Imagine you are a small minority owned brewery in Chicago and the owner of Samuel Adams, Jim Kock, drinks your beer right in front of you and tells you that he can smell the hops exploding! Talk about a surreal moment!

For Funkytown Brewery co-founders Richard Bloomfield, Gregory Williams and Zachary Day, they did not have to imagine a moment like that, because it became their reality at the 12th Annual Samuel Adams Brewing and Business Experienceship Craft Beer Competition.

The three childhood friends from Oak Park entered into the competition among 50 other businesses and became finalists at the New York Crafting Dreams Beer Bash. Their victory sent them to the national competition, where they reigned supreme giving them access to mentorship, networking, and funding from Samuel Adams Brewing.

Funkytown Brewery is more than just craft beer. They build their business on values centered around culture and community involvement. They believe in making craft beer more accessible to women, Black people, and other demographics that are usually not at the top of the market minds of brewers.

.Funkytown started from small brew batches in their parent’s garage and is now sold at over 600 locations across the Chicagoland area and Wisconsin including Wrigley Field and the United Center. This September the co-founders will create a craft beer to showcase at the Great American beer Festival in partnership with the brewers at Samuel Adams’ Boston headquarters.

For more information about Funkytown Brewery and how they are using their entrepreneurship to give back to their community visit them here.

What was only meant to last one summer has now lasted for three quarters of a century! The Superdawg Drive-In in Chicago’s Norwood Park neighborhood celebrated its 75^th anniversary on May 2 of this year. The shop is known in the city as a historic destination hot dog stand with a full carhop service. This family-owned business has thrived for decades and has become a staple for residents and visitors alike. U.S. Representative Mike Quigley entered the anniversary into the official Congressional record on May 2. Additionally, 39th Ward Alderwoman Samantha Nugent unveiled an honorary street sign for the original owners called Maurie & Flaurie Berman Way. This sign will be in addition to the already existing and legendary “Superdawg Way” sign on the corner of Milwaukee and Highland avenues.

Flaurie and Maurie opened shop in 1948. What was only meant to be a summer hot dog stand turned into a long-lasting family business. Their daughter and her husband, Lisa and Don Drucker, and their son Scott Berman currently own Superdawg. Flaurie and Maurie were high school sweethearts who opened the stand as newlyweds. Their love for each other, their family and their hot dog stand is still clear today.

Throughout the entire month of May, Superdawg will be giving away $10 gift cards at random. If you are a fan of the Chicago-style hot dog or just a good burger, you should visit their locations today for the chance to win a gift card!

Do you like your eggs over-easy, scrambled or sunny-side-up? Well, any way you like them, you are guaranteed some of the best breakfast food in the nation at seven different restaurants in the Chicago area. OpenTable released its list for 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in the U.S. using more than 13 million diner reviews. The top 100 span over 22 states, with Illinois claiming seven of the spots.

Whether you are a fan of pancakes, omelets or biscuits and gravy, Illinois has got you covered. The top seven best brunch locations include 3 Arts Club Café, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba, Summer House Santa Monica, The Dearborn, Beatrix and Mason Sabika. Beatrix is located in Oak Park and Meson Sabika is located in Naperville. The other five restaurants can all be found in Chicago.

Every location offers their own unique décor, ranging from humble café to chandeliers. You can dine indoors or outdoors at these breakfast locations. Some also serve dinner once the time for brunch is over. Menus may vary, but at every location you will find the classic pancakes and bacon with eggs.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, take your family down to some of the best brunch restaurants in town! See the full list of 100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in the U.S. here.

Kids who leave Chicago Hospital have found something even better to have on their casts than their friends’ signatures: Elsa from “Frozen,” Lightning McQueen, dinosaurs, SpongeBob and Patrick, a shark, Captain America’s shield and even more fun animated characters. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Felicity Fishman at Shriners Children’s Chicago also doubles as an artist. Following their surgeries, children will receive a fun art piece of their choosing.

The process to draw on their cast is the main show — even more time and planning goes into it than the surgery. Before the surgery, the doctor, physician’s assistant and nurses will talk to families about what their child might want so they have something to look forward to instead or being nervous for the procedure. Then the pre-op nurses will prepare marker colors and help plan the outline. Finally, Dr. Fishman brings the art to life.

The simple happiness this process brings to the children and staff has been invaluable. These designs also give the children a sense of choice and bodily autonomy in a scary situation for them before surgery. The simplest tasks can bring about the most joy, and this doctor and her team are doing their part not only to fix physical injuries, but also to bring about joy in their part of Illinois.

Continuing its commitment to technological innovation, the city of Chicago plans to offer its first air taxi route between O’Hare International Airport and Vertiport Chicago in 2025. The announcement from Archer Aviation Inc. and United Airlines calls the method of transportation a “safe, sustainable, low noise and cost-competitive alternative to ground transportation.”

Vertiport Chicago, which is North America’s largest vertical aircraft takeoff and landing facility, is located near the Chicago Loop and was selected for its convenient and accessible location. From there, passengers will be able to travel via aircraft to and from O’Hare in about 10 minutes — saving a significant amount of time that is often spent stuck in the city’s rush hour traffic.