Autoweek's guide to Chicago Auto Show hospitality

Note:In preparation for the Chicago Auto Show, we asked Windy City hospitality industry insider Erik Nelson where to stay, drink and eat. Here's what he said: Where to eat: Publican: thepublicanrestaurant.com 837 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607 (312) 733-9555 This staple in the Fulton Market district of Chicago offers the “holy trinity” of pork, oysters and beer. Publican has a bustling feel of an upscale public house with communal tables and many sharable plates.

Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing – too tight for comfort?

Is the cabin in the new Mercedes SLS too tight for comfort? We weren’t hugely enamoured by the styling in the early camouflaged shots, but we came round enough when we saw the car in the flesh and accept it as more an homage to the 300SL than a pastiche. And despite some concerns that it won’t stack up against the SLR on the road, the news that Mercedes are working on an SLS AMG Black Series should address that concern – at a price.

Monster Jam is totally rad

To our 6-year-old selves, monster trucks really were the biggest, baddest things on four wheels, mechanized, city-block-sized demon machines that ate sedans and belched fire. The reality is that the trucks aren't that big when you get right up next to them -- certainly not the Caterpillar 797-sized car-obliterators we imagined years ago. They're probably around 12 feet high at most; given current trends, they'll be eclipsed by heavy-duty pickups in a design cycle or two.