Be warned, Starbucks addicts and people who like free bathrooms: The coffee shop will be closed tonight between 5:30 and 9:00 for an emergency training of its employees, or "baristas," as they are known. In a city where the Starbucks vs. Dunkin' Donuts battle rages, Dunkin' Donuts is staking its claim by cutting prices on its small drinks to 99 cents until 10:00 pm, WBZ reports. Dunkin' Donuts is declaring coffee war, and it's......

Ric Kahn did a piece in the Globe about places in the city that are fighting the good fight against rude behavior, such as public cussing and talking on the cell phone while ordering coffee. Hearing the F-bomb in public doesn't give Bostonist the vapors. This is a city, and what would a city be like without F-bombs? But someone talking on a cell phone while ordering coffee or a sandwich deserves to have her......

The people behind Diesel Café—which Bostonist has been a fan of since it opened in 1999—are charting (and caffeinating) new waters in Somerville’s Union Square. Bloc 11, which is located in a former bank, has a hip, industrial vibe similar to Diesel’s, but it plays to a slightly more mature crowd—it’s like Diesel, but eight years older. The sandwiches, which run from $6.95 to $7.50, are considerably more tony than Diesel’s, featuring ingredients like......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

Starbucks, schmarbucks. Dunkin' Donuts thinks it can rule the world. It's rolled out corny commercials with the likes of Naomi Campbell and Rachael Ray leaving skidmarks on a floor. The next step in world domination starts this month, when our beloved Dunkin' Donuts begins selling packaged Dunkin' coffee across the United States at Wal-Mart, Kroger, and other stores. This is excellent news for anyone who no longer lives in New England yet who still feels......

How do you write a treatise on Dunkin' Donuts? With five dollar words like "inculcated" and "extant." Mike Miliard writes such a tome for the Phoenix titled "Choosing our Religion" about the rise and embrace of Boston's beloved coffee and donut shop. It's not clear if people outside New England identify our chain the same way we see Starbucks as something coming from Seattle, but it really doesn’t matter – we drink it, and love......

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,......

Last week, mailboxes in Bostonist’s Somerville neighborhood started to get copies of a one-page letter, announcing the existence of one "Daily Museum of Amazement." “Hi,” the letter began. “My name is Raj, and I live on Newton Street. I’ve started a collaborative museum that centers around this neighborhood, and I’d like to invite you to contribute to it.” The letter went on to invite neighborhood residents to call a number and leave messages describing “things......

Yes, we know it’s cliché to love the Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” but every time we see lil’ Zuzu talk about an angel getting its wings, Bostonist goes straight into tears. The1946 Frank Capra film is like a bad habit we just can’t kick. Well, if you are jonesing for some George Bailey vs. Mr. Potter action tonight, the Brattle Theater is showing the black and white film tonight at 7:15 p.m. for......

Bostonist decided to jaunt over to the North End this past Friday for a few reasons. Despite its lingering odor and smashed remains all over the road, the Haymarket does have some ridiculously priced produce. (Where else can Bostonist get 2 avocados for $1? On a recent trip to California, they were a buck a piece.) After a quick stop at the market, which has recently come under scrutiny now that the Big Dig is......