Openings

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Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream is opening its first Chicago shop this August in Lakeview's Southport Corridor. Located at 3404 N. Southport Ave., the shop will have seating for about 25 and standing room inside, along with outdoor seating in front and on the side of the long, narrow space. They're hoping to have doors in front and back to avoid customer traffic jams, said founder Jeni Britton Bauer. The décor will be simple, possibly involving painted wood tile walls. “Each spot that we do is different," Bauer said.

Months ago, rumors started swirling that Shake Shack , a popular fast-food eatery that started as a food cart in New York's Madison Square Park, would be opening a Chicago location.  This month, the company has made it official with an announcement that it is planning its first Illinois location at 66 E. Ohio St., which is part of the Shops at North Bridge complex.   The restaurant is slated to open in late 2014, according to Greg Waters, senior manager of marketing and communications for Shake Shack.  Details have not yet been released about the Chicago...

Chick-fil-A, the restaurant known for its chicken sandwiches and its president's stance on gay marriage, is opening a second location near State and Lake Street. The official opening date for the new location is June 20. While the chain restaurant usually offers its first 100 customers free giveaways on its opening day, Bernard Hendrix--a public relations coordinator for Chick-fil-A--said details on the First 100 event for the new location has not been confirmed. “Because First 100 is such a popular event, people will usually camp out near the location a day or two in advance to avoid...

The show must go on. The Congress Theater, threatened with closure for building code violations, is allowed to stay open at least throughout the weekend when three shows are scheduled, according to a court order issued Thursday. After the city filed a motion last week for a preliminary injunction to shut down the entire theater because of building violations, a last-minute compromise between the city and the Congress Theater has allowed the theater to remain open until at least the next court date set for 11 a.m. April 23. "It's a big theater with a lot...

Gateway to Learning has been working with adults and children with special needs for nearly 40 years, helping them learn fundamental life skills through a variety of programs, including working in a professional kitchen. Starting April 15, participants will start serving the public at Dorothy's Can-Do Cafe in Lincoln Square.  Named for GTL founder Dorothy Hough, the cafe is fueled by a 24-month day-training program run by members of GTL.  The members will "greet customers, fill bakery orders and...

Everybody likes sandwiches, but after trips to Eastern Europe through the years, Tracy Miller found herself obsessed with a very particular style of stuff-on-bread. That would be the small open-faced sandwiches popular in Austria and its neighboring countries that she couldn't stop thinking about. In particular, she and her Slovakia-born husband, Stanislav Grezdo, adored the ones at Duran European Sandwiches, a family-run chain of cafes in Vienna. "I thought, wow, this is really cool," Miller said.

*** (out of 4) During the middle of Jay-Z's verse on "3 Kings" last year, he had a bar where he just sneered, sniffed, sniveled. That's all it was: "King H-O, y'all should know by now/ and if you don't, uh-- *sniff*. " It was the best part of the song, and today's "Open Letter" embodies that line, only in an entire song. It's both a direct response to the recent controversies surrounding Hov (the illegal-but-actually-legal vacation to Cuba, people clowning on his share of the Nets, his friendship with Obama)

For Cubs fans, home opening day means flowing beer, baseball gear, and a healthy amount of hope.   But historically it's also helped usher in a seasonal uptick in “quality of life” offenses around Lakeview's bars. In anticipation of the opener and accompanying festivities, (some Wrigleyville bars plan to open in the early morning), the Chicago Police Department is posting extra bike-patrolling officers to the 19th District, which encompasses Wrigleyville, and will add a neighborhood...

Popular Wrigleyville pizzeria Dimo's is preparing to open a second larger - and boozier - location on the border of Wicker Park and Bucktown this spring. The second Dimo's Pizza will be located inside a new building at 1615 N. Damen Ave., just north of Six Corners. In addition to being three times as large, this location plans to serve booze rather than go BYOB like the original, said founder and CEO Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau. “[The new location] a little bit more suited for a liquor license and we have a little bit more space to do that,” said Syrkin-Nikolau.

Come Wednesday, fans of women's store Madewell will finally be able to get their fix without leaving city limits. The retailer has suburban locations at Old Orchard in Skokie and Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, but a new 4,000-square-foot location in the Gold Coast (932 N. Rush St. 312-337-3815) marks its first Chicago location. Madewell, which is operated by J. Crew Group, Inc., is most well-known for its denim - from cut-off shorts to chambray shirts to jackets--and also stocks accessories such as jewelry, shoes, handbags, sunglasses and scarves.