Photo: Kristine Sherred

CorePower Yoga

Regardless of whatever misgivings you might have about supporting a corporate yoga company, there’s no denying the advantage of having seven—soon-to-be-eight—studios located throughout the city, each with almost a dozen classes each day. Regardless of where you plan to get your next drink, there’s somewhere nearby that gets you a yoga high and yoga bod beforehand—no excuses. But the CorePower mecca is the South Loop studio: As you search for a drishti (gazing point) in tree pose, you can choose to focus on an element of Chicago’s downtown skyline, which the fifth-floor studio showcases through its large windows.

CorePower Yoga
12 West Maple, (312)266-9642
1704 North Milwaukee, (773)227-9642
945 West George, (773)862-9642
corepoweryoga.com

 Audience choice: (tie)
Bikram Yoga Chicago
47 West Polk, (312)922-9642
1344 North Milwaukee, (773)395-9150
2736A North Clark, (773)348-9642
105f.com
and
CorePower Yoga

Best of Chicago 2011

Bernice’s

Too cheap for the Cell? This homey dive, a stone’s throw from the ballfield, is the next best thing. With its tin ceiling, year-round Christmas lights and copious knickknacks, plus dirt-cheap Old Style, this is a great pub for watching the Pale Hose. Live roots rock and honkytonk bands also make this a fun place to kill a Friday night. Open since 1965, this is one of the city’s last buzzer bars, where the front door is locked until you’re deemed worthy to enter. But once inside, you’ll find the regulars are a friendly crew–as long as you don’t mention the Cubs.

Bernice’s
3238 South Halsted
(312)326-9460

Audience choice:
Cork and Kerry at the Park
3258 South Princeton
(312)842-0769
corkandkerrychicago.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Green Eye Lounge

With its rock-scene crowd, Thursday-night art shows and spillover from the neighboring Gorilla Tango Theatre, the Green Eye isn’t your dad’s sports bar, and it’s certainly a long way from the Cell. But Sox fans typically enjoy a particular strain of dark humor. And if anything can mitigate the drudgery of pulling the team through its post-Ozzie malaise, it’s the dry wisecracks of bartenders Eric, Chad, Turbo and company. The dirt-cheap shot-and-a-beer special doesn’t hurt, either.

Green Eye Lounge
2403 West Homer
(773)227-8851
greeneyelounge.com

 Audience choice:
(tie)

Market
1113 West Randolph
(312)929-4787
marketbarchicago.com
and
Green Eye Lounge

Best of Chicago 2011

Tom Thibodeau

It would be easy to say that the Derrick Rose we saw last year was a whole “new” Derrick Rose, therefore, his name should be here. But for anyone that knows the ins and outs of how this team worked, jelled and succeeded (despite the play of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah at times) last season, Coach Thibs is easily the best new Bull since, well, Rose was drafted.

Audience choice:
Jimmy Butler

Best of Chicago 2011

Anyone but Adam Dunn

Read the names: Jesse Crain, Deunte Heath, Osvaldo Martinez, Jason Frasor, Jhan Marinez, Charles Leesman, Zach Stewart, Phillip Humber, Will Ohman, Donnie Veal, Jose Quintana, etc. Anyone that came to the White Sox this year that wasn’t on the roster in 2010 and whose name isn’t Adam Troy Dunn—they are considered “best.” And yes, this is an indictment on how horrible Dunn was last season.

Audience choice:
Adam Dunn

Best of Chicago 2011

Lakeside Velo Works

Best of Chicago 2011

Nisei Lounge

Audience choice:
Cubby Bear
1059 West Addison
(773)327-1662
cubbybear.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Photo: Kristine Sherred

Jack’s Bar & Grill

Baseball means summer, summer means patios, and if Wrigley ain’t your scene but you still want to eat and drink and root with like-minded North Siders while the weather holds out for you and the Cubbies, the Southport Corridor answers that call. Basic pub food with a homey twist, decent beer list, flatscreens galore, plenty of outdoor seating—Jack’s is far enough from Wrigley that you can actually enjoy yourself but close enough that an influx of fans will stop for a celebratory beer after the game. It’s tough to separate Lakeview’s torrent of upscale pubs with pretty patios from one another (it doesn’t really matter—they’re all owned by the same conglomerates anyways), but, like the divier bars on the list, Jack’s has a loyal following of hoodsters, too. They’re just younger.

Jack’s Bar & Grill
2856 North Southport
(773)404-8400
jackschicago.com

Audience choice:
Harry Caray’s Tavern
700 East Grand on Navy Pier
(312)527-9700
harrycaraystavern.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Photo: Kristine Sherred

People Play Games

Walk through the door of this modest storefront and, faster than you can say, “Ocarina of Time,” be transported back to another time and place—namely, your best friend’s basement, fifth grade. You know the friend, the one whose parents bought him every cool game that came out? The only one you knew who had a Sega Saturn? Or maybe TurboGrafx-16 was more your thing? ColecoVision? No matter; with racks and racks of games and classic systems from Atari 2600 through present day, People Play Games could almost double as a Video Game History Museum. Just how old school are these guys? They don’t even have a website. Don’t ask questions, just check your backpack and Mountain Dew at the door and enjoy.

People Play Games
3268 North Clark
(773)883-8813
facebook.com/pages/People-Play-Games

Best of Chicago 2011

Daniel Carcillo

When the Blackhawks signed the goon in July who was easily one of the most hated members of the vile Philly team whose asses the Hawks handed to them in the 2010 Stanley Cup championship, many of the Chicago faithful were skeptical. How long would our hearts take to warm to the man who’d so inspired such frigidity in the past couple years? As it turns out, not long. While providing a little security for our smaller guys, Danny C has proved himself much more than a “goon”: as of typing, he’s tallied 9 points–the tenth most on the team.

Audience choice:
Daniel Carcillo

Best of Chicago 2011