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A bucket of beers at a sports bar. A fancy martini with the girls. A mezcal margarita during patio season. The right kind of booze can make your night even more fun! We know you all talk about spring wines, but there is way better stuff around! If you haven’t had a pitcher of sangria from one of these six bars in Chicago then you, my friend, you are missing out. Save these hot spots for the next time you want to indulge in the sweet, sweet fruits of Sangria. 

2024 N Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60614

This Lincoln Park favorite offers the traditional drink of Spain made with wine, liqueurs, and diced fresh fruit. Feeling classic? Choose red or white for $28. Or try something different with white peach, passionfruit, or black raspberry flavors for $29. You can also try their seasonal offering called “Sangria del Día” or Cava Sangria made with raspberry liqueur and brandy each will set you back $31. 

Image Credit: The Berkshire Room

15 E Ohio St, Chicago, IL 60611

With spring nipping at our heels, we’re all ready to switch out our wardrobes and trade in our hot cocktails for cooler spring ones! Chicago’s Nigal Vann from The Berkshire Room partnered with Sandeman Port Wine to create a variation of the classic sangria that is fit for anyone looking to start up springtime brunches at home this year!

832 W Randolph St. Chicago, IL 60607

Head over to the West Loop for incredible appetizers, pizzas, pastas, and cocktails. If you are looking for the best sangrias in Chicago, we recommend ordering a pitcher of the red “Siena Sangria.” For $48, there’s enough to share with a few friends, your in-laws, or a boozy first date! In addition, the menu includes other amazing drinks (shoutout to N° 5 and N° 24).

500 N Clark St #465, Chicago, IL 60654

Available by the glass or pitcher, Jaleo offers several different types of Sangria including: Sangría roja La Sueca: Fruity, spiced wine on tap, Sangría de Cava: Cava, gin, vermouth, seasonal fruit, citrus, and Sangria de Lujo: Red wine, brandy, vermouth, seasonal fruit, citrus.

Come during the Sangria Hour for $8 per glass instead of the usual $11! Or grab a pitcher starting at $52 for a real party.

1200 W. Webster Ave Chicago, IL 60614

Available by the glass or in a large-format pitcher, Old Pueblo Cantina’s Rose Sangria features hints of passionfruit, lime, and a seasonal fruit medley. Sangrias are $11.95 glass or $47.95 pitcher. If you’re in for some tropical mood, the Rose Sangria definitely wouldn’t let you down.

Image Credit: Michael Jordan’s Steak House Chicago

505 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60611

Speaking of Sangria with a twist… Have you tried Michael Jordan’s Zombie Sangria ($17)!? This warm weather-inspired beverage from the restaurant’s summer cocktail menu puts a tiki twist on a classic Sangria beverage. With Torrontes wine as the base, rum and passionfruit lend a tropical flavor to this fruity, breezy drink.

5910 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60660

Order up top-notch eats, drinks, and a bargain at this north Chicago staple. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a funky ski lodge with cozy fireplaces and wood beam ceilings. Don’t sleep on the complimentary peanuts and sangria pitchers with ice for $17.25 or without ice for $20.25.

807 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607

Looking for a vibrant, fun atmosphere with Barcelona-style tapas? Then pop by this lively bar and restaurant in the Fulton Market District. You can’t go wrong with their Classic red wine sangría with gin, triple sec, and fresh fruits. Or classic white wine sangría with rum, white peach, and fresh fruits. More of a rosé fan? Try their Sangria Rosada with rosé wine, tequila, cranberry, and pomegranate. Each pitcher costs $44. 

2507 W North Ave Floor 3, Chicago, IL 60647

This bar and restaurant serves up serious Spanish plates in a festive villa-like space with live flamenco music. But the real star of the show? Their sangria. Homemade and bottled at the source, this sweet mixture will set you back $36.95 (for red and white flavors) or $38.95 (for peach and mango flavors). And honestly? They’re worth every penny.

1530 S State St. Chicago, IL 60605

Experience Chicago’s taste of Spain AND bombass pitchers of sangria! Go with the tried-and-true red or white for $33.95. Or mix it up with a different flavor: srawberry, peach, prickly pear, mango, pomegranate, or watermelon for $35.95. Or say ~yes way to rosé~ with their Rose Cava Sangria for $39.95.

Featured Image Credit: The Berkshire Room

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There’s a scene near the end of Albany Park Theater Project’s Homecoming (the company’s first live show since the pandemic began) where the cast sings “With a Little Help From My Friends.” That’s about where I wished I, like the audience members seated across from me, had remembered to bring tissues.

Sure, music is designed to hit us in the emotional solar plexus. And sure, seeing a multiethnic group of young performers come back from an enforced hiatus with such grace and soul was bound to make me feel soppy. But this show, featuring a quartet of “greatest hits” from past APTP ensemble-devised shows (2003’s Aquí Estoy, 2010’s Feast, 2012’s Home/Land, and 2000’s Motives for Not Drowning) works at multiple levels as it explores universal human connections between heart and head, past and future, dreams and the daily grind. 

HomecomingThrough 7/23: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 3:30 and 8 PM, Eugene Field Park, 5100 N. Ridgeway, aptpchicago.org, choose your price ($35 suggested); many performances sold out, but a waiting list is available.

Directed by Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Devika Ranjan, Maggie Popadiak, and APTP cofounder David Feiner, with 21 actors playing multiple roles as well as singing and playing instruments, the show explores the experiences of jornaleros in the neighborhood seeking day work in construction; the thrill of shopping at Aldi after the LINK card arrives; the danger of traveling from Honduras through Mexico to the U.S.; and the importance of dedicated teachers in helping us find our voices and determination. All the stories were collected from the community by past ensemble members.

There is a sad irony threaded through the experiences of immigrants who risk everything riding atop “La Bestia,” or “El Tren de la Muerte” (the dangerous freight train running from Central America through Mexico) for their family, only to find themselves drifting away from those families in “el Norte.” In “Luca Rivera vs. the United States of America,” a young boxer (Ari Salgado) fights many opponents within and without his family: his father’s homophobia that results in him losing his home; the loss of his beloved mother from cancer, probably derived from her work in a dangerous plastics factory; the United States government that refuses to protect him and others who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. By joining the DREAMers in protest, he realizes that he is “undocumented and unafraid,” and he also tells us, “I am here to keep my mother from disappearing.”

The earliest piece excerpted here, “Mr. Edwards” from Motives for Not Drowning, is a tribute to the late James Edwards, a music teacher at Albany Park’s Haugan Elementary School and conductor of the acclaimed Chicago Public Schools All-City Elementary Youth Chorus, who died in 1996 (long before this current ensemble was born) at age 45 from leukemia. There’s an undeniable echo of Mr. Holland’s Opus, To Sir, with Love, and many other stories of tough-but-caring teachers who opened students to possibilities they hadn’t imagined for themselves yet. But as with everything else in this 80-minute collage celebrating everyday lives, “Mr. Edwards” is so rooted in specific details, so adept at unwinding the vulnerabilities of both youth and adults, that we feel as if we knew him. 

The pandemic shutdown was cataclysmic for students and artists. It’s so nice to be able to celebrate a Homecoming of hope and joy and resistance with APTP.

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There’s a scene near the end of Albany Park Theater Project’s Homecoming (the company’s first live show since the pandemic began) where the cast sings “With a Little Help From My Friends.” That’s about where I wished I, like the audience members seated across from me, had remembered to bring tissues.

Sure, music is designed to hit us in the emotional solar plexus. And sure, seeing a multiethnic group of young performers come back from an enforced hiatus with such grace and soul was bound to make me feel soppy. But this show, featuring a quartet of “greatest hits” from past APTP ensemble-devised shows (2003’s Aquí Estoy, 2010’s Feast, 2012’s Home/Land, and 2000’s Motives for Not Drowning) works at multiple levels as it explores universal human connections between heart and head, past and future, dreams and the daily grind. 

HomecomingThrough 7/23: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 3:30 and 8 PM, Eugene Field Park, 5100 N. Ridgeway, aptpchicago.org, choose your price ($35 suggested); many performances sold out, but a waiting list is available.

Directed by Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Devika Ranjan, Maggie Popadiak, and APTP cofounder David Feiner, with 21 actors playing multiple roles as well as singing and playing instruments, the show explores the experiences of jornaleros in the neighborhood seeking day work in construction; the thrill of shopping at Aldi after the LINK card arrives; the danger of traveling from Honduras through Mexico to the U.S.; and the importance of dedicated teachers in helping us find our voices and determination. All the stories were collected from the community by past ensemble members.

There is a sad irony threaded through the experiences of immigrants who risk everything riding atop “La Bestia,” or “El Tren de la Muerte” (the dangerous freight train running from Central America through Mexico) for their family, only to find themselves drifting away from those families in “el Norte.” In “Luca Rivera vs. the United States of America,” a young boxer (Ari Salgado) fights many opponents within and without his family: his father’s homophobia that results in him losing his home; the loss of his beloved mother from cancer, probably derived from her work in a dangerous plastics factory; the United States government that refuses to protect him and others who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. By joining the DREAMers in protest, he realizes that he is “undocumented and unafraid,” and he also tells us, “I am here to keep my mother from disappearing.”

The earliest piece excerpted here, “Mr. Edwards” from Motives for Not Drowning, is a tribute to the late James Edwards, a music teacher at Albany Park’s Haugan Elementary School and conductor of the acclaimed Chicago Public Schools All-City Elementary Youth Chorus, who died in 1996 (long before this current ensemble was born) at age 45 from leukemia. There’s an undeniable echo of Mr. Holland’s Opus, To Sir, with Love, and many other stories of tough-but-caring teachers who opened students to possibilities they hadn’t imagined for themselves yet. But as with everything else in this 80-minute collage celebrating everyday lives, “Mr. Edwards” is so rooted in specific details, so adept at unwinding the vulnerabilities of both youth and adults, that we feel as if we knew him. 

The pandemic shutdown was cataclysmic for students and artists. It’s so nice to be able to celebrate a Homecoming of hope and joy and resistance with APTP.

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I suppose it’s somewhat reassuring to know people still get outraged by the MAGA madness Mary Miller spews.

That we all haven’t gone numb to her lunacy—even though she seems to be saying crazy things all the time.

In case you forgot, Mary Miller is the downstate congresswoman who made her name last year by declaring: “Hitler was right.”

You’d think such a comment might turn off voters—even Republican ones.

Nope. Miller trounced her opponent—Congressman Rodney Davis—in last month’s Republican primary. That makes her pretty much a shoo-in to be reelected in November.

Miller trounced Davis thanks to Donald Trump—speaking of MAGA madness—who endorsed her at a downstate rally just a few days before the election.

“She’s somebody I’ve gotten to know,” said Trump at the rally. “She’s been all for me, all the way. You have to remember that. And she’s just a very good person and a very MAGA person.”

That was all MAGA had to hear. Roughly 58 percent of Republicans voted for Miller—they’d probably jump off a cliff if that’s what Trump commanded.

In many ways, Trump was returning a favor with his endorsement since Miller made an appearance at a rally for Trump on January 5 in Washington. That’s the day before the infamous Capitol insurrection which we now realize was an attempted coup, hatched by Trump, to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the election of Joe Biden by the voters of the United States.

Something, people, I hope we never get numb to.

It was at that January 5 rally where Miller made her observation about Hitler. Which, in its entirety, went like this . . .

“Each generation has the responsibility to teach and train the next generation. You know, if we win a few elections, we’re still going to be losing, unless we win the hearts and minds of our children. This is the battle. Hitler was right on one thing: He said, ‘Whoever has the youth, has the future.’ Our children are being propagandized.”

It took her a while to apologize. First she used the notoriety gained by the comment as an opportunity to blast “left-wing radicals in our country today.”

Eventually, she offered an “apology” in which she admitted that while it’s wrong to say “Hitler was right”, her main point was that, well, you know—Hitler was right.

In this case, she, like Hitler, thinks it’s a good idea to brainwash impressionable young people with propaganda so they’ll be under your command forever. Sort of like Illinois Republicans with Trump.

At the recent rally, Miller thanked Trump for his three Supreme Court appointees who tag teamed with three other justices to eviscerate abortion rights in America.

Or as Miller put it: “President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday.”

Her “white life” line set off another brouhaha. It echoed MAGA replacement theory, which holds that one of the main problems with abortion is that it allows white women to end their pregnancies. Thus depriving the country of the white babies it needs to keep white people as the majority race in the country.

A position, come to think of it, that would fit in quite well back in the Germany of you-know-who.

After non-MAGA Americans recoiled, Miller’s press secretary issued a clarification. It was “a mix-up of words.” And Miller meant to say “victory for right to life” as opposed to “victory for white life.”

If you say so, Congresswoman Miller.

Also receiving Trump’s blessing at that rally was state senator Darren Bailey, who went on to crush his opponents in the Republican primary, winning the right to run against Governor Pritzker in November.

I’ve been telling people about Bailey since he made a name for himself back in the early days of the pandemic, declaring his right to infect his colleagues in the General Assembly with COVID-19 by not wearing a mask.

Bailey is as far to the right as Miller—though he’s so far refrained from saying “Hitler was right.”

Bailey did have to apologize for comments he made after a deranged 21-year-old man climbed up on a roof and, armed with an automatic rifle, started shooting people at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, killing seven people and wounding 30 others.

Bailey’s initial comment, made soon after the shooting, when the shooter was still at large, went like this: “Let’s pray for justice to prevail, and then let’s move on and let’s celebrate—celebrate the independence of this nation.” 

When voters expressed outrage over Bailey’s insensitivity to the people who had just been killed, he apologized. And then, true to form, tried to blame everything on Pritzker. 

I point all of this out to remind you that Bailey, like Miller, are MAGA to the core. As such, they’re first allegiance remains to Donald Trump.

They have no solutions for the problems this country faces. They either deny those problems exist, or try to exploit them with hate.

In the matter of guns, Bailey’s position is that guns are not a problem and we need no laws to control their spread—even as the carnage continues.

It’s been over five years since Trump went on the Bill O’Reilly show and said: “I got to meet a couple of very top police [in Chicago]. I said, ‘How do you stop [the shootings]? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge—to a specific person—do you think you could stop it?’ He said, ‘Mr. Trump, I’d be able to stop it in one week.’ And I believed him 100 percent.” 

Listening to Trump’s comments on the O’Reilly show reminds me of Harvey, the movie where the Jimmy Stewart character has an invisible friend who’s a giant rabbit.

The notion of Trump having make-believe conversations with his make-believe police friends in Chicago might be funny, if the times weren’t so tragic and the stakes so high.

The Latest from the Ben Joravsky Show

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

I suppose it’s somewhat reassuring to know people still get outraged by the MAGA madness Mary Miller spews.

That we all haven’t gone numb to her lunacy—even though she seems to be saying crazy things all the time.

In case you forgot, Mary Miller is the downstate congresswoman who made her name last year by declaring: “Hitler was right.”

You’d think such a comment might turn off voters—even Republican ones.

Nope. Miller trounced her opponent—Congressman Rodney Davis—in last month’s Republican primary. That makes her pretty much a shoo-in to be reelected in November.

Miller trounced Davis thanks to Donald Trump—speaking of MAGA madness—who endorsed her at a downstate rally just a few days before the election.

“She’s somebody I’ve gotten to know,” said Trump at the rally. “She’s been all for me, all the way. You have to remember that. And she’s just a very good person and a very MAGA person.”

That was all MAGA had to hear. Roughly 58 percent of Republicans voted for Miller—they’d probably jump off a cliff if that’s what Trump commanded.

In many ways, Trump was returning a favor with his endorsement since Miller made an appearance at a rally for Trump on January 5 in Washington. That’s the day before the infamous Capitol insurrection which we now realize was an attempted coup, hatched by Trump, to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the election of Joe Biden by the voters of the United States.

Something, people, I hope we never get numb to.

It was at that January 5 rally where Miller made her observation about Hitler. Which, in its entirety, went like this . . .

“Each generation has the responsibility to teach and train the next generation. You know, if we win a few elections, we’re still going to be losing, unless we win the hearts and minds of our children. This is the battle. Hitler was right on one thing: He said, ‘Whoever has the youth, has the future.’ Our children are being propagandized.”

It took her a while to apologize. First she used the notoriety gained by the comment as an opportunity to blast “left-wing radicals in our country today.”

Eventually, she offered an “apology” in which she admitted that while it’s wrong to say “Hitler was right”, her main point was that, well, you know—Hitler was right.

In this case, she, like Hitler, thinks it’s a good idea to brainwash impressionable young people with propaganda so they’ll be under your command forever. Sort of like Illinois Republicans with Trump.

At the recent rally, Miller thanked Trump for his three Supreme Court appointees who tag teamed with three other justices to eviscerate abortion rights in America.

Or as Miller put it: “President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday.”

Her “white life” line set off another brouhaha. It echoed MAGA replacement theory, which holds that one of the main problems with abortion is that it allows white women to end their pregnancies. Thus depriving the country of the white babies it needs to keep white people as the majority race in the country.

A position, come to think of it, that would fit in quite well back in the Germany of you-know-who.

After non-MAGA Americans recoiled, Miller’s press secretary issued a clarification. It was “a mix-up of words.” And Miller meant to say “victory for right to life” as opposed to “victory for white life.”

If you say so, Congresswoman Miller.

Also receiving Trump’s blessing at that rally was state senator Darren Bailey, who went on to crush his opponents in the Republican primary, winning the right to run against Governor Pritzker in November.

I’ve been telling people about Bailey since he made a name for himself back in the early days of the pandemic, declaring his right to infect his colleagues in the General Assembly with COVID-19 by not wearing a mask.

Bailey is as far to the right as Miller—though he’s so far refrained from saying “Hitler was right.”

Bailey did have to apologize for comments he made after a deranged 21-year-old man climbed up on a roof and, armed with an automatic rifle, started shooting people at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, killing seven people and wounding 30 others.

Bailey’s initial comment, made soon after the shooting, when the shooter was still at large, went like this: “Let’s pray for justice to prevail, and then let’s move on and let’s celebrate—celebrate the independence of this nation.” 

When voters expressed outrage over Bailey’s insensitivity to the people who had just been killed, he apologized. And then, true to form, tried to blame everything on Pritzker. 

I point all of this out to remind you that Bailey, like Miller, are MAGA to the core. As such, they’re first allegiance remains to Donald Trump.

They have no solutions for the problems this country faces. They either deny those problems exist, or try to exploit them with hate.

In the matter of guns, Bailey’s position is that guns are not a problem and we need no laws to control their spread—even as the carnage continues.

It’s been over five years since Trump went on the Bill O’Reilly show and said: “I got to meet a couple of very top police [in Chicago]. I said, ‘How do you stop [the shootings]? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge—to a specific person—do you think you could stop it?’ He said, ‘Mr. Trump, I’d be able to stop it in one week.’ And I believed him 100 percent.” 

Listening to Trump’s comments on the O’Reilly show reminds me of Harvey, the movie where the Jimmy Stewart character has an invisible friend who’s a giant rabbit.

The notion of Trump having make-believe conversations with his make-believe police friends in Chicago might be funny, if the times weren’t so tragic and the stakes so high.

The Latest from the Ben Joravsky Show

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

The Chicago Blackhawks have been filling out their roster in rather smart ways since the beginning of free agency. Some of their former best players are gone so they had to get lesser players to fill their roles as they rebuild in 2022-23.

Guys like Max Domi, Andreas Athanasiou, Colin Blackwell, and Alex Stalock amongst others are coming to Chicago to try and make an impact. Some of them will help lead the younger kids and some of them might even fetch them a draft pick or prospect at the trade deadline.

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