handguns and a rifle were found inside the building, as well as cash and clothing that matched what Montgomery and Jennings were wearing during the robberies, prosecutors said.

Shell casings found at the scene of the armored truck robbery matched weapons found inside the building, prosecutors said.

Several Boost Mobile phones were also recovered from the Buick.

Montgomery and Jennings, who were ordered held without bail Thursday, have been charged with several counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and robbery.

Jennings, a father of two, is currently unemployed and lives with his mother, an assistant public defender said.

Montgomery lives with his girlfriend and has been working in the hospitality industry.

Jennings and Montgomery are expected back in court Dec. 6.

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Chicago Police Supt. David Brown | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

“I am not at all … happy with CPD and their leadership. They need to step up in a big way and stop this crime pandemic themselves,” Ald. George Cardenas (12th), the mayor’s deputy floor leader, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot should give her top cop a few months more to get a handle on Chicago’s “crime pandemic” and if he can’t, she should dump Police Supt. David Brown and his leadership team, her deputy floor leader said Thursday.

“I am not at all … happy with CPD and their leadership. They need to step up in a big way and stop this crime pandemic themselves. They need to find a way to recruit more people. That’s on them. The mayor can only do so much. That’s on that leadership,” Ald. George Cardenas (12th) told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“And I will urge the mayor — if that is not happening, she ought to change that leadership immediately.”

Does that mean giving the ax to the retired Dallas police chief?

“I said the leadership. That means the entire group if things don’t change as we get into 2022,” Cardenas said.

“If things don’t change and there’s not a different plan to deliver safety for Chicago — to deliver justice in the way people expect — then we need to bring in [someone else]. You’ve got to make the changes when things aren’t working out. … It’s all about performance. … It’s all about delivering. Chicagoans expect that. If that doesn’t happen, they expect things to change. If that means changing leadership, so be it.”

The mayor’s office had no immediate comment.

Shortly after taking office, Brown told his deputies he wanted to hold Chicago murders under 300 a year for the first time since 1957. He called it one of his “moonshot” goals.

Instead, Chicago has recorded 715 murders with more than a month to go in 2021. That’s up 3% from last year’s alarming level and 59% from 2019.

Shootings are up 9% from a year ago and 67% over 2019 — to 3,157 already this year.

Carjackings have spiked even more. They’re up 35% from last year’s troubling levels and 203% from 2019. Through Nov. 10, there have been 1,512 carjackings, compared to 1,120 during the same period last year and 499 in 2019.

Lightfoot had her sights set on Brown from the moment she fired Eddie Johnson for “lying to me and lying to the public” about the circumstances surrounding the drinking and driving incident in October 2019 that left him slumped over the wheel of his police SUV near his Bridgeport home.

A former Chicago Police Board president whose recommendations were ignored by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Lightfoot said the selection process “only has legitimacy if you follow it.”

But she ignored her own advice and chose Brown one day after the Police Board made public its list of three finalists and made certain that the other two finalists had nowhere near Brown’s experience so that the choice would appear obvious.

That helps to explain why, at least six times during Brown’s 19-month tenure, Lightfoot has publicly declared her unwavering support for her hand-picked superintendent and shot down what she called “dangerous, destabilizing and insulting” rumors that Brown was on his way out.

In April, the mayor brushed aside complaints from a handful of aldermen that Brown has been about as low-profile a superintendent as Chicago has ever had even during high-profile cases like the police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

“The superintendent has been appropriately present in the right places at the right time. He has been out in the community. … He has been out there at roll calls and doing what, I think, a superintendent must do who is still forming relationships with a range of different people,” the mayor said.

Lightfoot said then that “standing up and holding a press conference in full regalia” is not the measure of leadership — it’s the “quiet things you do sometimes to build real, authentic relationships” and “be there” for people who need help.

“That is the way that David Brown leads, and I support him a thousand-plus percent,” she said.

“These are fraught times. There are times when you lead with soft power. There are times you lead with other kinds of power. And I think he’s making the right calibrations in the moment that we’re in and I support him.”

Just this week, the mayor argued that except for murders, shootings and carjackings, “every other category” of crime is down.

She also cited significant progress in detectives solving homicides — from the dismal teens to 45% — and pressured Magnificent Mile merchants victimized repeatedly by smash-and-grab robberies to do more to improve their own security.

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Chicago winters call for piping hot comfort food to warm your hands, body, and soul. We’ve covered where to get the best takeout without leaving your home and rounded up our fave spots for hot soup and tea. However, don’t forget one of the most delicious ways to keep warm and make your tastebuds happy. Yes, we’re talking… Tamales! Whether you like them filled with pollo, carne, frijoles, queso, or one of each, here are nine places to order the best tamales in Chicago.

1209 N Paulina St, Chicago, IL 60622

Claudio Velez, aka “The Tamale Guy,” and his signature red cooler packed with tamales and green salsa is a local legend. The mobile caterer has been a staple in Chicago’s nightlife for over 20 years with locals calling him the “Santa Claus for the drunk and hungry.”

For Claudio’s signature offerings, order his famous pork, chicken, or cheese tamales, all served with house-made salsa. The menu also has dessert tamales, chips and salsa, and weekend specials.

1900-1998, W 21st Pl, Chicago, IL 60608

After exploring the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, walk a few blocks south to find The Tamale Lady, a local favorite and must-try in the city. Her cart filled with delicious tamales and hot beverages will keep you warm. Come early because they sell out fast!

The menu includes pork, chicken, and cheese tamales as well as strawberry and pineapple options for dessert. You’ll also find Oaxacan-style tamales, which use banana leaves instead of corn husks, preserving more moisture. 

814 W 18th St, Chicago, IL 60608

Made from scratch with a focus on vegan offerings, the tamales from Yvolina’s are sure to hit the spot. The Pilsen eatery uses olive oil in its masa mixture instead of lard, making the masa exterior 100% vegan.

Yvolina’s is well-loved for their vegan tamales with fillings like quinoa, lentils, kale, or mushrooms. The spot also offers your classic meat fixings as well as Oaxacan-style tamales.

5632 S Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60629

3314 W 55th St, Chicago, IL 60632

3811 W 63rd St, Chicago, IL 60629

4619 S Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60632

With four locations in the city’s Southwest Side, Rosas Tamales has become a popular local chain. Some menu items are only available in certain locations, like quesadillas exclusive to Rosas Tamales #4, or weekend-only items.  Also, you can get tamales (traditional or Oaxacan-style) at all locations, always served hot and fresh. Pork, chicken, beans, and more fillings are offered with salsa roja (red sauce) or salsa verde (green sauce) options for the meat.

4706 W 63rd St, Chicago, IL 60629

5341 S Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60632

6641 S Cicero Ave, Chicago, IL 60638

Manolo’s has all your favorite Mexican dishes, from tamales and enchiladas to tacos and burritos. The local chain has three locations across Chicago’s Southwest Side, providing perfect accessibility to satisfy your tamale craving. If this is your first time there, you really need to try their popular green chicken, red pork, or pepper and cheese corn husk tamales.

7024 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60626

This Mexican eatery in Rogers Park has a great selection of homemade tamales with your favorite savory fillings like chicken and pork in green or red sauce, beans with cheese, and jalapeño with cheese. For something sweet, order the pineapple or strawberry tamales.

5004 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60640

Kie-Gol-Lanee serves traditional Oaxacan cuisine and is a 2020 and 2021 Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand Award Winner. 

The restaurant offers original flavors from the highlands of Oaxaca and the pacific coast, including Oaxacan-style tamales filled with red mole with chicken or green mole with pork. For a vegetarian option, try the mushrooms, spicy tomato sauce, and cilantro tamales.

2235 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Quesadilla La Reina Del Sur is a casual Mexican eatery that specializes in vegan and vegetarian fare, and they definitely have some of the best tamales in Chicago. The menu has a wide selection of soy-based proteins, like steak, pork, lamb, chorizo, and chicken. In addition, their homemade vegan tamales are stuffed with green salsa and soy chicken, and are a crowd favorite, no matter you’re vegan or not!

1834 S Blue Island Ave, Chicago, IL 60608

This family-owned and operated Mexican restaurant in Pilsen has served authentic home-style cooking since 1962. The menu features a wide variety of northern-style Mexican dishes, including its award-winning tamales. Tamale filling options include pork in a mild red sauce, pork with a slice of jalapeno and dollop of mole, chicken in a mild green sauce, cheese with slices of poblano pepper, or refried beans.

Featured Image Credit: Tamales lo Mejor de Guerrero

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Grab your winter coat. Lace-up your blades. It’s the most wonderful time of year …to hit the rinks! Whether you’re a beginner or practically Nancy Kerrigan on the ice, you have to check out some of the best ice skating rinks in Chicago. Perfect for a weekend activity with the kids, a romantic first date, or just an exciting solo trip—you can’t go wrong gliding around for a few hours at these locations!

337 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60601

Opening Friday, November 19th, this popular downtown skating destination loops around almost one quarter of a mile and holds up to 700 skaters. Lockers and skates are available for rental on-site. You’ll want to make a reservation online as there’s no waitlist or refunds. Spaces fill up fast (especially on the weekends) so book your experience today!

11 Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60602

Another downtown favorite. Returning for its 20th season, the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park is open daily starting on November 19 through March 6. Admission is totally free (yay!) but you’ll need to fork over a little bit of cash for skate rentals. And if you get hungry or thirsty, you can grab hot drinks and snacks from nearby Momentum Coffee! Make your reservation online here. 

3843 N California Ave , Chicago, IL 60618

Head over to this North Center location for open skate on Saturdays from 4:40pm to 6:10pm or

Sundays from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. Public skating fees are $5 for adults and $3 for skate rentals. Advance registration is not necessary but you’ll have to sign up at the front desk when you arrive. And don’t forget your face mask since this is an indoor rink.

9711 Waveland Ave, Franklin Park, IL 60131

Looking for a lunchtime open skate? You got it. This family-friendly indoor skating and hockey rink offers lessons plus youth and adult leagues. They’re also open daily (all season long!) for some relaxing loops around the ring. Entrance is $6 and skate rental is $3 a pair. Check out their schedule here. 

1801 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60612

Visit the Chicago Blackhawks’ practice home, and your community space for public ice skating, beginner and rat hockey, and adult leagues! All admissions are on a first come first serve basis. So no need to make a reservation or buy presale tickets. Daily admission is $10 and skate rentals are $5. And before you get your skate on, make sure you’re up-to-speed on the rules!

1130 Midway Plaisance, Chicago, IL 60637

Pop over to Hyde Park to spend time at this lovely outdoor rink. Bring your own skates or rent a pair on site while enjoying awesome views of the UChicago campus. Admission is free and rentals are $7. See their daily schedule here. 

600 E Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

You know us now. We always save the best to the last. And when it comes to the best ice skating rinks in Chicago, there’s just no competition against Navy Pier’s indoor ice rink. And for the first time ever, the Pier is doing a gorgeous light installation above the rink called Light Up the Lake from November 26 thru January 2!

If you order early (before December 20), you can also enjoy the special Santa Saving Days discounts for children and adults.

Featured Image Credit: Millenium Park

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Paul McCartney’s book “The Lyrics” is Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year for 2021. | W.W. Norton and Company

Begun in 2019, Barnes & Noble’s books of the year are nominated by booksellers across the nation and then narrowed to eight titles by a selection committee.

The booksellers have spoken. Actually, they may have sung. Singer and songwriter Paul McCartney’s book “The Lyrics” is Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year for 2021.

McCartney returned the love. “I’m beyond honoured to receive this recognition. My team and I are extremely proud of ‘The Lyrics’ and it means so much to us that you like it as much as we do,” said McCartney in a statement to the bookseller. “Thank you to all the amazing team at Barnes & Noble in helping to launch the book.”

Begun in 2019, Barnes & Noble’s books of the year are nominated by booksellers across the nation and then narrowed to eight titles by a selection committee. The booksellers then vote on the eight titles for their favorite of the year.

“‘The Lyrics’ is an extraordinary book. It is stunningly beautiful and a masterpiece of book design,” said Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt. “Paul McCartney has fashioned, through the explorations of his songs with the poet Paul Muldoon, a fascinating insight into his life and creative genius. No wonder the booksellers of Barnes & Noble have hailed this magnificent and deeply original book.”

The two-volume boxed set is drawn from 50 hours of conversation recorded over five years with Muldoon, who shapes the transcripts into a loose narrative of 154 of the artist’s songs.

According to one bookseller, Michele L. from New York, “‘The Lyrics’ is like Paul McCartney took all the scraps of paper where he wrote down little ideas and then connected the dots for each of us to see how something so simple as a scrap of paper can become the greatest music of any generation. It is something that I will be pouring over for years to come. It’s a gift to me but it would be a great gift to any Beatles fan.”

Here’s what Barnes & Noble booksellers have to say about the Book of year finalists:

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“The 1619 Project,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine.

“The 1619 Project,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine

“This extraordinary book is a great way to speak to all children about our fraught US History while finding a way to celebrate Black heritage. It is beautiful, poetic, and something to be read by everyone.” –Allyson G., New York, N.Y.

“Cloud Cuckoo Land,” by Anthony Doerr

“A beautifully written, gorgeous epic that will easily be one of my favorites of the year. An ancient manuscript, the story of a man longing to reach the imaginary paradise of the title, links the many threads of the novel, from 15th century Constantinople to present day Ohio, to a spaceship escaping a ravaged earth in the future. It’s a hard to describe genre-bending novel that I’m sure will be a book club staple. Absolutely loved it! –Karen F., Coral Springs, Fla.

“Crying in H Mart,” by Michelle Zauner

“Crying in H Mart is a clear-eyed marvel of a book about grief and food and life in a complicated family. The prose is sublime, and this is a book to be savored” –Miwa M., Los Angeles, Calif.

“Pizza Czar: Recipes and Know-How from a World-Traveling Pizza Chef,” by Anthony Falco

” What makes this pizza cookbook special is Falco’s understanding of a wide variety of ingredients which he learned about and experimented with from his many travels around the world. It’s a great-looking book and an amazing resource for any cook.” –Edward A., Portland, Ore.

“The Sentence,” by Louise Erdrich

“A book that’s complex, charming, and current. With unforgettable characters woven into a story that centers round real events in 2020, this book feels like the perfect time capsule to illuminate an explosive year.” –Kat C., Brooklyn, N.Y.

“Together,” by Luke Adam Hawker

“Together takes a philosophical look at the events of 2020 and is a celebration of love, companionship, and kindness. With stunning artwork and sparse, beautiful prose, Together hits all the feels, and may be the book we all need to find hope, and to heal” –John S., Champaign, Ill.

“Under the Whispering Door,” by TJ Klune

“In a year of tumult without and within, this book fractures the brittle shell of callousness we wear and forces us to confront the vulnerability of hope. Accessible, funny, tear-inducing, and compelling, TJ Klune exceeds his previous work here by a significant stride.” –Scott H., Portage, Mich.

Contributing: Kim Willis

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