Best Breweries in the Southwest Suburbs (and the Ones That Didn't Make It)

Search for breweries near here and you will get a list of Chicago breweries. Half Acre, Goose Island, Revolution. All good, all thirty-five minutes and a toll away, and none of them the answer to what you asked. So I went through all nineteen towns out here myself. What I found was not what I expect

The Best Pizza in the Southwest Suburbs (and Why Almost All of It Is Tavern Style)

Ask somebody out here where to get pizza and you will get a fast answer, a specific one, and no hesitation at all. Ask two people and you will get an argument. What you will almost never get is a debate about style, and that surprises people who move here from somewhere else. They arrive expecting C

The Best Paved Bike Trails in the Southwest Suburbs (and Which One to Ride First)

I have ridden Midewin twice over the years and none since I moved out here, but mostly because somebody told me it was flat and I believed them. They were right. What I did not know until I started actually looking is how much paved trail is sitting within twenty minutes of my house, and how much of

Best Forest Preserves and Hiking Trails in the Southwest Suburbs (Easy, Scenic, and Bike-Friendly)

One of the quiet perks of living out here is how much protected green space is within a short drive, and the local term for most of it is not "hiking trails," it is "forest preserves." The catch is that they are not interchangeable. Some are flat, paved, and perfect for a stroller or a first bike ri