Taste Of Chicago Guide

The Taste of Chicago is the largest outdoor food festival in Chicago. Showcasing the diversity of Chicago's dining community, the Taste is also home to some of the Summer's best music festivals. Since 1980, Chicago's Grant Park has been feeding over 2.5 million hungry visitors a year.

Dates: June 24- July 3, 2011

Location:
Grant Park
Michigan Ave. & Congress Dr.
Chicago IL 60604
explorechicago.org

Admission: FREE

Hours:
June 24 - July 2: 11 am - 8:30 pm
July 3: 11 am - 6 pm

Food (AKA: The Good Stuff)

To see each vendor's featured items
visit: explorechicago.org

Each vendor will serve six items, two of which are special "Taste Of" portions priced at $2 or less. The "Taste Of" portion gives attendees the opportunity to sample a wide variety of items.

2011 Vendors:

• Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace St.
• Adobo Grill, 1610 N. Wells
• Alhambra Palace, 1240 W. Randolph St.
• Arya Bhavan, 2508 W. Devon
• Bacino's Pizza of Lincoln Park, 2204 N. Lincoln Ave.
• Banana Leaf Restaurant, 1948 E. 79th St.
• 
Beggars Pizza, 310 S. Clinton
• 
Billy Goat Tavern & Grill, 1535 W. Madison Ave.
• 
BJ's Market & Bakery, 8734 S. Stony Island Ave.
• Bobak Sausage Company, 5275 S. Archer Ave
• Carbón, 300 W. 26th St.
• C'est Si Bon!, 643 E. 47th St.
• Chicago Sweet Connection Bakery, 5569 N. Northwest Hwy.
• Chicago Joe's, 2256 W. Irving Park Rd.
• Churro Factory, 2214 S. Wolcott Ave.
• 

Connie's Pizza, 2373 S. Archer Ave.
• Cubby Bear, 1059 W. Addison St.
• 


Dominick's, Chicagoland Locations
• Eli's Cheesecake Company, 6701 W. Forest Preserve
• Dr. 


Franco's Ristorante, 300 W. 31st St.
• The Fudge Pot, 1532 N. Wells

• 


Garrett Popcorn Shops, Chicagoland Locations
• Guey Lon Restaurant, 3968 N. Elston Ave.
• Harold's Chicken # 71, 2109 S. Wabash Ave.
• Harry Caray's Restaurant, 33 W. Kinzie St.
• Hashbrowns, 731 W. Maxwell St.
• 


Home Run Inn Pizza, 4254 W. 31st St.
• Iyanze, 4623 N. Broadway St.
• JR Dessert Bakery, 2841 W. Howard St.
• Kasia's Deli, 2101 W. Chicago Ave.
• La Justicia, 3901 W. 26th St.
• Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joynt, 1525 W. 79th St.
• Lao Sze Chuan, 2172 S. Archer Ave.
• Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, 805 S. State St.
• Loving Hut, 5812 N. Broadway
• Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen, 1141 S. Jefferson St.
• The Noodle Vietnamese Cuisine, 2336 S. Wentworth
• Oak Street Beach Café, 5700 S. Cicero Ave.
• O'Brien's, 1528 N. Wells St.
• Original Rainbow Cone, 9233 S. Western Ave.
• 


Parrot Cage Restaurant, 7059 S. South Shore Dr.
• Pegasus, 130 S. Halsted
• Polka Sausage & Deli, 8753 S. Commercial
• Polo Café and Catering, 3322 S. Morgan
• Reggio's Pizza, 1339 S. Halsted
• Ricobene's, 252 W. 26th St.
• Robinson's No. 1 Ribs, 225 S. Canal
• Ryba's Fudge Shops, 600 E. Grand
• Sabor Latino, 3808 W. North
• The Smoke Daddy, 1804 W. Division
• Star of Siam, 11 E. Illinois
• Starfruit Café, 2142 N. Halsted
• Texas de Brazil, 51 E. Ohio
• Timothy O'Toole's, 622 N. Fairbanks Ct.
• 


Tuscany, 1014 W. Taylor St.
• Tutto Italiano, 501 S. Wells St.
• Vee-Vee's African Restaurant, 6232 N. Broadway
• Vermilion, 10 W. Hubbard
• Vienna Beef/Gold Coast Dogs, Chicagoland Locations

Taste Of Chicago Music Festivals

Mason Johnson / CBS Chicago
chicago.cbslocal.com

Many of you summer music lovers may have noticed the recent disappearances of some of your favorite music festivals in the city of Chicago. Unfortunately, more than a few festivals have been combined and thrown into Taste of Chicago. So the city can, you know, save money. Who doesn't love to save money? My grandma, a purveyor of coupons, loves it when people save money. And she's a swell woman. Grandmothers and coupons aside, this change, questionable as it may seem, should lead to a very interesting, diverse and fun Taste of Chicago. Here's a preview of what your ears should expect while exploring Grant Park this June and July.

Music Festivals:

• Viva! Latin Music Day
• Rock/Pop Day
• Gospel Music Day
• World Music day
• Singer/Songwriter Day
• Variety Day
• Celtic Music Day
• Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Party

>>> Read More

Taste Of Chicago Map

Parking & Transportation

If you've ever gone to the Taste before, you know to take public transportation whenever possible. Parking and driving around Grant Park can be expensive and difficult. To offset some of the parking costs this year, the Taste is offering discounted parking rates and a FREE McDonald's Trolley to ferry you from the parking garage at Soldier Field. A major bonus this year!

Park for $13 at the Waldron Deck parking garage at Soldier Field; exit at 18th Street from Lake Shore Drive. You may pre-purchase a parking voucher for the garage at soldierfield.clickandpark.com.

Pick up the FREE McDonalds Family Trolley on the North side of 18th Street to take you to the Taste of Chicago. The free trolley will run to and from the Taste of Chicago and the parking garage from 10:45 am - 8 pm daily, and 10:45 am - 5:30 pm on July 3rd.

Public Transportation:

El: Red to Roosevelt/State; Orange, Green to Roosevelt/Wabash. Bus: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 26, 28, 127, 146. For more travel information, visit www.transitchicago.com.

There's An App For That!

Android: market.android.com
Apple: itunes.apple.com

For Taste info on the go, download the Taste Of Chicago app available on the Android Marketplace and Apple App Store.

Lauren Wulf / CBS Local Chicago