Foodievents

Taste of Chicago: How to Eat from Howard to 95th Street

The food vendors at Taste of Chicago are from all over the city.
The food vendors at Taste of Chicago are from all over the city. Photo: Google Maps

Yesterday, we dipped our toes into the Taste of Chicago, showcasing many of the main attractions, and a few that just happened to catch our eye. Today, we figured we’d explore one of the more practical reasons to visit the festival — sampling restaurants that one would normally have a hard time getting to. All suburban restaurants were excluded from participating this year, but there are still plenty of city eateries located far from downtown. We decided to put together a list of the ones farthest from State and Madison, the grid’s center.

As you can tell by the above map, the food vendors at Taste actually represent a wide range of Chicago neighborhoods; it’s hard to imagine another festival covering so much of the city. Oddly, the vendors who came the farthest mostly specialize in dessert. Check out our list below, and let us know if we missed something; with almost 60 restaurants to file through, we undoubtedly missed something.

Farthest North
JR Dessert Bakery, 2841 W. Howard
Distance from Madison and State: 11 miles
There really is no competition for this one; JR Dessert Bakery rests on W Howard St, which is the northern border of the city. One block further north, and you’re in Evanston.

Farthest South
Original Rainbow Cone, 9233 S. Western
Distance from Madison and State: 12.4 miles
Though Polka Homestyle Sausage and BJ’s Market were close, Original Rainbow Cone ended up winning this category.

Farthest West
Eli’s Cheesecake, 6701 W. Forest Preserve
Distance from Madison and State: 11 miles
You could make the case that this one is actually northwest of downtown, but that’s just a technicality. Chicago Sweet Connection Bakery came in close at second, with Bobak Sausage Company in third.

Farthest East
Timothy O’Toole’s, 622 North Fairbanks Court
Distance from Madison and State: 1.1 miles
As we all know, Chicago doesn’t really have much of an east side, unless you count Lake Michigan, which doesn’t exactly have the best food options. Officially, Polka Homestyle Sausage is the easternmost address, but it’s a catering company, which we don’t believe you can visit. Though only a mile from State and Madison, Timothy O’Toole’s in Streeterville is probably the one that is most directly east.

Taste of Chicago: How to Eat from Howard to 95th Street