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Celebrating its 94th year, the Lake County Fair offers excitement for the whole herd. Enjoy motocross, monster trucks, demolition derby, pig races, livestock competitions, and more. The fair will be held at the Lake County Fairgrounds & Event Center 1060 East Peterson Rd in Grayslake, IL July 26-30, 2023. Chicago restaurant Carnivale, celebrating Latin cuisine, is taking a Bahamian approach to its forthcoming second location in the heart of The Bahamas. Once open in spring 2024, the restaurant will have a combination of indoor and outdoor seating for over 350 next to Hurricane Hole Superyacht Marina. For over 30 years, the town of Mattoon, Illinois has been celebrating its love for bagels with an annual festival called Bagelfest. The festival first began in 1986 as a way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lenders Bagels, a brand of bagels that has been produced in Mattoon since 1960. Bagelfest will be held July 18-22, 2023. Join Radio Room located at 400 N. State in Chicago and host Ryan Alkire this summer on Wed. evenings for a night of trivia, shareable snacks, 1/2priced bottles of wine, and more. Trivia will run from now through August 23rd. The National Pizza and Pasta Show will be held Aug. 22-23, 2023 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center 5555 N. River Rd. in Rosemont, Illinois. Real ingredients pioneer and Chicago-based plant-full food Company ZENB announced that they have been named a Proud Partner of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field for the 2023-2024 seasons and that ZENB Pasta will be served at Wrigley Field this summer. Roscoe Village Burger Fest returns for its 16th Mouthwatering Year, July 7-9,2023. Two stages of Rockin’ Music, Arts & Crafts and the action packed “Kids Zone” Area. Visitors even have the opportunity to vote for Chicago’s Best Burger. Smashburger, the better burger restaurant known for its unique grilling style, recently opened its seventh Chicagoland restaurant at 1755 22nd St. in The Overlook at Oak Brook, Illinois. The 2,500-square-foot, 87-seat restaurant will be open 10:30 a.m.10 p.m. daily. The Chicago Food Truck Festival is back celebrating 10 years food. That means a taste of Chicago’s foodie culture from Chicago’s top gourmet food trucks. It will be held in the South Loop at 2300 S. Indiana Ave. July 29-30,2023. The DuPage County Fair will be held at the DuPage Events Center and Fairgrounds located at 2015 Manchester Road in Wheaton, Illinois July 28 - 30, 2023. The National Strip-Tillage Conference is returning to Bloomington-Normal, Ill., for its 10th-anniversary gathering Aug. 3-4,2023 at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. Offering a mix of general sessions, classrooms, farmer-tofarmer roundtables and face-time with suppliers. The Taste of Westmont is located on Cass Avenue in Downtown Westmont. Three blocks of Cass Avenue in downtown Westmont are closed off from Burlington Avenue to Naperville Road. The entire event is just north of the downtown railroad tracks and will be held July 13-16,2023. West Fest Chicago will offer three days of live music, food, and community for all ages July 7-9,2023. Recognized as one of the most outstanding music festivals in Chicago, the three day annual event has continuously raised the bar with its stellar lineup of emerging artists and renowned DJs.

In December of 1984, Chicago entrepreneur Jeff Russell fulfilled a lifelong dream and opened his own restaurant in Evanston, Illinois. The inspiration for Cross-Rhodes came just two years prior when, on a vacation in the small town of Avia in the Southern Peloponnese of Greece, Jeff met his future wife, Georgia. They were married in Kalamata, Greece in 1982.Together, they returned to the United States, along with a plan to bring a little bit of Greece home with them.

Shortly thereafter, they opened Cross-Rhodes restaurant at 913 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. The restaurant’s location was fitting: one of Evanston’s longest-standing buildings built in 1895 as a meat packing plant. In the following decades, Cross-Rhodes would become a longstanding Evanston restaurant institution all its own.

Jeff’s vivacious personality, audacious joke-telling, and contagious laughter helped Cross-Rhodes quickly became known for its family-fun atmosphere where all were welcome. The Cross Rhodes’ menu: a delectable “cross” between Greek and American cuisines, immediately attracted fiercely loyal customers.

Sadly, the Cross-Rhodes family lost Jeff in 2012. Today, however, his memory and his restaurant continues to live on stronger than ever. Jeff’s daughter, Maria who started working at her dad’s restaurant as a sophomore in high school, proudly carries on her father’s recipe for fun, family and the time-honored authentic flavors that go along with it.

They have an extensive menu, so it might be hard to decide. This will cause you to go back again and again. They have soups, salads, burgers and sandwiches along with a lot of Greek specialties. Menu items include gyros, spanakopita, souvlaki with choice of meat, pork or chicken. Dinners include Lamb chops, Greek style chicken, Thea’s Country Style Ribs, and Mousaka-a (casserole, potato, eggplant, cheese and egg custard topping) and they even offer a Vegetarian one. Pastichio(Greek lasagna, seasoned beef with tomato sauce and cheese and egg custard) is another favorite and it comes Vegetarian style as well. One item that stands out on the menu for me is their Greek fries; large steak fries with their unique white wine, lemon and herb sauce. These fries are outstanding! You just can’t get enough of them. They also serve beer and wine.

Cross Rhodes is a full service restaurant with indoor dining. The dining room is cheerful with the blue and white colors of Greece throughout the space. The staff is always so attentive and friendly. This has been a favorite place of mine for years! Located at 913 W. Chicago Ave. in Evanston, Illinois

Open Monday – Thursday 11:30am -8:00 pm.

Friday & Saturday 11:30 am -9:00 pm and Sunday 4:00-8:00 pm.