City Cast Chicago
🍷 Your guide to Chicago’s Michelin Guide
December 3, 2025 · — Emmi Mack
All aboard! The CTA’s holiday fleet is officially on (and above) the streets. Here’s a schedule for the decked-out buses and trains — you can also track individual buses here. Today, holiday lines are running on the Orange Line, Brown Line, and Pulaski Road.
I used the tracker myself on Milwaukee Avenue last week. Mission accomplished!
What's CITY Talking About
Alternative to Johnson's Budget Plan Could Include Trash and Package Fees
A new budget proposal from moderate and conservative alders would increase the monthly garbage collection fee that’s been frozen since 2015, instead of raising property taxes. It would also charge residents and businesses $1.25 for every package delivered in lieu of the corporate head tax Mayor Brandon Johnson pulled for. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]
- Related: Here’s how Johnson would close the budget gap. [Hey Chicago 💻]
City Eases Christkindlmarket Crowd Limits
After event organizers raised concerns, the city has eased capacity restrictions on Christkindlmarket. Originally, this year’s event was capped at 1,500 people — around half what was allowed during the pandemic. Now, the limit is 2,500 people, but vendors still worry about a potential sales slump. [ABC 7]
Coming Soon … The 400!
The 400, in Rogers Park, was the city’s oldest continually running movie theater until it closed in 2023. Now, it’s coming back. The operator of three historic Michigan movie theaters has leased the shuttered 400 with plans to reopen it. As for when, stay tuned 👀 [Block Club]
- Also: Have you visited Chicago’s other historic theaters? [Hey Chicago 💻]
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What To Do
Wednesday, Dec. 3
- 🏀 Bulls vs. Nets | United Center | Near West Side
- 🎷 Holiday Concerts: Jazzman Ray | Harold Washington Library | Loop
- 🎵 Béla Fleck & the Flecktones: Jingle All the Way | The Salt Shed | Goose Island
- 🏃♂️ Read & Run End-of-Year Celebration | Chicago Athletic Association Hotel | Loop
- 🎄 Winter Wonder Party | Thurgood Marshall Branch | Auburn Gresham
- 🎺 A Very, Very Motown Christmas | City Winery Chicago | Loop
- 🎶 Erykah Badu | The Chicago Theatre | Loop
- 😆 Humboldt Jungle Comedy Pop Up | The Promontory | Hyde Park
Thursday, Dec. 4
- 📽️ Holiday Movie Night: "Elf" | Gallagher Way | Wrigleyville
- 🎵 Christmas with the Petersens | Athenaeum Center | Lakeview
- 🎭 "Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs A Christmas Carol Again" opens | Theater Wit | Lakeview
- 🎶 The Klezmatics: Happy Joyous Hanukkah | Ravinia | Highland Park
- 🎅 "Twas the Week Before Christmas in Chicago" | The Den | Wicker Park
- 🚶 Phil Kline's Unsilent Night Holiday Soundscape | Starts at Sulzer Regional Branch | Lincoln Square
- 🎵 Brett Eldredge | The Chicago Theatre | Loop
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Amie Ward and Gina Fossitt light up your cocktails with an interactive seminar where you learn how to take it down a notch.
🕎 Thanks to a Hey Chicago reader for letting me know about 8 Crazy Nights, Chicago’s only Hanukkah pop-up bar, which runs in Wrigleyville till early January. I’ve added it to our holiday pop-up list!
Free · Daily