According to Men’s Health Magazine, Chicago is the 13th most obese city in the nation. After pondering this fact, I came to the conclusion that we can blame our obesity entirely on the annual Taste of Chicago festival. The Taste of Chicago is basically an excuse for people to eat large quantities of food and not feel bad about themselves because everyone else is doing it too. Every year I ask myself, “Why am I here?” It’s hot, crowded, and the food is average at best. Yet when the summer comes around, I am always the first to suggest a trip to the Taste. I think I like people gathering for a common cause, even though this common cause probably results in coronary disease. I do, however, have a few questions/concerns regarding the Taste.
1. What happened to the chocolate covered strawberries? Those are essentially the only reason I go to the Taste, and they disappeared this year. What a joke.
2. Why are there so many varieties of toasted cheese ravioli? Anyone who went to the Taste this year probably noticed that every other stand had toasted ravioli. They weren’t even that good. Sorry.
3. Why does anyone buy a hamburger/pizza/hotdog? To me, the Taste is about trying out new things. Most people eat hamburgers/pizza/hotdogs all the time, so why would they pay a ridiculous amount of money for something so boring? The only exception to this rule is if you’re not from Chicago. Go ahead – try the deep dish and hot dog.
4. Why would anyone buy beer at the Taste? Did you know that you just spent $7.00 on your Miller Lite?
5. Why do people order 2 huge meals when they could just get smaller portions of 4 or 5 different foods? It is called the Taste of Chicago for a reason… Ordering the taste portions just makes more sense.
But enough hating. There were some breakout restaurants this year at the Taste. Way to go Star of Siam! Your pot stickers and Pad Thai were tasty and a very good deal. Nice work Kasia’s Deli! Your pierogies were delicious. And of course, Eli’s cheesecake never fails to deliver. Other than that, everything I ate was average. I was expecting a lot out of Sabor Latino’s Jabarito sandwich, but it wasn’t anything special. Their pork filled banana dumpling tasted like a fried wad of under ripened bananas. Vee Vee’s jerk chicken has a nice kick to it, but it was really hard to eat because of all of the small bone fragments. In addition, the red beans and rice were just o.k. The tandoori turkey at Vermillion’s was an interesting thought that didn’t work in reality. The restaurant was trying to be really edgy by pouring a salsa verde over tandoori turkey and then placing it on a tortilla chip. The flavors were good separately, but they weren’t really working together.
Even though I have a lot of criticisms about the Taste, chances are I will be back next year. It is always fun to do something with your friends or family, and the Taste has a way of bringing people together. However, if there is a popular band playing, you literally might be trampled to death which is what almost happened to me when I saw Stevie Wonder a few years ago. On that note, just give the Taste of Chicago a try because it is something everyone should do at least once.
Photos contributed by Ellen Bland Walsh
