The Taste of Chicago (also known locally as The Taste) is the world’s largest food festival, held for five days in July in Chicago, in Grant Park (map). Non-food-related events include live music on multiple stages, including the Petrillo Music Shell, pavilions, and performances.

Foods at the event include Chicago-style pizza, Chicago hot dogs, barbecued ribs, Italian Beef, Maxwell Street Polish Sausage, Eli’s Cheesecake, and a variety of ethnic and regional foods.

As the hub of the Midwest, Chicago is easy to find — its picturesque skyline calls across the waters of Lake Michigan, a first impression that soon reveals world-class museums of art and science, miles of sandy beaches, huge parks and public art, and perhaps the finest downtown collection of modern architecture in the world.

How it works. Admission to the Taste of Chicago is free. Tickets for food and beverages are sold in strips of 14 for $10. You can use tickets to buy taste-size and full-size portions from any of the many food vendors. Every vendor offers small “taste” portions that are between 1 and 6 tickets (that’s $3 or less), which gives visitors a perfect way to sample from a bunch of different Chicago restaurants.

Dining Guide. Nearly 40 restaurants (physical and virtual) plus food trucks list links, locations and featured menu items on the Taste’s to-go dining guide. Look for Taste classics such as Eli’s Cheesecake and their Dipper (a frozen chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick) to what the city guide calls “ethnic” eats, including the Black woman-owned CheSa’s Gluten Tootin Free Food Truck and the Impossible Che’s burger.

⇒ Also сheck оut мore info: Dining Guide

Walk up and down the rows of vendor booths — make sure not to miss the one-day pop-ups or the food trucks parked nearby.

Chicago

Downtown (map) is the center of Chicago’s financial, cultural, governmental and commercial institutions and the site of Grant Park and many of the city’s skyscrapers. The term “The Loop” is largely used by locals to refer to the entire downtown area as well.

The River North Gallery District (map) features the nation’s largest concentration of contemporary art galleries outside of New York City. Navy Pier (map), located just east of Streeterville, is 3,000 ft (910 m) long and houses retail stores, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls and auditoriums.

Museum Campus (map), a 10-acre (4 ha) lakefront park, surrounding three of the city’s main museums, each of which is of national importance: the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum (map), the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Shedd Aquarium.

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) handles public transportation in the City of Chicago and a few adjacent suburbs outside of the Chicago city limits. The CTA operates an extensive network of buses and a rapid transit elevated and subway system known as the ‘L’ (for “elevated”), with lines designated by colors.

⇒ Also сheck оut мore info: Getting around (choosechicago.com) • Guide to traveling to and getting around in the USA (visittheusa.com)

BUS: Major intercity bus companies include: BoltBus, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, Megabus, Peter Pan, Trailways, Chinatown buses.

TRAIN: AMTRAK | eTicketing | Interactive Map

AIRPORT: O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport ⇒ flychicago.com

FERRY: Chicago Water Taxi • Shoreline Sightseeing

Join the largest outdoor food festival in the US, only in Chicago. 2017 July 5-9 in Grant Park, and admission is free. See performances by Alessia Cara, Cafe Tacvba, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Passion Pit, and the O’Jays. Tickets available for purchase.

⇒ video source: Choose Chicago / youtube.com /

Entering the USA can be an easy and seamless process when you are prepared. + U.S. visa & entry requirements (visittheusa.com)

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