Eat. Watch. Do. — Bites at Bally’s Chicago, ‘Gilded Age’ review

It’s Thursday, Chicago.

After a frigid Halloween, we’re looking forward to a cozy weekend before getting into the full swing of the holiday season.

There’s a lot of TV to catch up on and we have reviews for “The Gilded Age” on HBO and “Fellow Travelers” on Showtime from critic Nina Metz.

Food critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu also gets the inside scoop on the best eats and drinks in the newly opened Bally’s Casino Chicago, including an “outrageously delicious mushroom-collard melt” created by chef Paul Kahan.

If you haven’t been to the circus in a while and need something the whole family can enjoy, a touring Ringling Bros. production opened in September and will stop this weekend at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

Enjoy the weekend, we’ll see you next week.

— Lauryn Azu, deputy senior editor

Eat. Watch. Do.

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The former circus with its famed three rings and animal acts closed in 2017. The new tour has aerial work, clowning, a human cannonball and variety. Read how you can check it out here.

Chu’s picks include Medinah Bistro, which makes diner-style food and drinks inspired by Dove’s Luncheonette in Wicker Park, and Kitchen 888, where the menu is mainly recipes from Moon Palace in Chinatown. Read more about bites at Bally’s here.

While “Hunger Games” star Josh Hutcherson “draws you into a character’s sullen state of mind” as Mike, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is cluttered and complicated, Tribune critic Michael Phillips writes. Read his review of the horror movie here.

Food critic Nick Kindelsperger ran the numbers, and beans, lettuce, cheese and tomato are the most common burrito fillings in Chicago. Read more of his analysis, and why it matters, here.

The HBO series from “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes doesn’t even work as expensive-looking escapism, according to Tribune critic Nina Metz. She recommends the PBS “American Experience” episode on the Gilded Age for a real dose of fascinating history instead. Read her full review here.

The 1896 Russian play is recast as an indie-rock musical set on a modern college campus in Ohio, but some things haven’t changed since 1896; powerful men still take advantage of ambitious young women and destroy them. Read about the production at Oak Park Festival Theatre here.

The Showtime limited series adapted from the 2007 novel of the same name centers on a romance during Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s Lavender Scare, in which gay people were driven out of government positions. Metz questions whether books adapted into TV series truly add to the understanding of characters in her review here.