The Food Guy” with Pang to air Thursdays on ‘NBC 5 News’ at 10pm
Chicago, IL (January 28, 2026) – NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ-TV) has announced James Beard Award-winning journalist Kevin Pang as its new – “The Food Guy” – multi-platform on-air reporter. Pang’s segments, focusing on the latest local cuisine trends, hot spots, and stories of the cooks behind them, will begin airing Thursday, January 29 on NBC 5 News at 10 p.m. and across NBC 5 Chicago’s digital and social channels. The announcement was made by Sally Ramirez, Senior Vice President of News, NBC 5 Chicago / Telemundo Chicago.
It marks a return to local food journalism for Pang, who spent 11 years at the Chicago Tribune as a restaurant writer, food critic, and documentary filmmaker. He penned the popular where-to-eat column The Cheap Eater, and in 2015 co-directed For Grace, the acclaimed restaurant documentary that premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix.
“I’m enormously grateful to NBC 5 Chicago for keeping the flame of food journalism alive in our great town,” added Pang. “Telling our viewers where to find great places to eat is the least we can do. There’s no better feeling than sharing stories about people who use food as their love language — from mom ‘n’ pop businesses to Michelin-starred chefs, cooking in Pilsen taquerias and Plainfield barbecue joints to Westmont noodle shops and all points between. Food stories are Chicago stories.”
Pang is no stranger to NBC 5 Chicago. He’s the executive producer and co-host of the Emmy-nominated late night food show Poochie & Pang: Eat Chicago. In addition, Pang is a contributing writer for The New York Times, where he project-leads “The 25 Best Restaurants in Chicago” list. He and his father Jeffrey co-wrote A Very Chinese Cookbook, which reached No. 1 overall on Amazon’s bestselling books chart.
Pang has a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and earned his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
ABOUT NBCU LOCAL CHICAGO
NBCUniversal Local Chicago, a part of NBCUniversal Local, is the home of NBC 5 (WMAQ-TV) and Telemundo Chicago (WSNS-TV). Together, the duopoly serves diverse English- and Spanish-speaking audiences in the third largest U.S. television market. The NBC and Telemundo-owned stations deliver the latest local news, consumer, and investigative reports across multiple platforms, including linear TV, streaming, and digital. Their coverage includes Chicago’s most accurate forecast, extensive local sports coverage, original documentaries and series, and lifestyle and entertainment programming through “Chicago Today.” All original content is available on-air, digitally via NBCChicago.com and TelemundoChicago.com ,and via the stations’ mobile apps. Viewers can also access the NBC 5 Chicago News 24/7 live streaming channel on Peacock, Roku, Samsung TV, Amazon Fire TV, and other supported platforms.
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