Our annual review of the Taste of Chicago contains our list of picks and pans — what to eat and what to avoid. There’s also a handy story by food and nutrition writer Steven Pratt on the healthy-dining options at Taste, which are surprisingly varied, and a list of general survival tips by Tim Bannon on making your Taste visit as comfortable as possible.
Taste of Chicago is not an inexpensive proposition, as any experienced visitor will attest, but this year Taste is a little more cost-friendly; each booth is offering one food item in a taste portion, which is a small nibble for just one to three tickets.
Enjoy.
ASIAN
So many egg rolls, so little time. If you have to choose just one, make it from Little Quiappo. The crispy Vietnamese roll — actually called lumpia — is hot, flavorful and bursting with fresh veggies, for a much lighter version than its Cantonese cousin. The three-ticket tab is a breeze. The bigger challenge? Squirting sweet and sour sauce, balancing a plate and wiping your chin, all at the same time. The nod for favorite entree would go to Bando. Pass up the predictable for sunjuk — garlicky beef loaded with onions, fresh mushrooms and carrots, all perfectly sauteed to a golden bronze. At eight tickets, it isn’t cheap, but it is soulfully satisfying and huge enough to share. Star of Siam ran a close second with its Pad Thai. The hefty portion of noodles — liberally sprinkled with peanuts and green onions and a kiss of lime juice — was well worth the seven tickets.
– Bonnie Miller Rubin
BURGERS
Mixed blessings for burger lovers at this year’s Taste; those sampled all had their strong points but their deficiencies, too. First by a narrow margin was Fluky’s juicy cheddarburger, browned to perfection on a sesame seed bun, though the cheddar was drippy and not sharp enough. Next was Knicker’s barbecue buffalo burger — yes, it’s pleasantly mild buffalo meat with a tangy kick, though again the sauce was a bit runny. Next, the Billy Goat Tavern’s renowned cheeseburger boasted the best roll of the batch — a snuggly soft kaiser — but not quite enough beef. Last by a nose, Father & Son Pizza could’ve easily finished first with its gourmet mozzarella burger, with its hint of green pepper — if only the patty were more thoroughly cooked.
– Lou Carlozo
CAJUN/CREOLE
Craving Cajun? Go to New Orleans. You’ll settle for a reasonable approximation of the rich, redolent fare? Head to Crescent City Steak House for chicken jambalaya. Four tickets buys a moist, savory rendition nicely accented by sausage. (A taste-size version is two tickets.) If you like your jambalaya stewlike and studded with tomatoes, Dock’s offers a not-unpleasant version, but be prepared to fork over five tickets for a meager serving.
Red beans and rice at Helen’s (six tickets; two tickets for a taste-size sample) is unremarkable but can be rejuvenated by generous jolts of hot sauce, which is provided. Don’t even think of ordering the shrimp etouffee (six tickets) at Buddy Guy’s Legends: it’s a lumpy porridge with a taste that will linger far longer than you’d like. A bright spot here: two tickets gets you a generous hunk of moist, cheese-infused cornbread.
– Leigh Behrens
CHICKEN
We tested two places for jerk chicken and had our taste buds all set for this Jamaican dish. We were disappointed by the jerk chicken at Vee-Vee’s, served with red beans and rice, which was bland and dry, with too much pepper and little else. The chicken was very greasy. On the other hand, the jerk chicken at El Dinamico Dallas was delicious. Flavorful breast meat, succulent and piping hot, it was served with a generous portion of red beans and rice and seasoned with the right blend of spices and peppers. The tandoori chicken at Kanval Palace, a red hot chicken leg-thigh portion was tender but not as spicy as it looked. Fitzee’s chicken leg-thigh, served with a roll, had plenty of thick barbecue sauce and wasn’t bad. Last, but not least, we had the Fred Flintstone of turkey legs from Great Godfrey Daniels. This huge portion is sure to curb the hunger pangs for all cavemen and women alike.
– Shirley Henderson
CHICKEN WINGS
Trying chicken wings at this year’s Taste is as much about the sauce as it is the chicken. Warning, it’s a messy affair.
Ricobene’s hot wings are especially good. The chicken is meaty, the skin is crispy and smothered in a barbecue sauce that is addictive. The wings come with a hearty helping of fries. The sauce isn’t as hot as the barbecue jalapeno chicken wings from Fernando’s (see below), and there is a sweet taste to it. Stevie B’s spicy buffalo wings live up to their name. The sauce tastes like Tabasco and overwhelms the taste of the chicken, which is kind of scant anyway.
For more traditional-chicken lovers, Harold’s Chicken offers wings that taste a lot like Kentucky Fried Chicken’s, but the sample size also comes with a delicious chicken nugget and fried okra. Fernando’s barbecued jalapeno chicken wings have a Mexican flavor to them, and you get a hearty portion.
– Amy Wu
CHINESE
Taste of Chicago’s disappointing Chinese cuisine leans more toward McDonald’s than Middle Kingdom. You’d think the four kiosks could whip up a tasty stir-fry or do a moo shu. But what you get here is egg rolls. And more egg rolls.
China Garden’s standard-issue, crunchy egg roll was made all the more bland by its abundance of cabbage and miserly bits of pork and shrimp. The egg roll served by King Wah, the lone Chinatown representative, was plump and greasy. Any pretense of ingenuity — the chopstick chicken — at Guey Lon was dashed by the coarse, deep-fried chicken nuggets. They did come with a generous portion of tempura carrots, green peppers and other vegetables.
If you’re intent on an egg roll, Ben Pao offers the best of the bunch — a perfectly crisp, light spring roll with chicken. Ben Pao’s summer noodles with peanut sauce and cilantro sounded like a nice respite from the wicked weather, but the topping had all the character of Jif. Until Taste’s Chinese emporiums can do the cuisine justice, we’d prefer to be choosy and go for a different type of food.
– Brad Webber
CORN
Let’s hope that I picked an off-day to sample sweet corn at the Taste, because the ears of corn served at all four booths (Dominick’s, Kitty O’Sheas, Madison’s and Reilly’s Daughter) lacked the summer sweet corn flavor served at past Tastes. But for three tickets, this may still be the best bargain at the Taste. Only Dominick’s did not have pepper available.
– Itasca O. Wiggins
DESSERTS
Hot fudge sundae fans won’t be disappointed at Zephyr, where the serving is small but enough to satisfy. The hot fudge is hot and the french vanilla ice cream is firm and delicious. The caramel apple sundae at Lindy’s Chili/Gerties Ice Cream should please caramel apple fans no end. A whole sliced apple gets a cube of soft-serve vanilla ice cream in the center, some caramel drizzled on top and a sprinkle of chopped nuts. Authentic Italian ice connoisseurs won’t get what they’re looking for with the black raspberry or lemon ice at Franco’s Ristorante; both are too sweet, with a consistency more like sorbet or ice cream. But Mazzone’s offers an orange twister that is creamy and refreshing. And if you want decadence without the calories, give Bresler’s Death by Chocolate frozen yogurt a shot. Be ready for the sweetness without the richness chocolate lovers crave.
– Seka Palikuca
Ann Sather’s cinnamon roll gets a sticky thumbs up for freshness. Get plenty of napkins for the gobs of icing. We had the Heath Wave Cheesecake from Eli’s, which was topped with wonderful caramelized nuts and had a chocolate cookie crust. Yummy. Reilly’s Daughter offered pieces of carmel pecan clusters, and we loved the cheesecake at Cheesecakes by JR, which seems to melt carmel and pecan into a dessert that is richer than Donald Trump before his divorce.
– Shirley Henderson
The fried dough (or funnel cakes, as a visitor from Milwaukee informed me) served at Greco’s and Harry Caray’s were just marvelous. Served warm with powdered sugar, these light and chewy desserts made me forget the temperature. The fresh-out-of-the-oven peach cobbler served at Mama’s House was sweet and syrupy with just enough crust to hold it all together. At Aunt Diana’s, the combo — a fresh strawberry dripping with fudge, plus pecan candy — is truly a delight.
– Itasca O. Wiggins
HOT DOGS
Gold Coast Dogs’ hot dogs seemed to be a little tougher than the ones you get in restaurants. Maybe they had been reheated or stood in hot water all day. The best thing about them is that you could get them all dressed up or plain.
At the Lindy’s Chilibooth, the chili is what you can really enjoy on the hot dogs; it had a nice kick to it. There was also cheese sprinkled over the hot dogs. They didn’t seem to be as tough. Both booths had plenty of napkins and Handy Wipes.
– Cynthia Davis
ITALIAN
Imagine the type of food Tony ‘n Tina would serve on their first wedding anniversary. You’ll find it here — simple but ample Italian-American fare.
The quarter pound of Buona Beef crammed inside six inches of crusty Turano bread makes a hefty sandwich. Tuscany’s version is skimpier but still more than adequate. A chunky plum tomato sauce compensates for DiGiorno’s serving of 12 mushy ravioli. But this Kraft Foods product line can’t compete with upscale Tuscany’s six puffy toasted ravioli. Let Pasta Vino’s stuffed artichoke serve as an inspiration to cooks from Harlem Avenue to Highwood. The leaves are tender, the bread crumb stuffing moist and the portion generous. Knicker’s mild scampi, a handful of itty-bitty shrimp atop a bowl of white rice, is a nice introduction to this normally pungent dish.
– Kelly Warnken
MEXICAN
The standout in this familiar category comes from, of all places, Polo Cafe and Catering of Bridgeport. Its black bean-chihuahua cheese bread (known as mollettes in some circles) was delicious, filling and surprisingly un-messy. Nearly as impressive was the chicken fajita at Fernando’s: the tortilla was much better than your standard restaurant-supermarket store variety and the chicken was chunky.
Los Dos Laredos has two yummy offerings: a steak gordita, which is a flaky pastry-like pita stuffed with meat, lettuce and tomato; and a steak burrito as big as a size 3 gym shoe, though much tastier. La Preferida’s tamale is unremarkable; don’t refuse the hot sauce.
Best of all, each of the above is a perfect complement to a cold cup of beer.
– Tim Bannon
MISCELLANEOUS
It’s possible to be one-of-a-kind at Taste of Chicago without being unique. For example, if you have a craving for gyros, there is just one booth that will satisfy you — Tommy’s, which offers decent enough meat and a smattering of onions on good pita. But the sauce borders on the ghastly; if you order gyros, tell ’em to hold the sauce.
Vee-Vee’s African offers a touch of the exotic with its sauteed goat; you get a few smallish pieces of slow-cooked and tender meat that is very mild in flavor, and a nice helping of sweetened, sauteed plantains. Definitely worth a try.
Kanval Palace’s seekh-kabob is a touch on the dry side, but you’re not likely to notice; the lamb is so spicy that most people will wash it down with plenty of beverage, though the toasted naan bread is probably a better fire extinguisher.
A much cooler option is the curried chicken salad from Mama’s House, a cold salad that’s light enough on the mayo to keep it refreshing.
You may be intrigued to read that Kitty O’Sheas is offering Irish stew, but the Taste brochure is incorrect. No stew at Kitty’s, and, given the warm temperatures this week, probably not many complaints, either.
– Phil Vettel
PIEROGI
In the mood for a potato pierogi? Kasia’s Deli has good ones. The dough and filling are both properly prepared, cooked till golden brown, with a crispy shell. However, even with the complementary sour cream, they still lack a taste that would make you go back for seconds. Polka Sausage’s pierogies were not prepared as well and had a dough-like taste. It was difficult to distinguish where the dough ended and the filling began.
– Steven Szmurlo and Brian Schoonover
PIZZA
For you thin-crust pizza lovers, the best bet of the four locations serving slices at this year’s Taste is Bacino’s. Available in both cheese or sausage slices, the pizza just melts in your mouth. Running a close second is the pizza served at the Home Run Inn with its chewy cheese taste. Try Carmen’s if you like that heavy-dough, thin-crust pizza. Holding up the rear was the pizza available at Reggio’s; this 6-inch boxed pizza wasn’t bad, but didn’t measure up to the competition.
– Itasca O. Wiggins
All men may have been created equal, but the same can’t be said for the thick-crust and stuffed pizzas served up at the Taste. Starting with the same basic ingredients — cheese, sausage and dough — the pizzas all had something a little different to offer. Chicago pizza lovers will be pleased to find a variety of offerings sure to please the palate. (All pizza can be purchased in half orders.)
The meatiest pizza you’ll find is at Gino’s East; it was layered (not dotted) with sausage and had an ample supply of sauce, though I found the crust to be a little hard and bland. If the sauce is your thing, try Carmen’s; its pizza offered a zesty sauce, but was a bit light on the meat. Don’t pass Connie’s if you appreciate a softer dough; the bottom was lighty crunchy and fairly meaty. Say cheese and stop by Bacino’s; the pizza had a heavy layering of cheese that gives you plenty to chew on. Lou Malnati’s was a little less meaty and cheesy.
– Rosemary Johnson
POLISH
Definitely the best-tasting Polish sausage at the Taste is from Kasia’s Deli. It’s an authentic, meaty sausage that is not only appetizing to look at but, more important, is both flavorful and juicy. To make it even better, simply order it with “everything on it.” Chicago’s well-known Gold Coast Dogs ties in taste with Polka Sausage’s spicy sausage, although “spicy” is a poor word to use when describing sausage with a little extra pepper added to it. If you’re not one for pepper, Polka’s regular sausages have the same good taste as their “spicy” counterparts.
Regarding presentation, Gold Coast Dogs’ sausages are the most appealing. They’re very colorful, topped with green hot peppers, red tomatoes, white onions and yellow mustard. Also, the good-sized sausage fits perfectly in its poppyseed bun.
– Steven Szmurlo and Brian Schoonover
PORK
Head over to Crescent City for a great-tasting pork po’ boy sandwich, an excellent value for only 5 tickets. The sauce has just the right blend of barbecue spices. Also, what initially seemed to be a small amount of meat proved to be more than adequate. The Polo Cafe offers what looks like a very appealing barbecue pork chop, served on a piece of white bread and topped with a mouth-watering combination of sauteed onions and barbecue sauce. However, you’re better off saving your 6 tickets. Underneath the sauce we found a pork chop with almost more bone than meat. The chop is extremely difficult to cut with a plastic knife (which is what they give you), even when sitting down in the dining pavilion.
If you’re looking for Barney’s Market Club’s barbecue chop sandwich, don’t bother. Barney’s isn’t even at Taste this year, though the brochure lists the restaurant as occupying Booth 9. You’ll find Sharko’s at Booth 9, staffed with workers who had no clue their restaurant isn’t in the Taste’s brochure.
– Steven Szmurlo and Brian Schoonover
RIBS
Baby back ribs at the Taste of Chicago are a mixed bag. There is no clear winner here this year, so your best bet may be to sample them all. Sweet Baby Ray’s has the best sauce, full-bodied, sweet and sticky, but the meat itself, while tender, falls flat.
The slab at Fitzee’s is well-seasoned and juicy enough to almost overlook the ketchup-y sauce. But it’s hardly a bargain at eight tickets for a “slab” of four ribs and a dinner roll. The slab we got from Fireplace Inn could have used a little more meat and were a little chewy — but Fireplace Inn is the only rib vendor providing moist towelettes to get leftover goo from your hands.
Robinson’s and Stevie B’s have the best overall package, providing enough ribs with enough lip-smacking sauce to fill you up. Each rib vendor is charging eight tickets for a “slab,” but you’ll get the most for your fistful o’ tickets at Stevie B’s, where they offer a few more ribs than the four or five that all the other vendors are giving.
– Sabrina L. Miller
SANDWICHES
According to Meat Loaf (the singer, not the blue-plate special), “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” In the case of sandwiches at Taste, we found “Four Out of Five Ain’t Bad.”
Father & Son Pizza offers a barbecue chicken sandwich that we judged the pick of the litter. It’s a meaty chunk of chicken breast, well grilled and dressed up with a nice sauce, served on a tasty bun.
Also deserving mention are the Fireplace Inn’s barbecue meatball sandwich, with three meatballs on a french roll in a good spicy sauce; Ricobene’s trademark breaded steak sandwich, drowned in a great sauce, with green peppers; and the pulled pork sandwich from the folks at Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, served on a store-bought hamburger bun, but quite good nonetheless.
And the fifth? Three bites of the chicken teriyaki sandwich from Great Godfrey Daniels was all we cared for. The chicken breast we were served was slightly tough, and the sauce has an odd, unappealing taste.
Whichever of these sandwiches you choose, though, don’t forget to pick up plenty of napkins.
– Phil Marty
SEAFOOD
Tickets! Bring lots of tickets here! The seafood selection is not plentiful, but most of it is pricey. We recommend the salmon croquettes from Mama’s House — the best overall value. A few notes on how to enjoy your two cakes: drown them in hot sauce, toss the fork and get set to lick the cheese off your fingers. Next best is Dock’s famous Fishwich Jr. — also drown this in hot sauce. The shrimp’s a tossup. Dock’s flavorful shrimp on a stick yields three jumbo deep-fried crustaceans. But Bob Chinn’s less tasty deep-fried shrimp yields about 13 about half the size of Dock’s. Last is Shipwreck Kelly’s puny, greasy grilled lobster tail.
– Eugenia C. Daniels
