One of my favourite things to do when visiting a different city is a food tour. You not only get a chance to try some regional favourites, but explore a neighbourhood or two, learn a bit of culture and support local businesses. When visiting Chicago recently, I booked with Chicago Food Planet’s tour of Wicker Park and Bucktown.
Our tour guide was so much fun. Her knowledge of the neighbourhoods was excellent, as is was her home turf. She was familiar with all of the stops we made and was able to recommend other things to do in the area. She explained that the idea behind Chicago Food Planet is to promote locally sourced food and local businesses and neighbourhoods.
To get to the start of our tour in Bucktown, we took a crazy cab ride from downtown. It cost us about $20, but it would be pretty simple to take transit as well. There were six of us travelling, so it was more cost effective to take a cab, We Ubered back and it was a few dollars less and had the added bonus of a far less insane driver!
Once our group of 15 or so assembled outside the iconic George’s Hotdogs, we headed inside for our first nosh. George’s hotdog came with all the typical Chicago fixings—and no ketchup! It’s a faux pas to put on a Chicago dog. Funny thing was I didn’t miss it. It was delicious!
After George’s, we were off to the multiple James Beard Award winning Mindy’s for the most amazing Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate I’d ever tasted—even better than what I’d had in Paris. And it was topped with a homemade marshmallow! Delish! It was so good I bought a bag for $20 to make some at home. It was a much-appreciated gift for my son! Mindy’s has all manner of sweet and savory treats and I would definitely recommend a stop if you’re in the area.
“Taking a walk through these neighborhoods is like strolling through a work of art.”
–WPB Chamber of Commerce
Next on the list was Goddess and Grocer, an amazing deli/bakery/specialty grocer in Bucktown. We had a kale salad with pine nuts to help offset the rich hot chocolate from Mindy’s. I picked up a few more foodie gifts to bring home.
Stop number four was a cozy little pizza place that I figured had to be good, as it was packed on a Friday afternoon. We were led to a cozy spot down a few steps from the main dining room. We had to wait a bit, but the company was good and it was nice to take a break. The wait was worth it. We got huge slices of pizza with a small taster of a local hand-crafted beer. The pizza was thin crust, not the deep dish Chicago is known for. It had a white sauce. plenty of cheese, and was tasty.
We walked off a bit of our food with a 1 km walk through Wicker Park to get to our next stop. On the way, we meandered through Wicker Park and got a bit of a history lesson on the origins of the neighbourhood. We checked out the statue of Charles Gustavus Wicker with a broom, then went off in search of a phenomenal falafel. During our walk we learned about the price of real estate and looked at some interesting houses with equally interesting stories.
One house we passed had a Howitzer cannon on the front lawn. It was placed on the lawn in 1934 when the house was owned by the American Legion. It was called back into active duty in WWII where it was stationed off of Navy Pier. It has remained on the lawn of this neighbourhood house since. Not something you see every day.
I’ve never really liked falafel, so I wasn’t too excited about the next stop, but I have to say, Sultan’s Market changed my mind. The falafel was warm and crispy, the sauce was fresh and creamy and tangy. The spices were beautifully balanced. It was the one food I’ve missed since coming home. The inside of Sultan’s Market was also worth a visit. It had a Moroccan vibe and was very inviting.
Last stop on the tour was the famous Stan’s Donuts. It also happened to be National Donut Day, so the line out the door was crazy. It’s a tradition to give out free donuts on that special day, and people were taking advantage. We got to skip the line—bonus!—and we were treated to HUGE honey dip donuts. They were sooo good. Can’t go wrong with a warm, fresh donut! What a way to wrap things up.
All in all, I would definitely recommend Chicago Food Planet’s tours. It was $45 well spent. I look forward to trying another one next time I’m in the Windy City. It got me to a couple of neighbourhoods that I wouldn’t have seen on my own that are worth a visit in themselves.
