Chicago's Very Own Eats with Kevin Powell and Michael Piff

What began as a day to celebrate “the most Chicago food item of all,” has now expanded into a month-long celebration. The family behind the winner of our inaugural Chicago’s Best Beef Tournament, the Buonavolantos, joined forces with the Scalas and Pacellis (from Al’s Beef) to petition for a National Italian Beef Day, and this […]

Like many of us pizza lovers, Jerry and Nancy Czerwinski had “Pizza Fridays” with their family, picking up Lou Malnati’s and Pequod’s every week. When they moved to Cary, Jerry bought a 25-pound bag of flour, and began making his own pizzas at home, which slowly well known throughout the community. Located in the heart […]

After 4 weeks of voting on 128 Chicago area pizza places, with more than 95,000 votes casted by WGN Radio listeners and pizza lovers, we have a new Chicago Pizza Madness Champion! The championship was down to Uncle Jerry’s from the North Region and Rosati’s from the Local Chain Region. Jon Hansen was joined by […]

WGN Radio and Chicago’s Very Own Eats Podcast listeners may know Wings and Rings for winning our Chicago’s Best Wings Tournament in 2023, and it’s beloved among diehard White Sox fans who go before and after games. New owner Gustavo Espinosa is reintroducing the Bridgeport establishment with renovations and a menu fit for sports fans […]

Host of WGN Radio podcast “Chicago’s Very Own Eats” Mike Piff joins Bob Sirott to talk about his 2025 Pizza Madness bracket, as well as how a winner will be determined and how he helps to maintain the integrity of the tournament. Freelancer Samantha Nelson also joins Bob to share details about Lent specials around […]

Chicago Pizza Madness returns to Chicago’s Very Own Eats and WGN Radio on Thursday, March 6th, and it’s bigger than ever. Literally. Hosts Kevin Powell and Michael Piff preview this year’s tournament, which has now doubled from 64 to 128 Chicago area pizza places. They discuss the 60+ new participants, how to vote, the round-by-round […]

Piece Pizzeria & Brewery owner/operator Bill Jacobs returned to the Chicago’s Very Own Eats podcast, and he brought a special guest with him. Bill and Doug Sohn of Hot Doug’s have teamed up to kickoff the annual ‘Slice To Meet You’ campaign, supporting PAWS Chicago. From January 9th to February 8th, you can order their […]

As the year comes to a close, Chicago’s Very Own Eats podcast hosts Kevin Powell and Michael Piff look back at their favorite meals, restaurants and Chicago experiences they had in 2024. Find out about… …and more! Listen below to hear their answers. And Happy Holidays from the Chicago’s Very Own Eats podcast. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7116868/7116868_2024-12-18-14030...

Fourth-generation owners of the The Italian Village and siblings Giovanna and Jonathan Capitanini are opening a new restaurant in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood, combining Italian bar and Chicago tavern culture. It will be the first concept to open in the basement of the Italian Village complex (71 W. Monroe) since 1955, and the goal is to […]

The 2024 edition of the Chicago Pizza Summit, Chicago’s original pizza festival, takes place Sunday, November 3rd. Organizer Anthony Spina has been there since the beginning in 2016, and has seen both the festival and the Chicago pizza community evolve over the years. Anthony returns to the Chicago’s Very Own Eats podcast to chat with […]

Michael Piff, Senior Digital Strategist for WGN Radio, joins Lisa Dent on the show to talk about his Chicago Food Truck Summer project and the 30 different Chicago area food trucks he tried. Listen below to hear some of the favorites!