Taste Of Latin America

The third year has not gotten any better! Hiked all the way here from downtown on Sunday afternoon and it is DEAD. Half of the food tents are empty. I was able to get a chicken and a beef empanada from Mekadito’s…that was good. Left right after that. The organizers may want to consider another weekend and selling tickets for food and drink rather then paying outright.

2.5 Stars
I came for a bout five minutes and left. It only took me about 2 minutes to get through the one block fest and the other 3 minutes I ran into a friend I knew and we talked for a minute. LOL. It gets 2.5 stars because it seems family friendly and everyone that was there seem to be having a good time. Almost like they all knew each other or something. The band was pretty good and there was lots of dancing. Just not my type of festival, but it looks like a highlight for the community.

This festival was disappointing. However, exploring three new restaurants at this festival was a nice surprise! This festival was more like a small Chicago block party. There were, maybe, 10 vendors at most. The Festival was «Cash Only» and some of the vendors did not list their prices. Not cool. We discovered three new places and hit up (1) La Bomba (2) Juanita’s Puerto Rican Cuisine and (3) Katakana & Koko Sushi Bar. What did we try at the Latin American Festival? I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and the incredible combustion of Latin American flavors dancing on our tongues. We tried mini balls of papas rellenas con carne (soft balls of potatoes that are flash fried for an extra crispy exterior and a tender soft interior and stuffed with meat). We also had one steak empanada and one stuffed with pollo. These were palatable and scrumptious. The flour shell was light, crispy and not greasy. The meat was seasoned to perfection. These items were worthy of 4 stars.
Juanita’s Puerto Rican Cuisine — we tried the arroz amarillo con gandules, one pork kabob, one chicken kabob, mofongo and one blood sausage (also known as «Morcillas» — pronounced «More-​si-​yas»). Portions were small, but everything was scrumptious! We agreed on a rating of 4 stars. However, the mofongo was scrumptious and is awarded 5 stars! There was a Colombian restaurant, but they were serving the same kinds of foods that the Puerto Rican vendors were also selling. We didn’t try the Colombian food for this reason.
The Katakana & Koko Sushi Bar was not very busy. This festival was multicultural and the people in attendance were mostly Hispanic. However, we love sushi so we tried a few of their offerings which were ambrosial. Wow, we were super impressed at what we had. The Katakana Special was very unique. It was made with plantains and tuna with their spicy «house» sauce. The sauce provided a little kick to the spicy-​heat making it palatable and scrumptious!
There was a lovely Mariachi band playing «live» music and singing Spanish songs. The music was beautiful and they were on a fairly large stage. It was a large band. The men were wearing beautiful cream-​colored outfits with some bling-​bling along the sides of their pants and on their large sombreros. We enjoyed watching some «Older» couples dancing. At the end of this one-​block festival they also had a few small things for young children under the age of 9. There were pony rides and even a Camel — which was definitely different — it was cool seeing a real camel up close. The children were enjoying riding the camel as well as the miniature pony ride. The festival wasn’t very crowded. Most of the people in attendance were probably from the immediate area/​neighborhood. We were really disappointed at how small it was. I didn’t mind that the crowd was «small» since I dislike huge crowds (which is why I don’t go to the «Taste of Chicago»).
This was the first time that we went to the «Latin American» Festival. We will not be returning next year. However, we were happy we tried all the different foods, and took their business cards with us. We plan to eat at their restaurants. The negative was that there weren’t very many vendors, it was cash only, food prices were not listed, and it was a bit pricey (for what you got). There were no tickets for purchasing food, beer or bottled water. There was one vendor selling colorful, geometric, beautiful hand-​made ponchos, scarves, shawls, purses and Artisan jewelry from the Country of Peru. However, nothing had a price, but I noticed an individual bargaining with him to get an item at a good price. We were at this Festival for 25 to 30 minutes. The festival was not held in 2013. This festival has the potential for being great if they add more vendors. I believe better planning for this festival can take it to the next level and potentially increase attendance.

This little fest premiered on a very hot and sunny day. I was super excited to partake in some latin food after spending 6 weeks this summer in Peru. There were a few booths selling miscellaneous stuff and about 10 or 12 food booths. There was a chef demonstration stage with a very loud chef cooking various things. I love the idea of a cultural themed festival. The food was average. I ate empandas (deep fried… boo!), home made sausage and sweet potato fries (probably the best thing I had), churro (not fresh and strawberry filled… Not good), and a few other things I can’t remember. Oh a pancakey thing filled with beef and tipped with a sort of spicy cabbage and beans and rice. Nothing was outstanding. I was bummed that by the time I saw the booth selling yucca and chicharronis… I was too full. This little festival has great potential. I will return next year for sure! Nice representation of countries… Venezuala, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Belize, Cuba…