Bear Down & Out?

Hello and welcome to the Best Date Food newsletter! If someone forwarded you this email, you can subscribe here to make sure you get all our future newsletters! 

Michael, Best Date Food Founder

The Soldier Field of the Future?!

If you haven't seen it yet, a new hype video made the rounds this week on social media of what the future of Soldier Field could look like. Are the renderings impressive? Incredibly! Is it going to happen? Who knows. While the plan would certainly change the city as we know it (this plan goes way beyond just a stadium), people are saying that it's Chicago last ditch effort to try to keep the Bears from moving to Arlington Heights.

If we were betting on it, we'd say it won't be enough to keep them downtown. What say you? Cast your vote in the poll below and leave a comment after voting for a chance to see your quote in our next newsletter! 

Chicago's Traffic is Now the Worst in the United States

Do you feel like traffic in Chicago has been getting worse? Well as it turns out, you’re right. According to Bloomberg, Chicago is now the worst city in the US for traffic and congestion. And not only is Chicago number one in the country, it also places second in the entire world (just behind London).

The study showed that Chicago drivers wasted 155 hours on average in traffic in 2022, which is a 49% jump from 2021. The main culprit? Remote workers. According to CBS, Chicagoans are now driving at all times of the day instead of just during rush hour. Check out our video and read through the many, many comments.

Best of the Rest

• CRW Pick of the Week: We'll keep it short and sweet this week for our Chicago Restaurant Week (CRW) recommendation. The Rosebud Restaurant family of restaurants offers CRW lunch menus that include a starter, pasta, entree and tiramisu all for $25. You can find the menu at Carmine's, Rosebud on Rush and Rosebud on Randolph. Be sure to get the stuffed mushrooms as a starter, they are heavenly!

• Restaurant Closing: Rock Bottom Brewery in River North abruptly closed for good (without an explanation) this week after 20+ years in business.

• New Lion Cubs: Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed three new lion cubs this week.

Deal of the Week

• BOGO Potbelly: Potbelly is having a buy one, get one free sandwich deal this Friday, January 13th to celebrate their 46th birthday! You can purchase any Original-sized sandwich and get another Original-sized for free! The promotion is only available through the app and online with promo code BOGO. FYI that they can get super busy because of this promo, so order at like 11am.

Poll of the Week

We will let you know the poll results in the next newsletter! After clicking to cast your vote, leave your name and a reason why you chose your answer and you may see your answer featured! 

Last Week's Poll Results

• Question: Which of iconic Chicago museum is the best?

• Result: Museum of Science and Industry (55% of vote)

Chicago's Best Kept Secret

If you go out to restaurants in Chicago and you are not yet a part of our membership community, you are missing out! Here is how it works, you pay $5 to be a member and we email you a new set of amazing coupons each month! For January, our Best Date Foodies members are getting a free starter of their choice at Federales, a free Giant Cinnamon Roll at avec River North and a free Big Pretzel at Funkenhausen! Sign up!