Chicago is a great city for food. Every year I look forward to the Taste of Chicago. This is a festival held near the lakefront each year during the 4th of July (my favorite holiday, I LOVE America).
There are about 60 or 70 different restaurants that set up booths in the street and sell their most popular dishes. Food is bought with tickets and costs between 2 and 8 dollars. You can also get "taste" portions of the most popular item at each stand. This, of course, is my favorite thing to do.
The Taste can get pretty overwhelming though - millions of people in the sweltering heat fighting for Eli's Cheesecake and Ricobene's breaded steak sandwhiches, it gets brutal! I have a friend who's family never misses the taste. They taught me how to easily conquer the taste and eat everything your heart desires.
First, you must go to Eli's Cheescake stand and ask for a box. Their cheesecakes get delivered in large boxes, so they are happy to give any of them away. Now you have a means of carrying all your food!
Then you must cut the line at every stand. It is vital that you do this alone because it is too difficult to stay with a friend, every man for himself! Determine a rendevous location for later.
Go to as many stands as you can and then meet back up with your friends. Find an open area in Grant Park and sit down. Go get a beer. Now you can sit down with your friends and enjoy the free live music and delicious food of Chicago!
One thing that saddens me though, is that my favorite restaurant in Chicago does not participate in the Taste. I guess it does not need the publicity that the Taste brings in for restuarants because it is a very famous and historical restaurant for Chicago. The Berghoff on Adams street, just east of the Sears Tower is my favorite restaurant. A sad thing happened in February of 2006 when the Berghoff decided to close. The owners were getting very old and sold the restaurant to their daughter. Instead of keeping the restaurant alive, she decided to use the restaurant to operate her private catering company. Horrible!
People in Chicago were outraged! There as nothing we could do. Obviously, my family drove downtown every night for the last week it was open to wait in line for hours in order to eat at our favorite restaurant for the last times.
After it was closed for a few months, the new owner reopened it under a different name, 17 West. The purpose of this closing and reopening was to disband the union that all the servers at the Berghoff belonged to. They were the highest paid servers in all of Chicago and they received great benefits. It's a shame that the owners pulled this move on their loyal employees, but then again, this is Chicago.
17 West still serves the same food, with some new additions. The cuisine of the Berghoff is German and they brew their own beer and root beer. Everytime I have ever been there I have ordered the same thing because it is just so good. I get the Saurbraten with sides of spatzle, creamed spinach, red cabbage, and German potato salad.
For anyone traveling to Chicago, I recommend going to this restaurant for Lunch. You usually have to wait about 10 minutes, but it is definitely worth it. This restaurant has been around since the Prohibition. The Berghoff was the first place in Chicago to regain its liquor license after the Prohibition.
If you enjoy German food you cannot miss the Berghoff (17 West) on your next visit to Chicago!
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