The City is trying to keep Taste of Chicago relevant by having some restaurants participate as one-time "pop-up" restaurants this year. But the overall number of participants has been cut by a third. more ›

Emanuel said that, after 20 years of running the festival in the same manner, it was time to make some fundamental changes to continue Taste's viability. more ›

If the City was looking to bring Taste of Chicago back to profitability, cutting the number of days in the festival in half and pushing it back to mid-July is one way to do it, and one way we never thought they'd consider, to be honest. more ›

The announcement is another effort by the City to stem the tide of red ink resulting from the festival, which saw its lowest attendance numbers in a quarter-century this year. more ›

We realize that summer is over, but concerns over Taste of Chicago's affordability and longevity are still floating around. Vendors this year felt a noticeable difference in the amount of cash flow from last year's profits as the Chicago Park District struggled to host the event in early July. more ›

Vendors at Taste of Chicago received a cold splash of reality along with their checks from the city. more ›

From our tips inbox, here's some NSFW (language) video of mob violence in a park. Lower attendance doesn't necessarily mean no violence. more ›

With lower attendance and ticket sales and the Park District admitting to losing money on Taste of Chicago, Mayor Emanuel said some tough questions will be asked about running the festival next year. more ›

So how did the Park District do in its first year of producing Taste of Chicago? Interim Superintendent Michael Kelly allowed that the just-concluded festival most likely lost money. more ›

On July 4, 1991, The Replacements gave their last performance ever at the Taste of Chicago, of all places. That was twenty years ago today. more ›

The grease will be turned into fuel for Park District vehicles. more ›

So how's the downsized Taste of Chicago doing? According to festival Manager Mary Slowik, pretty well. more ›

Taste of Chicago starts today. We all know that it can be hot, sweaty, loud and annoying - but we go anyway, and we want to help make it the best experience possible. Here are some helpful tips to have the best Taste that you possibly can. more ›

Expect more plainclothes police and heightened video surveillance at Taste of Chicago. more ›

Taste of Chicago starts Friday and with the recent assaults in Streeterville still fresh in memory, City departments have started running through their response plans in the event the roving mobs make their way downtown. more ›

Today, a sample of some of the vendors at this year's Taste of Chicago will be setting up in Daley Plaza. A selection of the new vendors, including Texas de Brazil, Lao Sze Chuan, Beggars Pizza and Chicago Sweet Connection Bakery, will be on hand, according to the Sun-Times, which recommends Lao Sze Chuan's Dry Chili Chicken (we'd have to agree). Though, if it actually gets to 98 degrees, going outside to hunt down inferno-chicken might not be quite as popular. more ›

The Chicago Park District said they won't have a fireworks display for Taste of Chicago next month. This festival just got our attention. more ›

On Friday, we took on Da Mare's impact on the city's music and arts - today, it's time to turn to restaurants. How has the mayor's tenure affected the city's food scene? As with most of the mayor's legacy, it's a mixed bag: genuine improvements and admirable goals mixed with inefficiency, graft and lost opportunities. more ›

Taste of Chicago is six weeks away and the vendor list has finally been announced. Depending upon your POV this year's model is either a welcome influx of new blood or another case of the "mehs." more ›

There are many things that distinguish the great city of Chicago from other metropolises across the United States. Though many that visit the our shores immediately gravitate towards our most commercially driven symbols like Wrigley Field, our signature deep dish pizza and the startling view into the great beyond from the top of the iconic Sears/Willis tower. The events that punctuate the seasons, like the Taste of Chicago, the Blues Festival and the Monday night Downtown Sound free concert series are truly the events that have made a deeper impact on those that walk our streets each day. Sometimes we take for granted how lucky we are to have such rich and diverse cultural events here, and over the past twenty years our lives are much richer by the one-woman machine that both founded and headed the Department of Cultural Affairs: Lois Weisberg. more ›

Even though just three days ago Daley was still looking to privatize Taste of Chicago, the city has decided to turn the reigns to the festival over to the Park District. By doing so, the city hopes to still save cash while keeping Chicago's biggest food orgy free to the masses. Chicago Park District General Superintendent Timothy Mitchell said via press release “Mayor Daley has stressed the importance of keeping the Taste of Chicago free with no admission fee, especially during these tough economic times. Our goal is to do just that while also ensuring that the Taste remains economically viable.” more ›

Even though the bid to privatize Taste of Chicago and other city festivals by Celebrate Chicago LLC went out with a whimper thanks to the proposal to charge an admission to Chicago's largest display of gluttony, Mayor Daley isn't done looking for a private bidder to run the festival. With a little more than four months before Taste is scheduled to open, that's really cutting things close. more ›

Nearly snowed under among all the blizzard talk was news from City Hall yesterday that the bid to privatize Taste of Chicago by Celebrate Chicago LLC was rejected. Celebrate Chicago, the partnership of the Illinois Restaurant Association, JAM Productions and AEG Live, originally proposed a $20 admission for Taste. They later reduced the proposed admission to $10. more ›

Let the tough talk begin: after news broke earlier this week about the sole bid for privatizing Taste of Chicago included possible fees for admission and the main concert stage, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, chairman of the City Council's Committee on Special Events and Cultural Affairs, says that there should be public hearings about the proposal. more ›

The city, after only making a modest profit from last year's Taste of Chicago, received one bid from a private contractor to take over organizing the annual event. And that bidder, if they get their way, is looking to charge a $20 admission fee for folks to have the privilege to gnaw on giant turkey legs. more ›

City officials, after repeated affirmations that they wish for annual festivals such as Taste of Chicago, Blues Fest and Jazz Fest, now seem to be warming to the idea of selling naming rights to those and other festivals and, in some cases, even charging admission to the festivals. Losing $7 million on the festivals in a three-year span has a way of making the city revisit its stance. more ›

Considering how well the privatization of the parking meters has gone, it makes perfect sense that Mayor Daley would want to sell off other city assets, right? Well, that seems to be what our exalted leader is thinking, anyway. We reported a few weeks ago that there were rumors that other things would be privatized before Hizzoner leaves office, including the recycling system and some lakefront festivals. more ›

Chicago's Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg, one of the loyalest members of Mayor Daley's cabinet, weighed in Friday on the recent target of possible privatization, the city's mammoth food fest Taste of Chicago. You would think she would be firmly on the side of her boss, but in fact the complete opposite is true -- Weisberg thinks it would be a horrible idea. more ›

When he's not lashing out at the same state reps he's also asking for money, Mayor Daley is apparently thinking of other city assets he can sell off a la the parking meters so as to bring in a little cash to fill that ginormous budget gap. And now there's a laundry list of things under consideration including the city's recycling program and some lakefront festivals like the annual Taste of Chicago. According to a report in the Trib's Clout City blog, other services Daley is also considering selling off include vehicle maintenance and repair and animal care and control. Over the summer, rumblings of reviving the plan to privatize Midway Airport have also gotten notice. The city plans on reporting to the FAA by November about any further thoughts on that project. more ›

For the second straight year, attendance at the Taste of Chicago dropped, but this year was more dramatic than last year. In 2009, attendance was down just a hair, from 3.5 million in 2008 to 3.35 million. According to a report in the Sun-Times this morning, attendance for 2010 was down a pretty hefty 21 percent, to 2.65 million people. Cindy Gatziolis, of the Mayor's Office of Special Events, blamed the drop on the absence of the annual July 3rd fireworks this year. more ›