"The Bestest Taste Ever!! Until Next Year."

Columbus Drive is safe for cars once again. Taste of Chicago is done for another year and city officials are declaring it a rousing success. As though they would say anything different.

The annual food fest drew an estimated 3.56 million people to the lakefront, quelling city fears that high gas prices, a sluggish economy and the intermittent outbreak of gunfire would keep people at home. That's a lot of staycationers, people.

Photo by terminal verbosity on flickr.