Nearly 20 New Restaurants Are Headed To Taste Of Chicago

By Stephen Gossett in Food on May 23, 2017 8:15PM

Taste of Chicago / City of Chicago

The Lollapalooza of Food is just around the corner; and the city just dropped the lineup.

With a full 67 restaurants and food trucks in tow, the Taste of Chicago will take over Grant Park from July 5 to 9. And when it does, the five-day festival—which we love to grouse about as a tourist trap but are always curious to keep tabs on—will welcome 17 new vendors.

The new additions for 2017 are:
-American Glory
-Aztec Dave’s Food Truck
-Ben’s Bar Be Cue
-Bop Bar Truck
-Brightwok Kitchen
-Broken English
-Cheesie’s Pub and Grub
-Doom Street Eats
-El Patron
-Hakka Bakka Indian Kati Rolls
-Just Salad
-Lawrence’s Fish & Shrimp
-The Little Beet Table
-Seoul Taco
-The Cajun Connoisseur
-Ukai Japanese Restaurant
-Warm Belly Bakery

"As our culinary reputation grows on the national and international stage, the Taste of Chicago is a reflection of Chicago’s vibrant and diverse restaurant scene,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a press release Tuesday. “Taste of Chicago brings together a unique array of cuisines and cultural offerings, giving Chicagoans and visitors alike the opportunity to sample the greatest foods our city has to offer from both new restaurants and long-time favorites."

As always, admission is free, except of course for the (pretty stacked) Celebrity Chef du Jour three-course dinners. Participating chefs this year are Paul Fehribach of Big Jones (July 5 at 6:30 p.m.), Chico Vilchez of Nacional 27 (July 6 at 6:30 p.m.), a tribute to Jean-Claude Poilevey, of Le Bouchon and La Sardine (July 7 at 6:30 p.m.), an American Girl Café Brunch (July 8 at 11:30 a.m.) and Beverly Kim and John Clark of Parachute (July 9 at 5 p.m.). Those tickets, which must be purchased in advance run $45 per person (or $30 per person for the July 8 brunch).

Newly announced cultural programming includes a Street Art & Graffiti Alley, with live work by local artists. A cocktail lounge sponsored by CHI Distillery and wine and beer gardens will provide the booze. And there will be daily cooking demos by local and national chefs.

Along with previously announced musical artists Ben Harper and Twin Peaks, the bill will also include Alessia Cara, Café Tacvba, Passion Pit and The O’Jays.

Taste of Chicago runs July 5 to 9 (11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday). Check out all 67 participating vendors—along with their regular location address info—below. So-called "Taste Of" sample portions are $3 or less.

Five-Day Restaurants:

Beat Kitchen
2100 W. Belmont Ave.

Ben’s Bar Be Cue
5931 W. North Ave.

Billy Goat Tavern & Grill
1535 W. Madison St.

BJ's Market & Bakery
8734 S. Stony Island Ave.

Caffe Gelato
2034 W. Division St.

Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill
300 W. 26th St.

Chicago's Dog House
816 W. Fullerton Ave.

Churro Factory
2214 S. Wolcott Ave.

Connie's Pizza
2373 S. Archer Ave.

Dia De Los Tamales
939 W. 18th St.

Doom Street Eats (now five days)
Located at Markets Throughout Chicago

Farmer's Fridge
108 N. State St.

Franco's Ristorante
300 W. 31st St.

Frannie's Café Inc
623 S. Wabash Ave.

Gold Coast Dogs
225 S. Canal St.

Iyanze
4623 N. Broadway

Kasia's Deli
2101 W. Chicago Ave.

La Bomba Restaurant
3221 W. Armitage Ave.

La Mexicana
4171 S. Archer Ave.

Lawrence’s Fish and Shrimp
2120 S. Canal St.

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
805 S. State St.

Miller's Pub
134 S. Wabash Ave.

Oak Street Beach Café

O'Briens Restaurant & Bar
45 E. Riverwalk Dr. South

Porkchop
941 W. Randolph St.

Punky's Pizza & Pasta
2600 S. Wallace St.

Ricobene's on 26th Street
252 W. 26th St.

Robinson's No. 1 Ribs
225 S. Canal St.

Star of Siam
11 E. Illinois St.

Texas de Brazil
210 E. Illinois St.

The Eli's Cheesecake Co.
6701 W. Forest Preserve Dr.

The Fudge Pot
1532 N. Wells St.

Tuscany
1014 W. Taylor St.

Ukai Japanese Restaurant
1059 W. Belmont Ave.

Vee-Vee's African Restaurant
6232 N. Broadway

Pop-Up Restaurants

Brightwok Kitchen
21 E. Adams

Broken English
75 E. Lake St.

Dinky Donuts, Inc.
Located at Markets throughout Chicago

Garifuna Flava: A Taste of Belize
2518 W. 63rd St.

Hakka Bakka Indian Kati Rolls
1251 W. Fullerton Ave.

Jin Ju Restaurant
5203 N. Clark St.

Just Salad
20 E. Jackson Blvd.

MAD Social
1140 W. Madison St.

Pork & Mindy's
1623 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Puffs of Doom
Located at Markets throughout Chicago

Riva
700 E. Grand Ave., Navy Pier

Rojo Gusano
4217 N. Ravenswood Ave.

Seoul Taco
738 N. Clark St.

The Little Beet Table
845 N. State St.

Warm Belly Bakery
1148 W. Monroe St.

Yum Dum
Located throughout Chicago

Food Trucks

American Glory

Auntie Vee's

Aztec Dave’s Food Truck

Beavers Coffee + Donuts

Bop Bar Truck

Bruges Brothers

Cheesie’s Pub and Grub

Da Lobsta

El Patron

Giordano's

Harold's Chicken

La Cocinita Food Truck

Stan’s Donuts & Coffee

The Cajun Connoisseur

The Fat Shallot

The Lifeway Kefir Shop