Seventy-three restaurants will be featured at this year’s Taste of Chicago, one of the most popular Chicago events of the summer. The lineup was announced Wednesday by Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). Among those, 26 will be first-timers at the lakefront food extravaganza.
The lineup of culinary crafters will include 38 five-day vendors, 22 pop-ups and 13 food trucks for the fest, which runs July 11-15 in Grant Park. Newcomers include Arun’s Thai Restaurant, Garifuna Flava: A Taste of Belize, Blackwood BBQ, Sun Wah Barbecue Restaurant (recently honored at the James Beard Awards), Josephine’s Cookin’ and So Forking Great. “Oldies but goodies” returning to the fest include Buona Beef and Original Rainbow Cone (returning after a three-year hiatus).
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Admission to the Taste is free. Food/beverage tickets are available in strips of 14 tickets for $10 (smaller “Taste Of” portions are priced at $3 or less). For complete information, visit tasteofchicago.us.
The 26 Taste newcomers
Arun’s Thai Restaurant
Aunty Joy’s Jamaican Kitchen
Esperanza’s Kitchen Delights
Garifuna Flava: A Taste of Belize
Output Lounge & Sports Bar
Premier Rollin BBQ
Turtle’s Bar & Grill
Yum Dum
Aloha Wagon
Bee Nana LLC
bettyBOT Shop
BITES
Blackwood BBQ
Chiya Chai Café
Classic Cobbler
Get Off The Couch Catering
Grill City (Seafood City)
Josephine’s Cookin’
Papa Luke’s Gravy Balls
So Forking Great
Sun Wah Barbecue Restaurant
These Wingz?
Wood Fire Counter
CheSa’s Gluten Free Food Truck
Lawrence’s Fish & Shrimp
Sausagefest
Also new to the fest is the Taste Oasis, an air-conditioned lounge located in Butler Field featuring a cash bar, “taste bites” (prepared by students from the Washburne Culinary Academy), music, food and more. Day passes for access to the Oasis are $50 available at tasteofchicago.us
The new Taste Oasis will offer Taste goers the opportunity to enhance their festival experience with access to an air-conditioned lounge in Butler Field offering tasty bites, a private cash bar, music, refreshing water and much more. Classic cocktails created by CH Distillery include an Old Fashioned and Grey Hound. Day passes for this exclusive area are $50 and can be purchased at tasteofchicago.us. Also included in the cost are “Taste bites” prepared by Washburne Culinary Academy will be served Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 3 to 6 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Taste Oasis will be open throughout normal Taste of Chicago festival hours, but it’s particularly a great spot to hang out before and after the Petrillo Music Shell concerts.
The Lifeway Foods Taste Kitchen at Buckingham Fountain, with daily cooking demos by local/national chefs, returns with this year’s lineup featuring: Chef Kevin Hickey of Duck Inn (July 11), Spiaggia executive chef and “Top Chef” season 15 winner, Joe Flamm (July 13), and Food Network’s “Sandwich King” Jeff Mauro (July 15). The full Taste Kitchen lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 39 five-day restaurants
Arun’s Thai Restaurant (4156 N. Kedzie)
Aunty Joy’s Jamaican Kitchen (1217 W. Devon)
Beat Kitchen (2100 W. Belmont)
Billy Goat Tavern (1535 W. Madison)
BJ’s Market & Bakery (8734 S. Stony Island)
Buona Beef (613 N. McClurg Ct.)
Caffe Gelato (2034 W. Division)
Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill (300 W 26th St.)
Chicago’s Dog House (816 W. Fullerton)
Churro Factory (2214 S. Wolcott)
Connie’s Pizza (2373 S. Archer)
Dia De Los Tamales (939 W. 18th St.)
Doom Street Eats
Esperanza’s Kitchen Delights (2301 S. Lake Shore Drive)
Franco’s Ristorante (300 W. 31st St.)
Frannie’s Café Inc. (623 S. Wabash)
Garifuna Flava: A Taste of Belize (2518 W. 63rd St.)
Gold Coast Dogs (225 S. Canal)
Iyanze (4623 N. Broadway)
Kasia’s Deli (2101 W. Chicago)
La Bomba Restaurant (3221 W. Armitage)
La Mexicana (4171 S. Archer)
Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria (805 S. State)
O’Briens Restaurant & Bar (45 E. Riverwalk South)
Original Rainbow Cone (9233 S. Western)
Output Lounge & Sports Bar (1758 W. Grand)
Porkchop (1017 S. Delano Court East)
Premier Rollin BBQ
Ricobene’s on 26th Street (252 W. 26th St.)
Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs (225 S. Canal)
Star of Siam (11 E. Illinois)
Texas de Brazil (210 E. Illinois)
The Eli’s Cheesecake Co. (6701 W. Forest Preserve Dr.)
Turtle’s Bar & Grill (238 W. 33rd St.)
Tuscany (1014 W. Taylor St.)
Ukai Japanese Restaurant (1059 W. Belmont)
Vee-Vee’s African Restaurant (6232 N. Broadway)
Yum Dum
The 24 pop-ups
Aloha Wagon (1247 S. Western Ave.)
Bee Nana LLC
bettyBOT Shop (7100 S. South Shore Dr.)
BITES (3313 N. Clark)
Blackwood BBQ (307 W. Lake St.)
Broken English Taco Pub (75 E. Lake St.)
Chiya Chai Café (2770 N. Milwaukee)
Classic Cobbler
Get Off The Couch Catering
Grill City (Seafood City) (5033 N. Elston)
Hakka Bakka Indian Kati Rolls (1251 W. Fullerton)
Josephine’s Cookin’ (436 E. 79th St.)
Just Salad Chicago (135 S. LaSalle).
MAD Social (1140 W. Madison)
Papa Luke’s Gravy Balls
Pork & Mindy’s (1623 N. Milwaukee)
Seoul Taco (738 N. Clark)
So Forking Great
Sun Wah Barbecue Restaurant (5039 N. Broadway)
These Wingz
Warm Belly Bakery (1148 W. Monroe)
Wood Fire Counter (131 N. Clinton)
The 14 food trucks
American Glory Food Truck Chicago
Auntie Vee’s
Aztec Dave’s Food Truck
Beavers Coffee + Donuts
CheSa’s Gluten Free Food Truck–NEW
Da Lobsta
Giordano’s
Harold’s Chicken
La Cocinita Food Truck
Lawrence’s Fish & Shrimp–NEW
Sausagefest–NEW
The Fat Shallot
The Lifeway Kefir Shop