Taste of Chicago is a summer festival that happens in Grant Park and has been going on since 1980. If you’re in town for a short amount of time during the summer and want to try as much food as possible without traversing the city this is probably the best thing for you. To buy food you purchase tickets, most of which can be acquired at little kiosks around the festival. (Most only take cash). 12 tickets are about $8. The festival is open from 10/11am until 9pm for five days in July.
This year there were over 30 different restaurants with stalls up all five days. Each restaurant had a “Taste of Portion” that is about $2.50 and includes 2 items off their menu. On different days of the festival there were 4 different Pop-Up restaurants that also had “Taste of Portions”. Chicago also enjoys food trucks from anything from cupcakes to salsa. Around the time of the concerts there were 6/7 food trucks parked nearby with entrees and desserts.
The Taste of Chicago also has other events such as concerts at the two different stages. This summer’s music series included F.U.N, which the seats by the stage sold out in about 8 minutes. Everyone else could sit on the grass and listen from speakers and watch the screens.
Taste of Chicago is a huge event and for good reason. The city is filled with awesome food and having the chance to try a lot of it in one spot and listen to great music is amazing!