Articles By: Lisa Widder
Lisa believes in these essentials: A butcher who takes an interest in how you’re preparing your purchase; a taqueria with a kickass house salsa; and a bakery that sells croissants for less than a buck. Rarely do all three stars align. Lisa made her debut in a commercial for The Pocket Fisherman. Acting wasn’t her forte; she discovered that she was more comfortable behind the scenes. She spent a decade in the production office at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and several years in a catering kitchen; she’s well acquainted with second-degree burns, drama queens, and grease traps. Lisa is a graduate of Columbia College and doesn’t own a cat.

Lisa Widder /

Crêpe Crusader

Forget breakfast burritos and soggy tortilla lunches. Summertime means fresh ingredients stuffed inside the original wrap: crêpes. Hearty, inventive, and cheap, the crêpe is not only delicious but also nutritious — so long as you share the ones draped in cheese or robed in chocolate. But who’d want to part with even a forkful of the inventive combinations at these [...]

Lisa Widder /

We All Scream: Ice Cream in Chicago

If summer had a soundtrack, it would be the crazy calliope of an ice cream truck. That makes perfect sense since, if summer had an official snack, it would be ice cream. The two conjure up images of endless sunshine, breezy vacation days, and warm, festive nights. What’s great about this sweet treat, besides its obvious lip-smacking goodness, is that [...]

Lisa Widder /

The Poor Taste Guide to Rogers Park

Rogers Park, Chicago’s northernmost neighborhood, captures the spirit of the city completely: It’s at once urbane, primitive, tranquil, and raucous. If you like your city with a side of complication then this is your destination. Chicago’s northernmost neighborhood gets its unique outlook, in part, by the geography that surrounds it: Affluent, collegiate Evanston, Illinois, to the north; imposing Lake Michigan [...]