North Shore Foodie Finds

Bring a Lake Bluff Brew to Your Memorial Day BBQ

A small batch brewery on the North Shore has some options for those of you looking to bring a delicious, local beer to your Memorial Day celebration.

Heading to a Memorial Day barbecue this weekend and looking to bring something more creative than buns or brats? Try some really tasty beer. After finishing an interview last week at Inovasi, I stumbled into Lake Bluff Brewery for the first time. Patch has written about these guys before, but I actually didn't know the place existed until reading about it as the final destination of an awesome day-long bike ride in the Chicago Reader.  It was around 5 p.m. on Friday when I walked in and the place was packed, but not too busy that the friendly bartender couldn't find time to let me sample a few beers. I tried the Derailleur first, since, for better or for worse, IPAs are typically my starting point. Then, I tried the Skull and Bones Double …

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Comcast Offering Free Wifi In Expanded Hot Spots, Through July 4

As part of a rollout of wifi hot spots, Comcast is offering anyone, even non-customers, free wifi in a variety of eateries and other settings, through July 4. After that, customers can still use wifi in the many new locations.

  There you are, sitting in a restaurant or doctor's waiting room, trying to get on to the Internet with your smartphone, tablet or laptop. But frustratingly, there's no wifi service. You either can't get online or must use up your expensive data plan service.  To remedy this, Comcast is expanding the number of locations in which it offers Wifi service, and is offering a freebie from May 24 through July 4. Anyone, even non-customers, can access wifi for free on those dates. After that, Comcast customers can access the wifi service for free, and non-customers can get two 60-minute sessions free per month. Many of the spots are located in Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Evanston, Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Oak Park, Palatine, Skokie and …

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Pam DeFiglio

9:40 am on Thursday, May 23, 2013

Hi Jon, Yes, there are some in Deerfield. The locations are at this link: http://hotspots.wifi.comcast.com/?map_submit.x=57&a=deerfield+il+usa&map_submit.y=20   more ›

Former Sharp Corner School Site in Skokie For Sale

A piece of Skokie School District 68 history is on the market, Skokie Review reported.

  Skokie School District 68 is putting the former Sharp Corner Elementary School site on the market but is also open to renting the property at Skokie Boulevard and Gross Point Road, Skokie Review reported.  Sharp Corner opened in 1929 and was the only District 68 school at the time, but in 1978 the school closed its door due to declining enrollment. The district rented the property to Solomon and Schechter Day School for around 30 years but after the school moved out a year ago, the district is now putting the property up for sale, Skokie Review reported.  Related Coverage

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It's Official: Purple Hotel Set to Be Demolished

Plans to rehab the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood are no more.

Lincolnwood Mayor Jerry Turry told Patch there was once a point when residents asked him how they could obtain a brick from the iconic Purple Hotel. At the time, speculation spread throughout the community that the site would be demolished. Those rumors would later be dismissed, however, after Skokie based developer North Capital, LLC purchased the site with plans to redevelop and rehab the structure. Now, those residents may get their wish. The Purple Hotel is going to be demolished, according to Chicago Real Estate Daily. The sale of Lincolnwood's Purple Hotel was confirmed in late May by The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The site was purchased by Jake Weiss, founder of North Capital, for $8.3 …

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Skokie Firefighters Respond to Blaze at Church and Crawford

More than a dozen firefighters were on scene as they put out a two story fire near the intersection of Church Street and Crawford Avenue on Wednesday around 4:45 p.m.

Johnson Shino walked into Anuyu Hair Studio, 4015 Church St., expecting to get a haircut. Instead, he saw a lot of smoke and a whole lot of firefighters. "There was no 'boom,'" Shino said making a gesture with his hands. "Only smoke. It was very quiet" At about 4:45 p.m., Wednesday, smoke from a first floor business caused an entire building to be shutdown and evacuated. Windows of a second floor apartment unit were busted out and the smell of smoke was faint in the air. An office next to the hair salon showcased wet carpet from the water used to put out the blaze above. There were at least four firetrucks on scene.  A Skokie Fire Department official said there were no serious injuries. He also added that no one was transported to the …

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Fire Ignites at Myron & Phil’s Steakhouse after Owner Dies

The founder of a well-known Lincolnwood restaurant passed away a short time before a fire erupted in the restaurant, CBS Chicago reported.

In what the son of a restaurant founder called a coincidence, a fire ignited at Myron & Phil’s steakhouse a short time after its owner passed away in Lincolnwood on Wednesday, CBS Chicago reported. Myron & Phil’s has been operating for more than 40 years, according to CBS Chicago’s report. The blaze erupted in the storage room at Myron & Phil’s, 3900 W. Devon Avenue, at approximately 3 a.m., the Skokie Review reported. Myron & Phil’s is active in the community and participated in Taste of Skokie in 2012. The iconic local steakhouse underwent some remodeling and menu changes, according to Myron & Phil’s website.

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