Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter
What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now.
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Eat. Watch. Do.

Thursday, May 1, 2025

It’s Thursday, Chicago.

And it’s also now May! I love it when the newsletter aligns with the beginning of a new month.

This week, we’re celebrating the bevy of cafes brewing coffee on Pilsen’s 18th Street, waking up an evolving neighborhood.

We also have the scoop on new restaurant openings in Chicago and the suburbs for your next night out. Plus, film critic Michael Phillips reviews the newest Marvel movie “Thunderbolts*” starring Florence Pugh, which "feels like something relatively new and vivid."

Enjoy the weekend, we’ll see you back here next week.

— Lauryn Azu, deputy senior editor

One mile, more than a dozen Latino-owned cafes: How Pilsen’s coffee culture is growing across 18th Street

Pulsing through and around 18th Street in Pilsen, there are now over a dozen independent, Latino-owned coffee stores.

Read more →

‘Thunderbolts*’ review: Tormented superheroes in the first pretty-good Marvel movie in a while

Florence Pugh leads a crew of scrappy misfits. It’s a familiar premise, “Suicide Squad” did the same thing, but here it works.

Read more →

Restaurant news: Proxi evolves with coastal Asian focus in the West Loop

The evolution of Proxi is a culmination of the journeys of executive chef Andrew Zimmerman, managing partner Emmanuel Nony and chef de cuisine Jennifer Kim.

Read more →

Life after bandtime: The nine lives of Talking Head Jerry Harrison, in Skokie for ‘Stop Making Sense’

Nine things you probably didn’t know about the guitarist and keyboardist for the Talking Heads and co-founder of the Modern Lovers.

Read more →

Chicago Gourmet announces 2025 dates, new sports theme with a crosstown twist and all-star roster of chefs

Chicago Gourmet, the upscale food festival that celebrates the city as a “culinary capital,” will be returning to Millennium Park Sept. 25 to 28 with a new, sporty twist.

Read more →

Review: ‘Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus’ at Redtwist Theatre gives itself over to spectacle

In Taylor Mac’s version, the title character is inspired by a bit part, simply called a “country fellow” in the original, who is sentenced to hang by the Roman emperor.

Read more →

Imaging the future of trans healthcare — and plastering it across the MCA

Edie Fake’s mural, now on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art, is hard to pin down. Also, Edie Fake is hard to pin down.

Read more →

Review: ‘Bust’ at the Goodman Theatre begins with a leap of imagination

What would happen if a Black man in the middle of a confrontation with the police was suddenly teleported away? So begins Zora Howard’s new play.

Read more →

‘Miss Austen’ review: The mystery of Jane Austen’s burned letters

Most of Jane Austen’s correspondence was burned after her death. This PBS Masterpiece series speculates as to why.