Friday, January 27th
Eat up, Restaurant Week restaurants, all weekend, prices vary
Cheers to Restaurant Week! The nine day celebration kicks off today, and the 40+ participating restaurants want to give diners a taste of their best dishes or special RW bites. Start your weekend with a Friday night out at Watson’s Shack & Rail for the Sauce Boss, breaded chicken covered in three sauces (alfredo, marinara, and vodka). There’s a menu for everyone, and if you want recommendations, check out my recommendations for Restaurant Week 2023. (AB)
Listen to Ant Hattie, Snack’d Out, Midnight Leg, and the Auctions, Rose Bowl Tavern, 8 to 11 p.m., free, but donations appreciated
Check out live, original music from bands you love and neighbors who are your friends. Or, if you don’t know these folks or these bands, go learn something new. (JH)
Saturday, January 28th
Visit In Blackest Shade, In Darkest Light, Giertz Gallery, 12 to 2 p.m., free
This exhibition curated by Patrick Earl Hammie and featuring work from Hammie, Kumasi J. Barnett, William Downs, Kenyetta Forbes, Robert Pruitt, Stacey Robinson, and Charles Edwards Williams is open through February 18th. The show’s title is inspired by the Green Lantern, and according to Hammie, “centers around drawing as a technology from which artists speculate, recover and collect communal histories, manifesting stories of desired futures from the margins of imagination into the realities of the everyday.” Read Debra’s review before you go. (JM)
Have a staycation, Allerton Park and Retreat Center, 3 p.m., $110 plus tax
Allerton is a nice place to have a little getaway, while not having to travel that far. This weekend, they are hosting a “staycation” event. Stay overnight, enjoy games and cash bar, catch the Holiday GLOW before the lights are taken down for the year, and experience a guided hike. You can even add on a massage! Check out the Allerton website for more info. (JM)
Experience some Bollywood, Virginia Theatre, 6 p.m., free
UIUC Udaan is a student-run organization that hosts an annual Bollywood Fusion Dance competition. The event will bring in dance teams from all over the U.S. to compete and raise awareness about South Asian culture. And it’s free! (JM)
Listen to classical music, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m., $5-40
Sinfonia da Camera brings a little Beethoven and Dvořák to Foellinger Great Hall. They will be performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, “Pastoral,” Op. 68 and Dvořák’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104, B 191. The latter will feature renowned cellist Ko Iwasaki (JM).
Sunday, January 29th
Celebrate National Corn Chip Day, La Mixteca, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., free with meal
There are so many great Mexican restaurants in town, and most of them offer complementary chips with a meal. Why not celebrate National Corn Chip Day with restaurant chips? You could go to one of the Restaurant Week restaurants, or go for my favorite bottomless corn chips in town: La Mixteca‘s chips. They are freshly fried, crinkly, airy, and perfectly salty which makes them totally addicting. (AB)
Watch the Illini Women’s Basketball team take on Michigan State, State Farm Center, 5 p.m., $5, free for kids under 12
The Illini women are taking on Michigan State on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Illinois is ranked 22 (which is higher than the Illinois men’s team, who are not top 25) and tickets are only $5. $5! That’s insulting, frankly. They are worth so, so much more than that. These women are playing top level basketball. Go watch them! Some will turn pro one day, and you can reminisce to your grandchildren how you saw so-and-so pull off a triple double. Also, parking is free. No excuses! (JH)
All event information is accurate to the best of our abilities, but sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes event information, times, prices, etc., change after we look them up. Whenever possible, we’ve provided a link to the original event page; you should always double-check the source before you make any firm plans. Thanks for your understanding.