Taste of Chicago Likely Lost Money, But Turkey Leg Business Was Good

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jul 5, 2011 6:00PM

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.

How much red in the Park District spilled isn't completely known yet, as the tickets are still being counted. But Kelly said that it shouldn't be much: a couple of drops in the bucket compared to a red sea. The combination of no fireworks and lack of name bands may also contribute to a lower attendance than last year.

If the Park District is asked to handle production of next year's Taste, maybe they should just stick to giant turkey legs, chicken wings and Eli's Cheesecake. Manny's turkey drumsticks again wound up being the most popular item of the festival, followed by chicken wings from Timothy O'Toole's, Eli's cheesecake and steak tacos from Carbon. Manny's sold 120,000 turkey legs.