Monday, July 06, 2009

The Taste of Chicago Summer 2009

When your two year old likes it, you know its good. Eating gazpacho and mango Italian ice at the Taste of Chicago made it feel like summer, finally, and the warm sunshine only added to the feeling that the long-awaited summer ritual had arrived. Our Taste experience began with gazpacho, cool, tasty cold tomato soup from The Alley, sweet salty corn on the cob from the Abbey, and mango Italian ice from Mazzanos. We rounded out the real Chicago experience with a ride on the Merry-Go-Round and a walk to Buckingham Fountain.

Luc and Maisie loved the Metra Train ride to the Taste the best, however, and why not when the train had an American Flag on each car? They exclaimed, "Flag train is my favorite!"

They also enjoyed the speed of the express train, and equally the slowness of the regular train so they could examine the stops along the way.

The true Chicagoan visits the Taste on public transit, and searches out the unique along with the standard favorites of summer.

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

As my mom, brother, and I hurried toward the train station we saw the train we wanted pull away from the platform. We had to wait ten minutes for the next one, but talked with other people also going to the Taste as we waited. As we sat down on the train my stomach growled in anticipation of the food that would greet me downtown. We got off after what seemed like an eternity and gradually made our way through Millennium Park, towards the Taste, meeting larger and larger crowds as we went. We went through the large purple, yellow and orange arch welcoming us to the Taste. We had to wait in a huge line after we squeezed through a crowd of people to get our tickets. We emerged triumphant with strips of orange tickets only to be swamped by the crowd again. My mom, brother and I formed a train, holding on to each others arms, bags, and shirts as the crowd pushed and pulled. We made our way through the packed bodies to get vegetarian BBQ, a first for me, cheesy fries, pizza, corn, cheesecake and the first meat my mom had eaten in months. Due to my brother’s complaints rising in volume about his aching feet and the need to sit down, we snaked our way through the crowd to a surprisingly strip of bare grass. We sat down thankfully and ate the food we still clutched, a little messy from our attempts to keep it from being knocked from our hands. Too soon for my brother we were up and moving again, trying new food and getting icy cold soda to ease the heat from bodies all around us. We made our way to the lakefront, stopping at port-a-potties along the way, trying not to step on people’s picnic blankets and feet. We found a great spot on the grass and waited for the sky to darken. As the sunlight faded from the sky we watched the red, purple, white, blue, green and gold fireworks like a movie playing on the night sky. What a great way to end a great day.
-Sheridan

10:20 AM  
Blogger Peggy Doyle said...

Sheridan, you were there the same day I was, but much later, it seems. We went early to avoid some of the crowd that you experienced. Sounds like you had quite an adventure, though.

10:24 AM  
Anonymous Oscar said...

The Taste: fun, exciting, and YUMMY!

The taste was probably the best food festival I went to, no, it was the best food festival I went to. I went there two times, the first time was with my parents and the second time was with my summer school class. The first time, me, my parents, my cousins and my aunt went together. The six of us bought 60 tickets, which meant 10 tickets per person. We were soon to find out that this was definitely not enough for us. First, I had some fries, they were so good that I wanted some more, then I thought, 6 tickets, I shouldn’t waste them. At the end, after some “negotiations.” I got 20 tickets, well surpassing everybody else.

The food there was so great!!! I had fries, which were even better than McDonald’s fries, a incredibly hard feat to achieve. I also had some really good Italian Ice, which successfully helped me cool off when combined with my soda.

Overall, the Taste of Chicago was a great experience.

Oscar

10:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The taste of Chicago was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ate 5 days worth of food and it was the best food in the world. There was all kinds of food at the taste like Mexican, American, French, Italian etc. Ther was an ice cream that was a foot long. I got it, it was amasing!

At the taste the atmosphere was intresting. It was a mix of camps, campers, tents, food, and people hanging out. The taste also had tents like T-mobile, and game tents all over the place.

11:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The taste of Chicago was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ate 5 days worth of food and it was the best food in the world. There was all kinds of food at the taste like Mexican, American, French, Italian etc. Ther was an ice cream that was a foot long. I got it, it was amasing!

At the taste the atmosphere was intresting. It was a mix of camps, campers, tents, food, and people hanging out. The taste also had tents like T-mobile, and game tents all over the place.

11:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The day we went to the taste of Chicago was a nice sunny day. We took the Metra train to downtown. It was my first time on a train. It was fun but also scary to me. We walked to the bean and play tag with Gabby, Anne, and Caitlin. We walked down to the taste. We spelt into 3 groups. In my group were Gabby, Sheridan, Anne, and Caitlin.

First we went to Robinson’s Rib. I had the ribs for 4 tickets. They had a lot of bar-b-queue on it but other then that it was good. Then were walked to home run in pizza. The cheese on the pizza was very hot. I spilt it was Anne. The Italian ice was cold. I had blue raspberry. It was ok. But the funnel cake was much better. Catlin and I had the funnel cake. We were going to go on the Ferris wheel but we had to have an adult. So we headed back. I stop to get other rib. It was better then the first one.

9:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Taste of Chicago is a great place to listen to music, play, and of course eat all the food you want! I usually get a pizza and then I eat all the sweets. One of my (dessert) sweets which is Eli’s Cheesecake’s which is the best kind of cheesecake that I have ever had! I usually get a plain cheesecake or a chocolate cheesecake. Though I also get Italian Ice from Mazzanos and it is so good. When it’s summer in Chicago you should always go to the Taste of Chicago.

When you want to go on the rides in the Taste of Chicago you should always go on the Ferris Wheel and take pictures of the beautiful Chicago. I remember when I went to the Taste of Chicago and there was a Bungee Jumping but this year there was a full Basketball court. So there is a lot of activities in the Taste of Chicago so you should always go every year!

Izzy

9:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Taste Of Chicago is a time in the beginning of the summer when the public gets to taste food all over Chicago. You can eat anything you want, for example: you can eat Ribs to eating Italian Ice, or eating Eli’s Cheesecake to eating pizza. People love eating all kinds of food. There’s also a Ferris wheel where you can go up and see all the building, or look at the boats, Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium, The Buckingham Fountain, or maybe just stare down at all the people also at the Taste.

When my family and I go to the Taste, we always get Eli’s Cheesecake. We also go on the Ferris wheel, and last time the summer of 2008, we were bungee jumping. I always love going to the Taste because I always get a Taste of what Chicago has to eat. Sometimes my family and I would get something to eat and we would walk to the side and if there was someone performing we would eat and listen to the music.

-Jessica

9:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The taste is a great place to go for the whole family. My class went there and it was a blast. I got Ribs from Robinsons Ribs. They were very good, but if you want some ribs don’t get the taste. The taste portion has no pork on it. The Chinese noodles area very good and they are not spicy at all. If you want more ribs, but want it in sandwich form get the boneless rib sandwich. It is the best sandwich in the world. For a sweet treat get the corn from Dominick’s. It is very sweet and cooks just right. For dessert you should get key lime pie or cheesecake. It will meet your dessert needs.

Caitlin

11:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My first experience of the Chicago Taste


When we went on our field trip to the Chicago Taste, it was my first time going to it. I have always heard that they had good food, and they were right. The first food I tried was the Robinson’s Ribs. Even though I had too much sauce, they were very tasty. After I was finished with my ribs, I tried the Home Run Inn Sausage Pizza. The sizzling aroma made my taste bids water. I could only eat three pieces but it tasted so good that even if you didn’t like sausage pizza, you couldn’t resist its tasty goodness. After I threw it the pizza away, I tried the 3 scoop Mazzana’s Italian Ice. The flavors were Strawberry, Mango and Blue Raspberry. I took me a little while to eat it all.
If you have never been to the Taste like me, here is some advice. Be very careful with how many tickets you have because some of the food, they have there is very expensive. For example, the 3 scoop Italian ice is 9 tickets. When you buy 12 tickets for $8.00 then you only have 3 tickets. Also you should carry your own beverage. But overall, The Chicago Taste is a perfect place to be before Fourth of July.
--Gabby

11:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My first experience of the Chicago Taste


When we went on our field trip to the Chicago Taste, it was my first time going to it. I have always heard that they had good food, and they were right. The first food I tried was the Robinson’s Ribs. Even though I had too much sauce, they were very tasty. After I was finished with my ribs, I tried the Home Run Inn Sausage Pizza. The sizzling aroma made my taste bids water. I could only eat three pieces but it tasted so good that even if you didn’t like sausage pizza, you couldn’t resist its tasty goodness. After I threw it the pizza away, I tried the 3 scoop Mazzana’s Italian Ice. The flavors were Strawberry, Mango and Blue Raspberry. I took me a little while to eat it all.
If you have never been to the Taste like me, here is some advice. Be very careful with how many tickets you have because some of the food, they have there is very expensive. For example, the 3 scoop Italian ice is 9 tickets. When you buy 12 tickets for $8.00 then you only have 3 tickets. Also you should carry your own beverage. But overall, The Chicago Taste is a perfect place to be before Fourth of July.
--Gabby

11:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I loved getting food. Hanging out was so fun. We ate BBQ wings, Italian ice corn pineapple, cheesecake and lots more. The taste portion was big for what they gave us but it was still good. My favorite was the fried dough. YUM! I loved getting food there it was awesome. This being my first time it was a great experience. Caitlin is so fun to hang out with.
Overall it was great.

11:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! I can smell the pizza the steak and the Italian beef. It smells so good. It was such a nice day. The street was crowded. The ticket booths were even more crowded. People from everywhere were there buying tickets. My favorite thing at the taste of Chicago was the ice cream chocolate brownie sundae. The thing I did not like much at the taste was the bathroom they had a lot of ice cream and pizza and hot dogs. And the thing that is so good is that the food is some of the best food I have ever taste.
My favorite meal at the taste was the Italian fries and the sausage pizza. My favorite drink at the taste was this blue juice mix with soda. The tickets were expensive. It was $8.00 for 12 tickets. Some of the food was 12 tickets by it self. But with all of that the taste was still fun. I would recommend the taste for anybody.
--JOSHUA

11:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Taste of Chicago is very pleasant to go to but I think that the taste of Paris is better with the fresh bread which smells great, the croissant, the cheese, and the fruit.
I don’t like very much the taste of the pizza in Chicago because the pizza’s dough is different from the French dough. But I eat all the sweets and I love that. The train in Paris is more modern than here,
It's different.

Andres

12:07 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home