Bacon AND Beer? Get Excited for the Bacon and Beer Classic

I’m a huge fan of festivals that combine an appreciation of craft beer with small bites for a satisfying experience all around. When those small bites all center around the theme of bacon… I’m in heaven. The Bacon and Beer Classic happens yearly in New York City, Seattle, Indianapolis and of course… Chicago! You won’t have… Continue reading Bacon AND Beer? Get Excited for the Bacon and Beer Classic

Buy A Slow Cooker And Add A Tiny Bit Of Happiness To Your Meaningless Existence

Lunchtime. Yay. Week-old roast beef and mustard on sourdough with stale pita chips. Only 12,774 lunches left on the interminable, slow, plodding path to death we all walk together. Might as well head back to your desk and pretend to work for the rest of the day, stomach grumbling, wearing that same emotionless face you… Continue reading Buy A Slow Cooker And Add A Tiny Bit Of Happiness To Your Meaningless Existence

How to Survive a Chicago Summer Festival (in Style)

Fellow Chicagoans… Festival season is upon us (click here for a pretty definitive list)! I’m a huge fan of music festivals like Lollapalooza, and have a few I plan to attend this year (Pitchfork, Lollapalooza and Piqniq). The Top 5 Chicago Summer Festival Necessities 1. Camelback. The Camelback (or whatever off-brand strikes your fancy) is the… Continue reading How to Survive a Chicago Summer Festival (in Style)

Salads in the Loop – AND A GIVEAWAY

This article has been several weeks in the making. I contacted several restaurants and chains with locations in the Loop (and River North, hereafter referred to simply as “the Loop”), and all of them gave me an opportunity to try their products for free in exchange for an honest review of their salads and their… Continue reading Salads in the Loop – AND A GIVEAWAY

Cooking Tips For City Living: Sell All Your Possessions And Buy A Wok

I see you. I see you watching the Food Network on weeknights, laughing every time someone forgets an ingredient on Chopped. I hear you mutter to yourself “I could do better” in between bites of reheated Chinese take-out. I feel it when you roll your eyes at Rachel Ray, Alton Brown, and at Bobby Flay,… Continue reading Cooking Tips For City Living: Sell All Your Possessions And Buy A Wok

Chicago Chef Week: Save or Splurge?

You can’t be a true Chicagoan without knowing the majesty of Chicago Restaurant Week. It’s a week full of excuses to eat at some of Chicago’s finest dining establishments with multiple-course prix-fixe menus that will set you back $22 for lunch, and $33 or $44 for dinner. First off… what the heck is Chicago Chef… Continue reading Chicago Chef Week: Save or Splurge?

Free Food: 6 Chicago Email Newsletters to Follow

There are a lot of opportunities for free and cheap food in Chicago. An easy way to find out about these opportunities is by following Chicago Cheap Ass on Facebook for of-the-moment updates. You could also refer to this definitive guide of Chicago email newsletters to have free food delivered straight to your inbox. No… Continue reading Free Food: 6 Chicago Email Newsletters to Follow

Work Salads – An affordably healthy lunch

This post isn’t specific to Chicago, but when I started this blog, I told people I wanted to incorporate tips for money saving in general. This one also happens to revolve around health. About 2 months ago, a coworker and I decided to try an experiment. We’re both fairly health-conscious and recognized a need to offset… Continue reading Work Salads – An affordably healthy lunch

Spring Rewards – Chicago’s New Restaurant Loyalty Program

There’s little more annoying than having to keep track of endless cards, apps, etc. just to rack up points at your favorite businesses. My purse simply doesn’t have room for physical representations of all the businesses I frequent. But what if I told you that you could start racking up loyalty points at hundreds of Chicago’s… Continue reading Spring Rewards – Chicago’s New Restaurant Loyalty Program