Amazing Photos of April's Floods in the Chicago Area

Hopefully you're beginning to recover from the massive flooding of recent days. Here's a collection of the gee-whizziest photos on Patch from across the Chicago area.

Whether you’ve spent Friday at the mercy of an inordinately long rerouted commute or you’ve been down in the basement trepidatiously wading through murky liquid of questionable origins, you might want to see how others fared in this week's rains and floods. Here's a gallery of some of the most remarkable flood photos across the greater Chicago region.  And remember, in most cases, it could be worse. Unless you were caught in the now-viral Oak Park-River Forest High School sewage geyser (that's the PG name). Those folks get a free pass to be as bitter as they want.

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Palatine Readers' Choice: Top Tax Preparer?

With the deadline to file taxes rapidly approaching, who do you turn to when it's time to crunch the numbers?

It's getting down to the wire! Tax Deadline Day is just a couple weeks away (April 17) so if you haven't already filed your taxes Uncle Sam would tell you: I want you, to file your taxes now. But who are you going to turn to? Who or where in Palatine provides the most reliable, friendly and affordable tax preparation services, and gets you the most money back? If you've already filed your taxes, who do you use and why?  Check out our business directory for a list of the businesses in town, ranging from the smallest of businesses to larger companies, who provide tax preparation services. Let us know in the comments section on this article which is your favorite, and click on its Patch directory listing and rate and review it. In doing so, …

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CHOWDOWN SHOWDOWN

Chowdown Showdown: Best Mexican Food In Palatine Results

After 1,359 votes, Mexico Uno won our best Mexican food in Palatine Chowdown Showdown.

The vote is in for this week's Chowdown Showdown champion. Readers from Palatine Patch have spoken and picked their favorite place in town for Mexican food. With 60 percent of the 1,359 votes cast, Mexico Uno, 15 N. Brockway St., was this week's champion. Congrats to Mexico Uno! Mexico Uno received 824 votes besting a strong second place showing by Tacos El Norte, 1324 N. Rand Road which finished with 416 votes. El Torero Restaurant, 383 W. Northwest Highway finished third with 104 votes and Taqueria La Presa, 408 E. Palatine Rd., received 15 votes. All four establishments were nominated by Patch readers last week. Check out our next Chowdown Showdown on Monday, March 19, when a new topic will be announced.

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CHOWDOWN SHOWDOWN

POLL: Chowdown Showdown Best Mexican Food In Palatine

Vote in our poll for this week's champion.

UPDATED: Best Mexican Food In Palatine Results We received a lot of great feedback last week from Palatine Patch readers about the best places to go in the village for Mexican food. Seven restaurants received at least one vote in the comments section. Mexico Uno, 15 N. Brockway St., received the most praise with 21 nominations. El Torero Restaurant, 383 W. Northwest Highway, received five nominations. Taqueria La Presa, 408 E. Palatine Rd., and Tacos El Norte, 1324 N. Rand Rd. round out our top four nominees. Now that we have our finalists, it's time to vote. Take our poll below to let us know which restaurant you think has the best Mexican food and should be this week's Chowdown Showdown champion.  Voting will continue through noon Friday…

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CHOWDOWN SHOWDOWN

Chowdown Showdown: Best Mexican Food In Palatine

What restaurant in Palatine serves the best Mexican food?

UPDATE: Best Mexican Food Results! UPDATE: Thanks for participating! We will have a poll up Monay, March 12 based on reader feedback. ¡Ay, Caramba! We are sure excited to kick off this week's Chowdown Showdown challenge.  Over the next several days, we will be looking to you to let us know which restaurant has the best Mexican food in Palatine. It could be the spot that has the most delicious varieties of free salsa to munch on. Or perhaps they serve up the best chimichanga or beefiest burritos this side of the border. Or maybe they have the best deals on the best tacos that make you go loco thinking about the next time you can go back for more.  Whatever the reason, let us know your favorite Mexican restaurant in Palatine by commenting …

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CHOWDOWN SHOWDOWN

Chowdown Showdown: Best Burger In Palatine Results

The readers have spoken and have voted for The Lamplighter Inn as the best place to get a burger in Palatine.

The vote is in for this week’s Chowdown Showdown champion. Readers from Palatine Patch have spoken and picked their favorite spot for a burger. With 56 percent of the 286 votes, The Lamplighter Inn, 60 N. Bothwell St., is this week's champion. Congrats to The Lamplighter Inn! Lamplighter finished with 162 votes, edging Brandt's-The Little Cafe, 807 W. Northwest Highway, which finished with 100 votes. Bauer's Brauhaus, 45 W. Slade St., and T.J. O'Brien's, 53 W. Slade St., finished third and fourth respectively. All four establishments were nominated by Patch readers earlier this week.

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CHOWDOWN SHOWDOWN

POLL: Chowdown Showdown Burger Challenge

Take our poll and let us know which of this week's finalists is your favorite restaurant for a burger in Palatine.

UPDATED: Chowdown Showdown Burger Results! For this week's Palatine Patch Chowdown Showdown, we asked readers where their favorite place in Palatine is to get a burger. We got a lot of feedback — thanks to everyone who submitted their feedback by commenting in our articles. But there were four restaurants that the most readers picked as their favorite: Brandt's-The Little Cafe, The Lamplighter Inn, T.J. O'Brien's, Bauer's Brauhaus.  You can cast your vote for your favorite spot by submitting your answer in the poll below.  Voting will continue through 12 p.m. Friday. Check back first thing Saturday morning to find out if your restaurant has been chosen as this week's Chowdown Showdown Champion for having the best burger in Palatine.

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CHOWDOWN SHOWDOWN

Chowdown Showdown: Where Is The Best Place To Get A Burger In Palatine?

Tell us where you favorite place is to get a burger in the comments' section below.

UPDATE: The nominations are in: It's time to Vote in the Chowdown Showdown poll! We are happy to introduce a new column on Palatine Patch — a column centered around food, local restaurants and you.  The weekly Chowdown Showdown is meant to be a way for readers to pick and vote on their favorite places to get certain entrees in Palatine. Each week, we will ask you to tell us your favorite place to get a cup of coffee or bowl of chili or breakfast.  This week we want to know, where is the best place in Palatine to get a burger. You can let us know your favorite spot by commenting below. You will be able to submit your vote through 5 p.m. Tuesday.  From there, we will take the top three finalists and post in an article first thing Wednesday …

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