Chicago Could Legalize Topless Dancers at Strip Clubs With Liquor

Chicago dancers could #freethenipple at strip clubs with liquor

Women performers at Chicago strip clubs that sell liquor may soon #freethenipple thanks to a settlement from a lawsuit brought by a local performer, according to the Tribune. Transgender dancer Bea Sullivan-Knoff filed a 2016 suit against the city alleging that rules requiring her to cover her nipples with “pasties” during shows were discriminatory. Mayor Lightfoot’s administration has signed on to erase gendered references in statutes that regulate degrees of public nudity and allow topless dancers at clubs that buy a $75,000 two-year license, but Alderman Matt O’Shea (Ward 19) argues that the change will result in exploitation and, potentially, human trafficking, the Sun-Times reported.

Popular Bucktown restaurant Etta plans Los Angeles location

Etta, a popular Bucktown haunt with another location underway in River North, is taking the brand to California in 2020, Eater LA reports. Representatives wouldn’t reveal many more specifics about the new restaurant, best known for its open hearth cooking with Italian influences, in Los Angeles’s Culver City. Etta is from the same team as decadent Gold Coast steakhouse Maple & Ash, which also recently expanded west to Arizona.

Lawry’s River North steakhouse to offer spooky mansion tours

River North stalwart Lawry’s the Prime Rib will offer tours of the 127-year-old McCormick Mansion where it resides starting in January. The building was once home to Kungsholm Puppet Theatre, and patrons can get creeped out for $50 per person with peeks at original puppets, their stage and “lair,” secret rooms, and spooky stories. Light food offerings and cocktails will be available at various points during the tours, which run on January 25, February 22, and March 28 at 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. at 100 E. Ontario Street. Call the restaurant for reservations at 312-787-5000.

Japanese-style Gabutto Burger relocates in the suburbs

And finally, acclaimed suburban Japanese-style fast food spot Gabutto Burger plans to relocate. The Rolling Meadows location will serve its last burgers and wings on January 5 before moving to Elgin, ownership wrote on the website and Facebook. There may be more locations in the works — in the comments on an Instagram post, representatives wrote that the brand hopes to be back near Arlington Heights Japanese market Mitsuwa soon.