Time Out Chicago

Since the magazine went all digital, it is cumbersome to find new articles or the old favorites I used to love in the print edition. Bad move to stop the print edition which I read loyally from cover to cover. I’m boycotting TO from now on. I hope their online version fails because it’s a horrible idea. Bring back the print! I miss my magazine. Trees be damned.

Digital edition is the worse I have ever experienced. You will not get the current edition timely. I think Barney Rubble may be in charge. The ‘party’ will be long over if you depend on their digital delivery!

Time Out Chicago has spoiled me rotten!
I rarely have to research events on my own anymore.
And they get the goods on things I wouldn’t know of otherwise!

Having read the UK version eons ago – I knew it would be different, and it is. Always interesting – where else could you learn the why behind names and places of quirky Chicago icons?, but also almost always with one (or more) tidbit of what to do if you cull through it very carefully. A MUST for anyone in the city who is new – and a nice addition for those in the city who are not.

I like it a lot but you will fall asleep and grow a long grey beard waiting for the first issue of your subscription to arrive. A very long and very, very grey beard.

This magazine is just dumb and pointless. It covers everything that the Reader has already covered. Besides, they never have anything new. The same favorites for brunch for the past few years. Yes, Tweet is a great brunch spot, but there have to be more. Isn’t it their job to find out? They just regurgitate the same old stories and the same favorites. Never mention of new things that might be of interest. They articles of living in the recession or poor student all have one common link: «Buy». Going green?: «Buy XYZ». Hello, does it not negate themselves. Hell with them!

I’ve subscribed off and on for the last few years. Pretty harmless and a sometimes very useful source of information on what the happs are each week here in Chicago. Since the Reader has gone down the toilet and Chicago Magazine stopped being readable back around 1993 (when they quit posting negative restaurant reviews), it’s pretty much the best source in town to find out about stuff to do.
3 stars instead of the 2 I’m inclined to give it as if you are on their e-​mail list, you get constant invitations to free events, and by free, I mean food, booze and entertainment. Even if I don’t feel like going out, in this economy, it’s great to know that I could be wined and dined at no cost. Thanks for that, TOC. Also, as Lindley E. pointed out in her review, this magazine really is the perfect bathroom read.

DISCLAIMER: I get Time Out for free, so I have no idea how much a subscription costs & I can only imagine at $ 2.99 per issue what the subscription would cost.
Okay, now that that’s over with I can begin my review. I love Time Out Chicago magazine. I find a stack in the mail room, grab a mag, head to potbelly’s, eat a veggie w/​hot peppers sammie, and absorb all the new places to eat, go, and venture to within the lovely city of Chicago.
As a Unilocaler it’s pretty obvious that I love food, friends, festivities, fun, and free. Time Out has really helped me with all of the above f’s. Time Out has become my «go to» guide for the city of Chicago. I look for places I want to go with friends for a nice dinner or girls night out. I look for places that I would like to go on dates to. I look for theatres, venues, parks hosting shows, activities, markets, and fairs that can cure me from the boredom of living alone (it happens rarely, but sometimes it strikes!). I look for places that I can enjoy for little or no money at all.
Yes, it gets a bit repetitive & the reviews are generally the same from week to week but it’s better than not knowing at all-don’t you agree? I doubt I would treat myself to a subscription, but as long as the office supplies it I can’t help but indulge.

The subscription price baffles me…
I think it’s actually cheaper for them NOT to send it, with postage. It works out to about 30 cents an issue or something ridiculous… Obviously, the reason for this is that about 80 percent of the mag is ads.
Having said that, I’m a longtime subscriber. Sure, they sometimes pile up for 2 – 3 weeks at a time, but really… not much changes issue to issue anyhow. (my peeve with TOC).
I mean really, how hard is it in Chicago, with its million restaurants… to publish a new/​fresh/​hot list of reviews. Republishing the same tired diddy week after week is just downright STALE.
It’s very north side focused, as well…
However, I do find their cover stories/​articles to be fairly interesting… worth the 30 cents per week. ;)

If you got one issue of this magazine you would think oh it’s pretty cool but then once you started getting every other issue you would say «oh it’s all the same stuff, why am I paying for this»? With the popularity of the web who really needs a magazine with listings of «happenings» around the city. Save your money! However I am a fan of Chicago magazine. they give dates of events but also other Chicago information that you might want to know.

I got a free subscription to TO after purchasing tickets to a burlesque show. I was used to The Reader and Metromix on TV. Hell– it was free so I would check out all the hype and the source of the glossy L ads. It was «okay»… I found myself not cracking it open after the second month and still reading the Reader– cover to cover. I guess it seemed like it was too «glossy».
Then this week I was at Hala Kahiki in River Grove. TO was doing a photoshoot and I have to say SHAME ON YOU TO!!! They pulled some total bullshit… they actually had «models» (or so they called them) posing as the bartender and waitstaff!!! WTF??? I thought the whole reason for doing an article– as a review of Chicago places to go– was to give an authentic representation of the place??? What the hell is wrong with you TC??? GET REAL– literally!

Time Out is hip (although at times they can be slightly annoying for the extent they go to make SURE they are hip), and fun to read. I love their coverage of cheap and fun city events, and they’ve reviewed some fantastic restaurants, including some that don’t usually get much recognition.
I wish we had a Time Out Dallas.

Stop taking my money and encouraging me to spend more money.
Yeah, Chicago magazine can bend over, grab its’ ankles and kiss its’ ass goodbye. Because ya know what I don’t make $ 100,000 a year and eat at «small plate» restaurants. I could give a rat crap about the genius of Charlie Trotter.
I wanna know where to go to get good wings and look at pictures of hipsters in Public Eye.
One star deduction for the In & Out Sex Column. At first I liked how brazen it was but now it just has me believing that everyone in the city has either an STD or a bizarre fetish or some kind of embarrassing, deep seated sexual dysfunction or all of the above. And then that makes me feel prudish.

As Creative Loafing continues to eviscerate The Reader and lessen its importance in Chicago (you bastards!), Time Out Chicago, like a powerline-​fueled energy monster, continues to grow stronger on its diet of bad writing, trite hipsterism and unabashed consumerist culture.
Which makes for a great toilet read.

You really can’t beat TIME OUT for a succinct, relatively hip, and cheap way to access essentially every major event in the city. When I first moved to Chicago 5 years ago, the Reader was the big thing – but it was heavy, thick, disorganized (you really had to search through a LOT of events to find the one you want), and stained everything with cheap ink. Time Out changed all that with home delivered, well designed, organized reviews. I trust their movie reviews next to almost nobody else. While not as comprehensive and somewhat less diverse and downtown in focus, it really has everything that I need.

I love Time Out unabashedly. I love the writers and how they somehow manage to come up with cool, interesting things to write about each week, yet also manage to be un-​pretentious about things. I love the clean glossiness of it (sorry Reader) and the fact that it caters to everyone, not just the well-​off (ahem…Chicago Magazine). I feel like I’d miss out on a lot of good stuff going on around the city if it weren’t for my TimeOut subscription. They won my heart for good when they featured shelter animals in a pet costume spread. I also like that they encourage volunteerism as a way to enjoy Chicago.
If you have a friend moving to the city, this would be the PERFECT welcome wagon gift.

If I didn’t live in Chicago, TO would probably get 5 stars from me; both TO London and TO New York are my BIBLES when traveling to those cities.
I was so incredibly excited when I heard TO was finally coming here and — since I was job-​hunting and loved the publication — I promptly shot off several resumes. A few months pass with nary a word from them, and what do I get in the mail? A subscription solicitation! Thanks, but I’ll stick with the Reader for free.

An excellent magazine I always like checking out, every time I see a new issue on the shelf. They did a GREAT job of covering all the businesses along Western Ave., about a month back (and even covered the south side portion of Western Ave. very well, surprisingly!).
If I lived on my own, AND had a sufficient amount of income (I don’t, as I’m still trying to find a new job), I’d probably suscribe to Time Out, myself.

I love TIME OUT! It’s cheap to subscribe to and wonderful to read. No matter what city I am in I always like to pick one up just to see what is going on that week. In Chicago they have done an amazing job, full of useful tips and places to go.
Love their reviews of places but it doesnt compare to Unilocal! hehe

I waited a decade for Time Out to come to Chicago. It’s densely packed with useful information whether you’re completely new to the city or have lived here all your life. The most comprehensive entertainment magazine in Chicago.
I know I sound like a poster-​boy for them but seriously, I can’t wait to get it every week. No it’s not free, but subscribing at $ 20 bucks a year for 51 weekly issues isn’t going to break even a teenager’s bank and it keeps you in the know without any effort other than checking your mailbox. I wish more publications treated the reader with as much respect and did their homework so well.