To Taste or Not To Taste

There are a few famous Chicago events that every Chicagoan (if that's not what Chicago residents are called I haven't been here long enough to know what we are called...) knows about. If you don't know about them before you move, the people that are here will make sure you do know about them. One such event is the yearly Taste of Chicago.

The Taste (as we'll call it here) is an annual event held at Grant Park/Millennium Park (I think they are different places, but they're very close together if not attached) where local restaurants come out and cook/sell/serve their food to attendees. How it works. You stop at a booth when you enter the park and you buy a strip of tickets. This year (2009) you got 12 tickets for $8.00. Then you use those tickets as currency at all the vendor's booths. The event is usually held over the course of a week culminating over the Fourth of July weekend.

Eric and I decided to check out The Taste one because we were curious and two because I am notoriously bad at going grocery shopping and thus there was nothing to make for dinner. We went on the first weekend, Sunday, around 5:00 p.m., figuring that the weekend tourist crowd may have died down by this time. For $16.00 we had our tickets and were off.

The good. We were intent on having our first Chicago style hot dog and thus set off looking for a hot dog vendor. Nathan's was the first we found, which was perfect since they're somewhat famous for their dogs. Eric had the spicy Italian dog and I had the Chicago. The reviews from both of us were good food, enjoyable experience. We sat in the shade in the park, listening to a band sponsored by a local radio station, and enjoyed our Chicago culinary experience for a mere fifteen tickets. The remaining nine we spent on a jumbo cookies and creme ice cream cone. It was phenomenal. All in all, it was a great Chicago dinner for two people for $16.00, which is virtually unheard of!

The bad? Well....Everything else I would have to say. Eric summed up the event by saying that The Taste appeared to be the place to go when you hoped to display your breasts inappropriately. And no, we are not talking chicken breasts here. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we saw one girl (I say girl, though she may have been a woman, because I want to believe that women have come farther than what I am about to tell you) walking around in low slung blue jeans, high heeled sandals, and her lacy black bra. Yes. That's right. Bra. Not bathing suit; I wish I could say bikini top. But no. Bra. She was carrying some type of cardboard sign that no doubt was advertising something (though I would have to assume something of very little value), but even that could not distract from the point that she was in fact walking through a public, city park in her bra.

In the hour or so that we were there, we witnessed a fight over pack of cigarettes that seemed to include a drunken-feuding couple (we assume they were a couple at one point anyways) and a homeless man wearing camo pants and no shoes, and later two of Chicago's finest. Apparently she bought the pack, and her (former?) better half was attempting to steal them. We can't figure out where the homeless guy came from. The situation was brought under control when the police (who I am sure have been retelling this story since Sunday) opened the carton of Marlboro Menthols and split it; five packs to the drunk woman, five packs to her drunk ex, and then sent them both on their way out of the event in opposite directions of course. Again, not sure what happened to the homeless guy. Deciding this was more commotion than our new-to-the-city hearts could handle, we meandered our way towards the ice cream cone and the park exit.

Later, near the exit while we enjoyed our cone in a new patch of shade, we saw the cops arresting a group of...well...I don't know what they were a group of. But they were in handcuffs being escorted by the police to the police trailers set up on site. That was it. We had to leave.

What did we learn at The Taste? What bits of wisdom do we have to pass on to newcomers such as ourselves? Well here it is...

• Don't be deterred. A lot of Chicago residents tried to convince me not to go to The Taste since it is such a huge tourist attraction and there is a lot going on that makes the event more overwhelming than enjoyable. While this turned out to be true for the most part, remember that you live in the third largest city in America and that the fun in that comes in going to all the crazy events the City hosts. And yes, the City does in fact host this event -- it is sponsored by the mayor's office. You may not go every year, and I support that!, but you should go once so that you have the experience. (Side note :: If you do go, and you find it to be more overwhelming than enjoyable, next year when you know somebody new to the City, don't discourage them from going! Allow them to embrace the excitement and decide for themselves if they'll ever go again.)
  
• If at all possible, go to The Taste during the week, during the afternoon. This may be the perfect lunch date. We have heard that this is the calmest time, with the smallest crowds. This may take away a certain entertainment value, but trust me, your food will taste much better this way. If not possible, I would suggest a week day, evening, late. The event went on this year until 9:00 p.m., with the last tickets being sold at 8:30 p.m. I would suggest going at 8:00 p.m.
  
• Be sure to stop on your way to The Taste and buy a beverage. Of course, do not attempt to bring alcohol, you'll be forced to dump it out before you enter. However, there are no drinks for free, and if you don't come prepared, you'll be forced to spend your very valuable tickets on drinks.
• Start with one strip of tickets for each person. Each booth will have full size options (such as our dogs) for a set ticket value, but they will also offer smaller "Taste Portions" for about half the value. (Nathan's offered 1/2 a Chicago style dog for only four tickets.) All things considered, you can probably eat a meal's worth on one strip of tickets (provided you follow our previous advice-see above).
  
• Aside from your drinks (again, see above!) and enough cash to buy one (maybe two) strip of tickets for each person, do not bring anything with you! I know. You want to take pictures, and this is a totally natural desire. But the event will be way more enjoyable to you if you are not concerned that somebody may attempt to pick-pocket your bag or steal your belongings. And based on the ratio of police to participants that we witnessed, this is a very real concern.
  
• Which leads me to my next point. If you are wanted by the police, do not go to The Taste. The police are everywhere. All over the place. You cannot avoid them.
  
• Unless you are very patient (which I am not always), do some research before you go. The Taste's website will post a list of the vendors as well as a map of the area so you can figure out where each will be. Try to decide what you want to Taste, and where you can find those things. The park is huge and the crowd is vast, which makes wandering aimlessly far less enjoyable than it usually is in this city.
  
• Enjoy! I had a lot of expectations about the event, which for the most part were disappointments to me. However, I did enjoy watching the insanity, and seeing what it looks like when all the Chicago breeds (residents, the homeless, suburbanites, and tourists) all come together in one seemingly small space. Set your expectations aside, consider it an adventure, and enjoy The Taste!