CHICAGO – The popular Taste of Greektown festival returns for its 34th year with the city’s largest celebration of Hellenic cuisine and culture, the weekend after Labor Day on Friday, September 6 through Sunday, September 8 along Halsted Street from Adams to Van Buren. For more information, visit GreektownChicago.org.
The neighborhood’s acclaimed Greek restaurants are the stars of the show, including 9 Muses Bar & Grill, Athena Restaurant, Mr. Greek Gyros, Spectrum Bar & Grill and Zeus Restaurant – many of them Greek-American family legacies that have been open in Greektown for 25-40 years. Also participating in the festival are Ground Up Coffee, Meli Café, and Ilios Estiatorio, a new Greek restaurant coming soon to Greektown that offers a contemporary dining experience celebrating Mediterranean flavors.
The 34th annual Taste of Greektown festival is presented by the Greektown Chamber of Commerce with additional support from Greektown SSA #16. The festival will be open Friday, Sept. 6 from 4-10 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 7 from 11 AM to 10 PM and Sunday, Sept. 8 from 11 AM to 10 PM. Admission is free to all, with a suggested donation of $7 benefitting the Greektown Chamber of Commerce.
The popular Devanco Foods Gyros Eating Contest returns on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 5 PM with participant sign-up located adjacent to the festival mainstage beginning at 3 PM that day for competitors who want to put their love of gyros to the test!
Live music and dancing at the Taste of Greektown includes Hellas 2000 on the festival main stage, performing traditional and new Greek music on Friday, Sept. 6 from 5 PM to 10 PM and on Saturday, Sept. 7 and Sunday, Sept. 8 from 1 PM to 10 PM daily. The festival’s second stage features DJ Apostolis on Friday from 5 PM to 10 PM and DJ Niko Adams on Saturday and Sunday from 1 PM to 10 PM.
Unique festival shopping and retail vendors include Athenian Candle Co, a four-generation family business that has been open in Greektown for over 100 years. New Greektown business Spavia Day Spa – West Loop will offer chair massages throughout the festival weekend as well as special discounts for Taste of Greektown attendees, with 25% off retail products and 25% off all services for new spa visits within three days of the event.
Taste of Greektown attendees can also experience the neighborhood’s new ‘Little Wise Owls’ outdoor art exhibit along Halsted Street from Monroe to Van Buren, a series of 28 painted three-dimensional owl sculptures that showcase the creativity of local professional and emerging artists, as well as students from nine Chicagoland Greek language schools. In Greek mythology, a little owl (Athene noctua) often accompanies Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Little Wise Owls is sponsored by Greektown SSA #16 in partnership with the Chicago Greektown Educational Foundation.
The Greektown neighborhood has been the epicenter of Chicago’s acclaimed Greek dining scene for decades, located along Halsted Street for over 60 years. Blending Old World traditions with the bustling energy of Chicago’s West Loop, Greektown still has the largest concentration of Greek restaurants in Chicago as well as many new establishments, and remains anchored by its celebration of heritage, community and history. Many restaurants and retail stores in Greektown are family-owned businesses that have been open for 25-50+ years.
Greektown is a dining, nightlife and cultural district located in Chicago’s vibrant West Loop area. A popular destination for tourists and residents alike, Greektown offers the best sampling of Greek heritage outside of Athens – from authentic restaurants, cafes and shops to the National Hellenic Museum and annual Taste of Greektown festival. Greektown Special Service Area #16 is the business improvement district for the neighborhood, administered by sole service provider the West Central Association and guided by a volunteer commission of local business owners, property owners and residents. For more information, visit GreektownChicago.org.
