Taste Of Chicago Starts Wednesday. Here’s A Sneak Peek Of What To Eat

CHICAGO — Taste of Chicago will return to its mid-summer weekend slot in Grant Park next week with more than 100 food vendors and performances by Common, Beach Bunny and Babyface. 

The 46th annual free-admission food festival runs 11 a.m.-9 p.m. July 8-12 in Grant Park from Columbus Avenue to Balbo Drive. Reggae artist Original Koffee and Mexican pop star Julieta Venegas are also scheduled to perform.

While the festival will feature foods from iconic Chicago restaurants and businesses like Lou Malnati’s, Harold’s Chicken 55 and the Original Rainbow Cone, about 38 percent of the vendors are making their first Taste of Chicago appearance, according to the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

“One of our city’s greatest strengths is our diversity,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said at a Taste of Chicago preview on Tuesday. “Nowhere is it more visible than through our food. Every dish and every restaurant represents a dream, a family and community.” 

Tuesday’s tasting, held in Millennium Park, featured dishes from six vendors, four of which have been open in the city for more than 10 years.

Here are four bites to try this year from Chicago staples:

Ponce Restaurant: Arroz Con Gandules

Open for 28 years in Belmont Cragin, Ponce Restaurant, 4313 W. Fullerton Ave., serves Puerto Rican food by Marisol Melendez and her family, who are natives of Ponce, Puerto Rico. 

The restaurant — which is returning to the Taste for the third consecutive year — will serve up Puerto Rico’s national dish: arroz con gandules, or rice with pigeon peas, alongside lechón, or roasted pork. For some spice, fans can add their homemade hot sauce, Fuego Boricua. 

Ponce Restaurant was named among the top 25 Puerto Rican restaurants in the U.S. by Big Seven Travel in 2021. The restaurant aims to recreate the experience of being in Puerto Rico and eating at a lechonera, dedicated to roasting whole pigs, according to Ponce’s website. 

Cafe Tola: Empanadas

Cafe Tola, 3612 N. Southport Ave., has long been celebrated for its empanadas. It will join the Taste of Chicago lineup for the first time this July.

Owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Gerardo and Victoria Salamanca, Cafe Tola has expanded to four locations, with spots in Lakeview, Avondale and Logan Square. The restaurant sells more than 20,000 hand-made empanadas a month, offering savory and sweet fillings, the owners said in a 2023 interview on YouTube. 

Cafe Tola’s menu for the Taste will include its popular chicken salsa verde; poblano peppers, potatoes and cheese; lechon and coconut curry empanadas.

Yum Dum Food Truck: Kimcheesy Rice Balls

Yum Dum Food Truck, which sets up in locations across the city, including in Logan Square and Wicker Park, is returning as a longtime vendor at Taste of Chicago.

Chef and owner Jeff Wang rolled out the Yum Dum Food Truck in July 2014 and has been nominated for several accolades, including one of “Chicago’s Best Food Trucks.” 

Yum Dum will serve up chicken and cabbage soup dumplings with soy vinaigrette dipping sauce, as well as its most popular item, Kimcheesy rice balls, made of cheddar jack cheese, kimchi and scallions topped with jalapeno sriracha aioli. 

Eli’s Cheesecake: Cookie Dough Cheesecake Dippers

Eli’s Cheesecake has been a Chicago staple for more than four decades, since legendary Chicago restaurateur Eli Schulman in 1977 sought to create a signature dessert for his steakhouse, Eli’s The Place For Steak. He created Chicago-style cheesecake: golden brown on the outside, rich and creamy on the inside and baked on a signature all-butter shortbread cookie crust.

Schulman debuted Eli’s Cheesecake at the first Taste of Chicago in 1980, and it became an instant hit. 

Eli’s Cheesecake remains one of the only original vendors still participating at Taste. This year it will offer cookie dough cheesecake dippers — a frozen, chocolate-covered slice of cheesecake on a stick — in addition to assorted cheesecakes with flavors like chocolate chip, cookie dough, Key lime and strawberry.