Chicago's World Fare

No ‘second city’ when it comes to food, Chi-town’s culinary scene is a constant source of adventure

- Ralf Walters

Chicago has a storied love affair with food and drink. The city was dubbed “The Hog Butcher for the World” by native son and poet Carl Sandburg in the early 1900s. Or if your hankering was for steak, “The City of Big Shoulders” was where you could find the thickest and juiciest between New York and Dallas. Steakhouses flourished as well as neighborhood taps, where a guy could stop for a cold brew after putting in a hard day at the stockyards, tanneries, and factories before heading home.

A city of immigrants, Chicago developed around neighborhoods with identifiable names and ethnic inhabitants: Irish, Germans, Poles, Swedes, Jews, Greeks and Italians. Later, large numbers of African-Americans migrating from the Deep South as well as Hispanics and Asians established their own enclaves. Over the last 20 years, a blur of new settlers joined the mix. Today with more than 8,000 restaurants, the Windy City is a virtual melting pot of international cuisine.

No wonder Chicago ranks the second most popular destination among business travelers. Besides its signature hot dogs and deep-dish pizza, the city boasts some of the nation’s finest restaurants, not to mention one of the largest outdoor food festivals in the world.

39TH ANNUAL TASTE OF CHICAGO

If you love food, drink, and music in the open air on a summer day, you’ll relish the city’s Annual Taste of Chicago food festival. As always, this year’s event, July 10 to 14, will be staged along the central downtown lakefront at Grant Park with its glorious crown jewel, Buckingham Fountain. This gathering is arguably the biggest block party on the planet.