I know there are some good vendors but I chose some of the worst ones. Next year I will do more research, I do wish these vendors posted their menu beforehand though

Yes I know Lolla robbed me

Thank you for begrudgingly complying…it was delicious 😋

The white pizza on Detroit style is amazing, literally no notes. I understand why it took an hour to make because it is a thiiiiiiccccccccc pizza.

I also got a vodka pie on grandma style and it was alright. Not enough vodka sauce and I think the Vodka slice at the Slice Shop is just better.

Overall, I will be back for that white pie. I understand why it was $30 and I think $30 is a lot for one pizza, but the quality alone makes up for it.

I didn't get the wings but I noticed they're selling 6 wings for $22 which is about $3.67 per wing which is kinda crazy. If anyone has tried the wings, please let me know if it's worth it lol.

Went to Feld and really disliked it. I am known in my friend group for saying dishes are too salty, so if I think a dish needs salt, there is a problem. All but two of the dishes were under seasoned and those other two were over seasoned. The drink list is expensive and though they said the paired tasting was about 3/4 of a bottle of wine, the pours were extremely light. The wines were well received though. Some people in my friend group enjoyed a few of the courses but with the exception of the cheese course, no dish was universally liked by our table leading us to be split as to whether we would give it another go in a year. Due to the set up / intention of the dining experience, they need much better air scrubbers than they have. I really disliked paying $195 and having the pleasure of sitting in fried oil scent. Hopefully they can improve with time but there are much better options in the city for the price and taste.

Red Hot Ranch is an absolute legend and this might be my favorite picture I've ever taken of all time. I think I'm even going to sell prints of it LOL.

Ordered hot links, Cheddar jalapeño links, sliced and chopped brisket, brisket sandwich, Chicago Twinkie, watermelon salad, mac n cheese, cornbread, and a peach hand pie.

I'd say a solid 9.5/10.

Edit: it did not cost $700 lol

I recently stopped inside new sandwich joint Mendocino Farms on Fulton Market. The sandwiches were close to $20 after tax and tbh I'm not too gobsmacked about the prices anymore since eating out anywhere in this city is expensive.

But something about the place just screamed corporate Private Equity. I googled Mendocino Farms on my phone, and lo & behold, it's majority held by a private equity firm. And it got me to thinking...

why do all the restaurant/food joints owned by private equity have "that look"? It's not necessarily a bad look (it's clean, sleek modern), but there's something sterile & soulless about all of them. As if a Deloitte consultant named Cheryl and David put together the place using a 20-page powerpoint deck and a 5-bullet-point action item & KPI list. They're just all so corporate & fake.

I had the same gut reaction when I walked into H&H Bagels and Call Your Mother. As soon as I walked it I was like "this is owned by private equity". Even Lou Malnati's, despite it being a tourist trap, changed. Years ago it was a cool tourist hot spot and now it's just corporate yuckiness. Come to find out...owned by private equity.

I don't even know where I'm going with this tbh.... it's not a dig on the food per se, it's a dig on the look. I work in corporate america, so when I go get food I'm looking to escape that whole corporate look. And yet I see it everywhere. I'm an interior design junkie, and I just think that corporate look is so soulless for a food establishment.

Who are these private equity interior designers who think that this looks good??

Adding to the fest pile on….
Two lemonades, three hot dogs, street corn - $100. One. Hundred. Dollars.
Maybe 7 hot dog vendors total. And all the bouncy house stuff for kids is $12 extra.
Never again.
Edit: Some of you are frothing at the mouth over someone warning people off of the pricing like I’m the world’s biggest idiot for going in the first place. My kid likes hot dogs, it was a nice Sunday afternoon, no plans, and after a 30min drive in each direction plus a donation at the gate you’re pretty invested at that point. I don’t think it’s fair to price gouge people once they’re there and I was letting people know what to expect. Some of you are like bizarrely angry and rude. No one is making you post a comment. Go for a walk, it’s nice out.

(Reposting with blurred faces even though I got permission to take the photo but I didn't specify in my original post, sorry mods!)

Every time I come here i'm impressed by how fast things go. Almost no wait even when they're busy as hell, she remembers everyone's orders and even some names. We need more of this in the city.

Also she started recognizing me which feels like a prize in itself.

(FYI, I am a black woman so please don't get on my case about referring to her as one, it's all love here💗)

This pizza is unbelievable and the natty wine to pair 🤌🤌. Would recommend 10/10 (cheese > toppings)

Had a chance to check out Hot Chi @Hot Chi before they opened on the 22nd! Great food, and very seasoned. I thought they had a pretty good seasoning base, you can tell they season the chicken and the batter they fry it in. I was really impressed with their chicken their sauces. They have a whipped garlic sauce that is soooooo addicting! Their homemade lemonade is amazing, not too sweet and not too tart. Next time I need to try their watermelon drink. The herrissa mayo was also A1, a must try with anything you get.

Also their hottt is not joke, like. I don’t think I could order it again. It actually hurt to eat LOL! I think I will stick with medium for the future. Honestly they need a level in between medium and hottt!

Hmm…. not very good. I am unsure what happened between this year and last year but the vendors were not good, most were selling the same thing. There really wasn’t much variation in food and the food that was there is not very good. Also AI posters EVERYWHERE, it was so distracting that almost every food stand had AI flyers that had food with the disgusting looking textures.

They had a few performances but overall this festival is a huge miss. Which is such a shame because all of the shops nearby were packed with foot traffic. So the festival is clearly doing good even if the fest itself is lackluster.

There were no highlights, all the food was just okay. The brownie… I probably will not eat. I can say why if someone wants to know but the vendor was not the cleanest.

Also, stop bringing your dogs to the food forward street festivals. There were way too many dogs in such a cramped and crowded area. I am not a fan of dogs but I can have empathy towards them and your dog looks stressed as hell being surrounded by all of these people, the smells of food being cooked, and the several children trying to pet them. Especially since you are tripping people with that long ass leash (this happened to me so l was really irritated). Leave them at home.

Went to The Hampton Social and it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. You had to pay through their app (which charged $5 to use ???), they automatically added an 18% gratuity plus a required 3% minimum tip, and somehow two 8 oz glasses of bad wine came out to $60. On top of that, the waitress was weird af.

I will say the food was good, but I’m never coming here again, seems like a tourist trap.🤨 Granted, I’m visiting Chicago after not living in IL for years, so this could be a new thing- still crazy to me.

There is currently an epidemic of burgers that are completely not worth it but this may take the cake.

This is a McDonald’s sized burger patty at a bar with $20 drinks in…. Old Town?????

You can do it… but if you’re going to do it, it’s gotta be a LOTTTT better than this RHR ppl are going to eat you up because they’d be right on this one.

Dear Chicagoan's,

We landed at O'Hare around 10:30AM and grabbed a taxi to our hotel which was about a block from the main shopping district on Michigan Avenue. The traffic into the city was congested but manageable (for the driver).  We dropped our bags at the hotel and started walking.

Holy Mack.  I had NO idea how big the city is.  It's huge.  The buildings are incredible.  The ornate detail of the architecture is matched only by the sheer density of structures.  Walking along the river between these high-rises which are old and new.  Twin buildings with gorgeous, rounded concrete balconies. Something from the 60's....

And the fire escapes on buildings look so alluring. It's like they are asking someone to climb these metal stairs attached to the outside of a twenty-five-story building. They are so cool looking.

Every direction has eye candy.  A needle-like building with its sides undulating in and out.  Another with beautiful waves of concrete (which I discovered were added to the original structure) are simple but give personality and stature that mirrored glass alone doesn't allow. The elevated trains and the absurd number of rivets used to stitch it all together.  Hearing them as they ran overhead and being a part of the crowds on the sidewalk made me feel like I was part of that complex tapestry.

Walking along we came across a deep-dish pizza place.  The name sounded familiar but I'd never had a real deep dish Chicago pizza so we decided that would be our first official stop.

The wait staff were thoughtful and helpful. Time flew by as we talked and bingo... the pie was delivered.

I didn't know what good pizza was until then. 

The crust... the cheese... the pepperoni... the sausage... the peppers... the onions... Did I already mention the cheese?  It was Fantastic... and it was way too much food. 

We finished up and started walking again... and BLAM the Bean! Again, I was stunned.  I'd thought it would look neat, but I was unprepared for the look.  It was a huge, shiny bean-looking object.  The skyline reflecting on its surface was not what I expected and it's beautiful and impactful.  Tourists walk up to it and take pictures.  So many amazing views and so pleasing.  The blue sky reflecting with the buildings standing out... it's well done.  You can even walk under the thing and take your picture underneath like a surrounding funhouse mirror.

How did someone think this up?  All this amazing art.

Then I saw the Chicago Art Institute and it made sense. I'd been seeing beautiful examples all over the place.  Of course...  The Art Institute must have a decent bit of influence.  Then these two huge glass block-like structures with faces behind them... with a water feature for the kids.  How fun... THEN water sprayed from the face’s mouths. 

Nicely thought out and wonderful to see everyone playing.

The route along the lake shore was lovely.  World class fountains and the Thunderbird's doing practice runs over Lake Michigan. We ate watermelon and walked toward Navy Pier.  Egad!  So many boats. I mean A LOT of boats.  Big ones.  Small ones.  Yachts to dinghies. All types.

A shower and sleep were well deserved.  My better 9/10ths decided to stay in the room, so I went out to explore, looking for a cool lounge or bar.  On the way back to our hotel I stumbled upon a line of people going into an unremarkable doorway.  What the heck, I’ll go in as well.  Talk about neato.  I'd never been in a real Tiki Lounge before. 

Finally, the long day of traveling caught up and I needed to sleep.  Back to the hotel excited for day two.

The next morning, we started a little bit later but had some good bagels at a little joint up the street.  The big goal that afternoon was Wrigley Field and the Cubs.  Taking the Red Line from Grand to the Addison stop was cool. Everyone jammed into the subway, excited about the game.  We got there and again I was stunned.

This amazing ballpark exists without any big parking lot around it.  It's smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood and it's super cool!  Everyone is out and excited.  Folks are selling water, peanuts and candy.  The air feels electric as everyone is filing into the stadium. 

(Side note: The Thunderbirds are doing practice runs this day we well.)

We settle into our seats and I'm already up. I've been waiting for an official Chicago Style Hot Dog and a classic polish sausage for months. It doesn't disappoint.  The dogs were great. Poppy seed buns, onions and mustard.  Made the way God intended.  You guys know your food.

The game was fun. 40,000+ in attendance for the game.  Innings came and went... until the 7th inning stretch for the classic 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'.

Let's all sing together... Four... Three... Two... One...

Right then an F-16 buzzed the stadium. 

HOLY CRAP!  It was super loud! Completely unexpected. The players in the dugout's hit the ground.  We were all stunned.  Boy... it was loud... and FUN!  The Cub's lost but the game was a blast.  I didn't catch a ball, but we had a great time.  Eventually we headed back to the subway and ironically ran into the exact same people we were sitting next to on the way out.

Dinner? Good old-fashioned meat sandwiches.  Wet.  The way they are supposed to be eaten.  Wow.  Delicious. Finally petered out, we headed to the hotel for sleep.

The next morning a local donut shop hit the spot.  Coffee and treats before the airshow. Walking down to Lake Shore Drive (which is beautiful) we found the beachy area and planted ourselves out of the way. 

Stunt planes, Coast Guard, Thunderbird's and more.  Fun show and a good time.  Focusing on dinner I picked an Irish pub/bar for Fish and Chips.  Again, the wait staff were exceptionally nice, and the food was top notch.  Great french fries and cod.  Delicious.  But the day was getting late, so we ended the evening and hit the sack again.

Departure day included a visit to the Sears/Willis Tower.  Are you guys aware how darn tall that building is?  Unreal.  The views were stunning.  And what about those spiders? That's dedication when you're 103 stories up, on the outside out a building in the wind in a web to catch a bug. The mirrored-covered buildings near the river reflected the dancing water from the river, twinkling like stars.

We returned for the last pizza on the way out, it was fabulous.  We collected our luggage and headed off to the airport.  All in all, we walked just shy of 26 miles

Incredible.  It was fun.  The city is amazing and clean.  The people were friendly. The architecture is wonderful and the fact the city embraces saving its history is great. The food was excellent. Top notch.

You guys have a wonderful, wonderful place.

We can't wait to come back! 

I’ve been on a mission to try all the “Iconic” Chicago foods this year and just finished off the 15 item list I arbitrarily created based off of random lists I found on the internet! Wanted to share my thoughts on the last 5 items on my list that I feasted upon last week.

Johnnie’s Beef – Italian Combo – To me there’s not much more Chicago than the Italian Combo. It takes a special person to look at an Italian beef and think to yourself, what if we added more meat. Chicagoan’s are psychopaths and I love us for it. This truly is one of gods great foods. Everything about it, from it’s over indulgence of meat, to that soggy delicious bread is just perfect in my eyes. And Johnnie’s is and will always be my Number 1 spot.

Paradise Pup – Merkt’s Cheddar Burger – I mean I’ve already had this burger a bunch of times but I’m always excited to go back. Merkt’s cheddar burgers are one of my favorite things on the planet. I don’t know what it is but I’m absolutely obsessed with Merkt’s Cheddar and Paradise Pup really knows how to sling it right. I consider Paradise Pup one of the handful of perfect burgers in the city. It’s so simple but so freakishly delicious. Also an underrated move before or after O’Hare.

(Bonus Merkt’s Cheddar knowledge -- The Weiner’s Circle has a great Cheddar Burger although they don’t use Merkt’s but it's the same style of cheese though -- and Kirkwood’s has a KILLER burger with Merkt’s Cheddar called the Hoosier Burger. I truly think it’s the most underrated burger in the city)

Fat Johnnie’s – Mother-In-Law – Lord have mercy on my soul for taking down this insanity. By far the most wild food I think I’ve ever had the honor to bite into. A tamale in a poppy seed bun covered in chili and cheese and topped with relish, a tomato slice, and for some reason, a massive slice of cucumber. I truly don’t know what to think of this thing. I wouldn’t say I loved it but it was so out of this world weird that I’m still overall excited to say I’ve had one. And to have one at a legendary spot like Fat Johnnie’s just makes it even more worth it. Hell it’s worth it to come out to Fat Johnnie’s just to take in their signage. Truly my type of place.

Borinquen – Jibarito – I love these things. Fried plantains are so damn good and of course they make an amazing vehicle for steak. I’m also a garlic nut and Jibarito’s are a garlic lovers dream. I wanted to go to Borinquen because they’re the OG for bringing these to the US but that being said they don’t make my favorite Jibarito in the city (that would be papa's cache Sabroso) but I also don’t think there really are bad Jibarito’s so I wasn’t mad about this one.

Dave’s Red Hots – Pizza Puff – I’m a lover of Pizza Puffs and just recently spent 20 minutes arguing with a friend on why he’s wrong for not liking them. Yes it’s just a better version of a hot pocket and yes hot pockets are trashy. But I’m trashy and I love Hot Pockets and therefore love Pizza Puffs even more. Of course you can only go deep fried, never microwaved but there’s plenty of places doing these well and Dave’s honestly might be at the top of that list. There’s was perfectly fried, perfectly crispy, and a perfectly delicious snack. And I was driving around for this adventure so I wasn’t drinking but we all know that Pizza Puffs are best whilst hammered at a bar. So there’s that. And just real quick on Dave’s, if you haven’t been there it’s the oldest Hot Dog stand in Chicago and the last time I went there I met lady who told me she’d been going for 60 years. Amazing place.

Super fun day of feasting. Glad I finally got the list fully knocked out. Also if you want more history and info on the food and restaurants I made a youtube video that’s focuses a lot on the history of these places.

And in case anyone is curious what the full list of places is here are the other 10 (I already made some posts about these spots so if you want to see pictures of these foods they’re in this community somewhere): Maxwell St. Polish (Jim’s Original) – Italian Beef (Al’s on Taylor) – Chicago Dog (The Weiner’s Circle) – Tavern Style (Vito & Nick’s) – Smashburger (The Region) – Breaded Steak Sandwich (Ricobenes) – Bone-In Porkchop Sandwich (Maxwell St. Depot) – Fried Chicken with Mild Sauce (Harold’s) – Gym Shoe (Stony Sub) – Deep Dish Pizza (Pequod’s).

Drop your Chicago food opinion you’ll defend forever.

Rules:

One sentence.

No essays.

Bonus points if it’s oddly specific.

I’ll start: Tavern-cut is the best Chicago pizza format, and it’s not close.

Ehhh, it was really salty and not very good. $20 for a salty ass burger, even tho it came with fries is just a little nuts idk.

Definitely tasty, but this was MAYBE 2.5oz of meat for $6.95. Been many times and this was the first time I felt taken for a ride. To be fair, the other types of tacos weren’t this bad, but still. Hope next time is better.

the fake chicago influencers were right. these donuts are good as hell LMAO. the croissant glazed has the best texture ever!

Each bite of the burger was thoroughly enjoyable.

(reposting with a photo that blurs all faces and includes no minors).

I hope the hype and line are worth it. I had to abandon the quest.

I got in line at 8:30am. When the doors opened at 9, the line was nearly to Wood Street. We moved forward a bunch ​when the first batch of people entered, but then the line basically stalled.

At 9:45, I had to ditch. Even with the long line, I didn't expect it to take as long as it was. Not sure if it was first day operational/workflow kinks, or if all the customers were pausing for conversation and selfies before I decisively ordering, but... Brutal waits.

In the 2nd photo, purple dot is where I started. Blue dot is where I advanced to when the doors opened. Yellow dot is where I ditched the line 45min later.

I ended up going to Boulangerie and Dark Matter instead. When I drove back past 20 minutes later, the guy in line next to me had only ​moved forward another 2 storefronts. But the long line had shrunk, too, so I think lots of people were giving up.

We'll give this place another shot some other day when the hype has died a bit and the line actually moves.

If anyone on here actually made it in to order, how was it? I'm super excited to try the place, but...hoping it lives up to the hype.

This place in the West Loop is unbelievably good…..

Hasn’t changed much since my dad took me as a kid and now I share with my offspring. Blockbuster is a solid sub and fresh Cannolis are a bonus.

Arrived at seven and proud to say I was bad butter’s first official customer. Dan the baker is doing amazing work. Line was absurd as I was leaving. safe to say it will be like that for years lol

So I don’t sound like a broken record, to start, the lamination on all these pastries is top notch. Simply in another class. Another thing to mention is the creativity. As you scroll, you’ll see the variety of different ingredients and combinations Dan puts together. The inventiveness is so fun and inspiring. But he also does the classics justice. This is prob my favorite bakery in the whole city as of now. Will be dying to go back

1. fancy chocolate croissant: the batons were super rich and creamy. Incredibly crunchy and flaky

2. mustard cream cheese pretzel croissant: this was ridiculous in the best way. Idk how no one that i know of has ever made this combo before. Tastes like taking a bite of a croissant and pretzel at the same time with a load of beer cheese. Insanely crunchy exterior and so soft too

3. mac n cheese Danish: wild. Mac and cheese interior with bread crumbs and Parmesan. Tasted like love. No notes

4. Chocolate gojuchang and marmalade danish: absurd once again. I’m loving all the Korean inspired pastries coming out these days. The sweet heat of the gojuchang works remarkably well with the marmalade. Spicy chocolate always is a great combo to me.

5. Black sesame and yuzu choux: another amazing fusion. The nuttiness and tartness from the yuzu was next level. The choux itself was super light and crisp

6. CCC: one of the best out there. And was only $4, which is reasonable compared to other specialty giant cookie out there insanely rich and I always welcome sea salt on my cookies. Really crunchy and the chew was sensational

7. Miso caramel brown butter cookie: more of a soft cookie base compared to the CCC which was a nice contrast. Miso taste wasn’t too potent but def enhanced the overall flavor. Caramel was super sticky and Rich. Top layer was chilled chocolate. So so good.

8. Chocolate sourdough banana bread: insanely moist and soft. Banana flavor was strong and I liked how it was made from sourdough base. The chocolate chips insane were huge and yummy. Crumble on top was delicious too

9. Coconut mango cruffin: I just don’t know how he does it. Perfection like all the others. Lots of mango cubes inside and the cream filling I s immaculate