The Chicago Traveler

• The African Festival of the Arts is Chicago’s largest neighborhood festival, featuring three music stages, ethnic cuisine, and more than 300 vendors selling everything from fine art to skin care products. Presentations include book discussions and dance workshops. (Aug 29 – Sept 1)
• The 30th annual Chicago Jazz Festival is the city’s longest-running lakefront music festival and features local, national, and international performers on several stages. (Aug 28-31)
• Get your fill of pierogi, Polish sausage, and sauerkraut at the Taste of Polonia, where you can listen to live bands play everything from rock to polka. (Aug 29 – Sept …read more

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Sure, the sign over the door may say Czerwone Jabluszko, but for those of us not fluent in Polish, there’s a large image of a Red Apple to subtly hint at the translation. This restaurant is located in a prosperous Polish community and offers buffet fare for cheap prices. If you ever get the chance to visit, make sure you’re good and hungry.
The buffet here is SO big, it takes up two rooms. No, really. To give you an idea, most buffet lines offer less than a handful of cold salads. Red Apple offers up to ten daily, including chicken …read more

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When it comes to these weekend info posts, I usually try to feature large fairs and festivals while giving a quick mention to other smaller ones. Well, this weekend, there is a little school holding a little festival in Ukrainian Village, which probably wouldn’t register on the radar of most folks outside the neighborhood. So why is it headlining this entry? Because the carnival rides, Eastern European and Latin music, beer garden, and ethnic food are all being hosted by St. Helen School, an elementary school I attended oh-so-many years ago. Admission to the St. Helen Festival is free, and …read more

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One of the largest tourist attractions in Illinois begins this weekend: the Taste of Chicago. For ten days, over 70 restaurants from all over Chicago set up tents on a half-mile strip near Grant Park, allowing millions of people to sample an incredible amount of food from several cultures. Whether you like fast food or elegant entrees, you can find it at the Taste, along with cooking demonstrations, live music, and kids’ entertainment.
It is definitely the place to be when it comes to summer in Chicago, and I try to go every year. Located right behind the Art Institute, admission …read more

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The Polish culture has played a significant role in Chicago’s history, and there are plenty of authentic places in the city to satisfy cravings for Polish food.

Andy’s Deli in Jefferson Park has about 150 different products (including bacons, hams, cheeses, pork loins, sausages, and more) and also has its own bakery, producing its own breads and pastries. While the family-based company does rely on a few vendors, nearly all the goods are the deli’s own. In fact, Andy’s is the largest producer of a variety of Polish sausages, sold throughout the United States.
In the Lakeview neighborhood, Pierogi Factory is much …read more

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