Christkindlmarket Oakbrook

Definitely sucked. Though they’re supposed to improve it, The next time around. But THIS definitely pales in comparison.
And if it doesn’t improve later this year… Scratch THIS one off…

I wasn’t impressed with this suburban attempt at my beloved market. The positives are that it’s much closer to home for suburbanites and that you don’t have to wait in line forever for food or drink. Other than that it lacked the Christmas feel for me and didn’t feel anywhere near as magical as the market in Chicago. I’ll gladly travel to the city next year!

We came here in an attempt to get the Christmas experience without the Chicago crowds. Long-​story-​short, I’d happily get crunched and pushed in a crowd all day long if I get something that actually resembles a Christmas market — this isn’t it.
Overpriced and poor quality merchandise, and the food was a disappointment. The bratwurst stand was selling watered down hot chocolate that would make Swiss Miss seem 1^st class; we saw people tossing their cups after one sip.
As others have written, the market is cash-​only. That said, I’d hold onto that cash and spend it somewhere else. (It pains me to say this, as I believe in supporting local businesses, etc., but this is not the place to do it.)

It’s much smaller and simply doesn’t have the same vendors as the one downtown. If all you want is to have some beers in the cold while the smell of roasted nuts wafts around, I’m sure this will be good enough.

So much better than the market in the city. You don’t have to wait in 30 minutes for a drink. The oak brook market still offers the food, drinks, and vendors. It’s in a great location… between Macy’s and crate & barrel .
We had a few drinks and looked at what the vendors were selling. After the christkindl market we were able to finish our Christmas shopping.
The oak brook location was a great Christmas attraction… hope they offer it again next year.

Much smaller than the original. A nice selection German ornaments. They also have some food like brats and potato pancakes. If you don’t want to deal with the mobs in the city this is a good option. Hopefully it will be back next year and bigger!

A smaller but very cool version of the Christkindlmarket in Daley plaza. The venue, the vendors and the food are excellent.

Christkindlmarket in the burbs will never have *quite* that same special feel for me as the original in Chicago at Daley Plaza, but for its first year at Oak Brook Center, it’s pretty close on delivering that special cozy Deutschland Christmas vibe.
Let me preface this by saying most of this market is CASH ONLY, if not entirely, so come prepared. There is at least one ATM nearby and several at the mall itself. The market is located in an open courtyard near Crate and Barrel, so while parking may be hard to find during peak seasonal shopping hours, there is ample parking available.
It’s definitely a smaller market compared to the Chicago location, and they don’t have all the same vendors, like my favorite one, the paper star lanterns. But they seem to hit the mark with the basics of ornaments and decorations, some winter wear, accessories and the like. A lot of folks will be looking for edible basics like brats and streudel, and so on, and they are here, but on a smaller scale. The aroma of cinnamon roasted nuts wafts through the crisp winter air, drawing you in to buy a little cone shaped package (or 5), just like downtown. You’ll resist, but you’ll probably give in. (What? You think you’re better than me??) Don’t skip the Glühwein (a warmed spiced wine, or alternatively, a cider) served in the required souvenir mug– a special Oak Brook version, at that. (This will in no way suffice as a replacement for the Chicago version. This girl must have both. :-)
One big draw, especially for those with children is the super cool Santa house here. It is amazing! Like a miniature (but still quite large, really) German castle encased with blindingly bright digitally animated walls of Christmas and winter scenes, and even characters like Shrek popping out of windows and doors. So cute, so fun and all if it adding to the warm and fuzzy festive feeling!
On this, the first weekend open at Oak Brook EVER, it was pretty busy, and being that it is Oak Brook, I would expect it to get crazy busy as the season progresses. I can’t imagine it being nearly as claustrophobic as downtown’s crowds can be for me, but time will tell! All in all, it’s a really fun festive time– admission free– and hopefully can become a new special tradition for many friends and family who may not want to or can’t make the trek downtown. In any case, MORE of Christkindlmarket can not be a bad thing!