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

Eclecticity

Flensted Mobiles are fun. The whimsical mobiles, all of which are made in Denmark, feature animals like frogs, seahorses and sheep. There are also geometric shapes, patterned in primary colors. Check out the Dinghy Regatta, which is a swirl of sail boats, or the Flowing Rhythm, which is a splash of yellow arcs. Let them float above your desk or spin circles in your living room.

Eclecticity
4718 North Lincoln
(773)275-3080
eclec.com

Best of Chicago 2011

String A Strand on Wells

Wind ‘em up, and let the six-inch tin robots march across your table or floor. The flat-headed metal wonders come in yellow, green, blue or silver. Robot Lilliput is a reproduction of a 1940s Japanese robot—the first to be mass produced. Sparkling Mike has a chest that shoots sparks. Want a plastic robot? Check out the moon man, with feet a-shuffling and arms a-swinging.

String a Strand on Wells
1361 North Wells
(312)335-1930
stringastrand.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Fashion Elegance

Quinceañeras and debutantes desire tulle. Lots and lots of tulle. The fabric can make a formal dress poof like a hoop skirt. It can make a soft frock bloom into a Southern belle’s fancy formal. Trimmed with beads and baubles, these $250 and up satin dresses are quite a steal.

Fashion Elegance
4815 North Western
(773)989-7176

Best of Chicago 2011

Magic Inc.

Magic. From Houdini to Blackstone, from levitation to animals jumping out of pockets to beautiful girls being sawed in half, all right before your eyes. Sometimes dark, sometimes astounding, it has always been here, in bars, restaurants, parties, shows. But if there is a center of the magic universe in Chicago it is Magic Inc.

Originally founded as the Ireland Magic Company by Laurie L. Ireland, it was incorporated as Magic Inc. by magic expert and regular guest on the “Ed Sullivan Show” Jay Marshall and his wife Frances in 1963. Today the store is run by Jay Marshall’s son Sandy Marshall. “We have been here since 1926, and are the oldest family run magic shop in North America,” says Marshall, an Emmy-winning TV screenwriter and New York playwright. “That was the year Houdini died. My father, Jay Marshall, saw him walk through a wall when he was seven years old.”

Looking around the small North Side shop, Magic Inc.’s shelves are not the new, organized spaces of a chain. Instead, it looks like a magician’s attic gone wild, filled with dice, cards, cups, wands, capes, hats, books on magic, magic posters, funny skulls and tricks of all kinds. In back, there is a small theater space where magicians perform shows, readings, and reenact famous moments from the history of Chicago’s magic world.

“At one time we had eighteen magicians working here,” Marshall says. “I had to come here from New York because our last manager decided this place should be all business and no fun. Most magicians are adults who never grow up, so if you don’t have fun, you don’t have magic, and we have plenty of fun here.”

Magic Inc.
5082 North Lincoln
(773)334-2855
magicinc.net

Best of Chicago 2011

Nhu Lan

Saigon Sisters’ spiffed-up fillings, including a topnotch duck confit, made a run at the king of all Vietnamese sandwich makers. But the fresh straight-out-of-the-oven buns at Nhu Lan means they retain their crown. Plus, their #10 lemongrass tofu banh mi, which is better than most meat-larded versions of the sandwich, is so good it’ll make a carnivore consider going vegetarian.

2612 West Lawrence
(773)878-9898
nhulansbakery.com

Audience choice:

Ba Le Bakery
5016 North Broadway
(773)561-4424
balesandwich.com

Best of Chicago 2010

Enjoy, an Urban General Store

For the perfect party, select a whimsical high-heel cake server, fashioned from stainless steel and decked out in a pink bow. Don‘t forget the magenta and chartreuse cocktail napkins that feature slogans like, “Hello vodka, it’s Mommy calling.” Choose from spindly colored candles that spell out “You’re Old,” or a single round candle that simply reads “Again.” Pop for a balloon dinosaur kit—complete with a pump—and a giant cupcake soap dispenser for washing off all that gooey frosting. Party favors include aluminum banks, which read, “I’m saving for therapy” and “I’m saving for a blow job.”

4723 North Lincoln
(773) 334-8626
urbangeneralstore.com

Best of Chicago 2010

Quake Collectibles

Adam-12 and Six Million Dollar Man lunch boxes preside over a galaxy of nostalgic toys and action figures. Flashback to painted pails from the Baby Boomer generation. You’ll discover such treasures as Peanuts and the Flintstones. There’s even a 1969 Miss America lunch box, echoing a time when families watched the TV pageant together.

4628 North Lincoln
(773)878-4288
quakechicago.com

Best of Chicago 2010

International Fashions by Ingrid

The St. Pauli Girl comes to life. Choose from lavender and forest green-laced dirndl dresses, and match them with billowy blouses the color of edelweiss. The authentic garments are imported from Deutschland, so raise your stein and head to the Christkindlmarket in style. Wunderbar!

4714 North Lincoln
(773)878-8382
fashionsbyingrid.com

Best of Chicago 2010

Ruff Haus Pets

For pets on raw frozen diets, open the Ruff Haus freezer and find beef, duck, pheasant, heart and lungs. This is what folks once fed their pets: real meat and table scraps. After pet food became marketable in the 1950s, manufacturers started adding binding agents like wheat and corn. Owner Rich Forsythe is bringing us back to basics by carrying pure meats for pets. “It’s easier on their digestive system,” he says.

4652 North Rockwell
(773)478-5100
ruffhauspets.com

Best of Chicago 2010