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Looking to go to Taste of Chicago and come away satiated, while having paid less than you would have inside the restaurant? It is possible — if you do your homework ahead of time. Or if you let the Sun-Times do it for you.
The annual food festival starts June 29 and features more than 70 restaurants serving up taste-sized and regular-sized portions of food. If you have been, you know; Taste of Chicago creates its own mini-economy where 11 food tickets at Taste sells for $7, or about 64 cents a ticket. As the beers get consumed, figuring out how much a Taste ticket is actually worth becomes increasingly more complicated, so Chicagoist thinks it is best to create a plan of attack early on.
First, the good deals:
- At Robinson's No. 1 Ribs, a half slab of baby-back ribs is $9.95. At Taste of Chicago, a little bit less than a half slab is $6.40, or 10 tickets.
- At the Abbey Pub a corned beef sandwich is $8.30. At Taste of Chicago, the sandwich is $5.76, or nine tickets.
- At Connie's Pizza, the meatball sandwich is $7.71. At the Taste, it will set you back $3.84 or six tickets.
Now, the bad deals:
Pretty much everything else is a bad deal, from what we could tell. Harry Caray's offering seems particularly egregious: their fresh-cut potato chips will sell for $5.12 at Taste, but you can get them for free any time you like in the restaurant's bar.
Taste of Chicago runs June 29-July 8; in addition to the food, the festival offers a free (er, yawn-inducing) concert series.
Photo of last year's Taste of Chicago via Flagtothefloor.
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Personally, I am not a huge fan of the Taste but I think it is a cool thing for the city to have. However, I don't get people that go to the Taste, buy tickets and then hit the McDonald's booth. I don't get that.
Don't forget you can buy 11 tickets for $5.50 from Dominicks the week before the festival. That makes that 10-ticket turkey leg they mention cost the same as it does at the restaraunt.
Anyone else play eating games at the Taste?
We usually see who can eat the most things on a stick, how many differant animals we can eat, or my favorite how many differant animals on a stick.
Yeah, it is overpriced, but which north sider is really going to go down to the south side and buy the legendary and historic rainbow cone? So considering the gas and time consumption, even if things are more expensive at the Taste, I still think for some things, it is worth it. Like, I think the turkey leg is really good, but I probably won't trek to the original location for it, even if it's cheaper. Heck, I don't even like going to Wicker Park because I think it's a hassle and I live near Lincoln Square. So, all things considered - gas, time, distance, I like the fact that the Taste brings everything together in one area. I would take the train there, the couple of times I have been there, and so I don't even have to worry about parking or gas.
Is there a price to put on aggravation? Sure that corned beef sandwich saves me $2.54. But that savings goes out the window with $2.54 worth of riff raff. Idiots from Crystal Lake that don't know crowd etiquette and peddlers that bring along their kids for sympathy is enough for me to walk on broken glass to Abbey Pub and listen to great music.
I'll take my hat off to the workers of the Taste. They get the most crap.
They should charge admission like the Summer Fest in Milwaukee.
I bet the dude rocking the long white B. ball shorts and the black dago-t is named “Jimbo” and lives in Wheeling. The more than portly deeply closeted gay NASCAR Support Our Troops, God Bless America and President Bush, Love It or Leave It, dude, wearing the hot pink shirt and Kaki pants, drove his rusted pick up truck all the way from Hammond Ind. to sample those exotic Turkey legs.
The brotha, a proud member of the Undertaker Vice Lords Street Gang, Westsiddddee! Ahhhh the Taste of Chicago, like cheap Maxwell House Coffee, brining folks together!
Hey, there are other people here who aren't just like me, so I am going to make fun of them!
Then, in my next breath, I will talk about how I love living in such a diverse city with so many different cultures and people, and those who don't like it should move to Naperville!
Then after that, I will see someone who wasn't fortunate enough to get a college education paid for by their parents, and I will make fun of them for being inferior by calling them Crystal Lake wannabes or gay Nascar fans!
I love this blog. The most insecure bunch of suburbanites gathered in one place. Thanks!
To "I'm from Chicago..." I'm not sure what you mean. I didn't say anything negative about TOC, except to comment on the music line-up. What gives?
Laura, "I'm from Chicago" is directly referencing spook's and MJK's comments, so I believe the rant was directed at the commenters not you. At least I would hope so -- I don't think your post could be any more non-inflammatory, besides starting an argument if John Mayer is yawn-inducing (he is).
Chicagoist...Bastards, all of you.
While I cannot condone the urge to wad through the sweaty muck that is the Taste of Chicago, I am appalled that the folks at Chicagoist have the temerity to dismissively use the phrase "yawn-inducing" when referring to the virtuoso talent of the Black Crowes. Us denizens of the Windy City should consider ourselves fortunate souls, given that the Brothers Robinson have packed up their musical congregation and traveled north to our lakeshore to bring some real space-bound Rock 'N' Soul to the flock. You should consider yourselves lucky.
Alas, I'm sure you'd rather hear the depressed stylings of that sickly wet blanket, Jeff Tweedy.
Peace On Y'All