Taste of Chicago

A week ago, Liz was talking about swinging by the Taste of Chicago sometime, during lunch. Well – today, a few of us jumped on the El and made or way over to Grant Park for some food and a bit of sun.

Allison and Chris, heading towards the entrance. We were hoping to go a little later than normal (1:30 PM), trying to avoid the crowds. On walking in though, it was pretty apparent that there was getting around things.

Tons of folks everywhere.

The way the booths work – you have to buy tickets, which you then redeem for food. It was 11 tickets for $7, and full portions of meals tended to go for around 8 tickets or so. Corn on the cob was somewhere around 5. Pricey overall… but it’s a once a year thing, and good cause to splurge just a little.

I remember Liz sayingn to me “As long as I get some corn, I’ll be happy.”

And man, was this stuff good. I think that’s a VAT OF BUTTER he’s dipping the corn into, back there.

Mmmmmmm corn. She and I split this, as we wandered around looking for more food.

Eventually, we made our way back to a shaded area and hunkered down with Chris and Allison. The big draw for me was the mustard-fried catfish (which Chris kept raving about; the more he mentioned it, the more I wanted it).

In fact, as I was walking away from the booth (BJ’s Market and Bakery) – a woman peered over at my food, and said “Man, that catfish looks GOOD!” I walked a few steps, and then turned around to try to offer her a piece. She immediately turned me down and said “Oh, I know that catfish from BJ’s – I get it all the time! It’s fantastic!”

And yes – it was every bit as good as Chris said.

We hung out for a bit, listening to music and watching folks after meal – but we ended up back on the train somewhat quickly, as this was sort of an extended lunch (it took a while to make our way over, get tickets, get food). I wish we had another hour or two, as I so would have bought more tickets and gotten more to eat.

But ah well. It was enough to slip out for a bit, during the day. Just for a taste.