State Street, That Great Street?

BEST DATE NEWS

Good morning! Happy National Spouses Day, National Green Juice Day and National Peanut Brittle Day! Each week we will plan on letting you know what "National Days" it is on the calendar! I feel like while nobody really cares about them, everyone also enjoys knowing what they are. Disagree? Prove me wrong! Go vote in today's poll! Don't hold today's holidays against me though, I know we will have better! 

Michael, Founder

Chicago News to Know

• James Beard Semifinalists: Aside from Michelin Stars, James Beard awards are the highest honor that restaurants and chefs can receive. The list of James Beard Award Semifinalists for this year was just released, and Chicago has 11 nominations scattered across a variety of categories. Check out which restaurants and chefs made the final cut! The winners will be announced in June.

• State Street Vacancy: State Street just took another big hit this week as Old Navy's flagship store Downtown at State and Randolph just closed for good on Tuesday after 10 long years in the space. Other retail stores like DSW, Urban Outfitters and New York & Company have also recently left the State Street shopping area.

• Green River: We are now only 44 days away from the city dyeing the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day! Check out our video to get hyped!

• New on Navy Pier: Construction has begun on the new indoor FlyOver ride attraction coming to Navy Pier. The ride is going to simulate the experience of flying over different places and famous destinations around the world! Sounds like it could be something like the Soarin' ride at Epcot in Disney World! Learn more about the new experience here.

Illinois License Plate Fails

The 2022 Illinois vanity license plate report was released this week and it's about as weird as you would expect it to be. While over 99% of vanity plate requests were given this past year, there were a total of 383 requests that were denied by the Illinois Secretary of State. The all-time lists of rejected vanity plates in Illinois now stands over 7,000 submissions strong. Curious which ones were rejected last year? Here's a sampling:

• DUCKYOU

• GOTPOOP

• HAIILNO

• PEEPEE

• SUCKER

• SUKIT

• WHTHFUK

Deal of the Week

• Free Food for Foodies: This month, 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 now so you can get some free food this weekend! It's only $5 to join, is quick and easy and you can cancel at anytime if you don't like it. Come join 600+ others!

Poll of the Week

Last Week's Poll Results

• Question: Between what time frame do you like to read this newsletter each week?

• Result: 8am - 10am (44%)