Taste Of Randolph

Another "not my first time here, but first Google Review" for this place! Have been going here for many years and must say that despite the 91°F weather and humidity, there was a fair amount of people around 3pm on Sunday (the last day of the festival). Don't let the video of mine here fool you. Didn't take much media to share but video'd here is a couple of the vendors: Forno Rosso Pizzeria Napoletana (which was in front of their actual restaurant) and Whistle Pig Whiskey who were giving out a nice size of whiskey samples. There is usually a suggested donation (this year $10) upon entry which I cannot recall what it goes towards. We left the fest before the high winds and rain around 6pm-ish which only lasted half an hr or so. Stores along the street were still open, for example, Walgreens, which was nice so you can purchase cheaper items (water, Gatorade, etc) if you would rather not spend more at the festival itself. Same goes for the McDonald's Global Restaurant. Q101 Picniq were the hosts of one of the fest's musical stages and they had a decent line up throughout the fest (Friday-Sunday). Overall, too, an excellent neighborhood for a fest.

We had such a fun time here this past weekend!! After attending some insanely crowded fests, it was a pleasant surprise to be able to walk easily among all the vendors, stages, bathrooms- very well organized. We went mainly for the music & it was fantastic. Great stages, sound system, & crowd. We ended up getting the vegan items at goddess & grocer - literally the best sweet potato fries we’ve ever had (whole group agreed). The honey chili tofu burrito was delicious & a great size. Will absolutely attend next year. Wish we would have been able to go all three days this year!

I had the best time (per usual) at taste of Randolph! For all those saying there wasn't enough food stands there....come on guys it is literally on Randolph adjacent to Fulton market where there are 100 restaurants within a stones throw away. I love that by having everything on Randolph you can go to stands OR if you are overheated (it was 90+ degrees) you could go in and out of the fest! I had a few cocktails at bar sienna when I was too hot to trot and came right back in for the awesome shows! It felt like we were at the salt shed with so many people dancing! I love all the booths to look at too, seeing what local vendors are up to! In short: great community event and it makes me so proud of my neighborhood :)

This was the best year by far. The collaboration with Q101 resulted in an amazing line-up of great bands and the cultural nod to the 40th year of House Music was something to be seen. Not to mention the food and the ability to taste some of the west Loop's finest and diverse offerings. Can't wait until next year.

Repeating what another attendee said in 2023: "Overall it was a fun little street festival in the hottest market in Chicago. I wish they had more food vendors." The name of the festival is misleading because there were very, very few food stands present. Most of the stands offered only T-shirts, trinkets, water or alcohol. If one wanted a seat to eat the food they could scrounge, they did so at a sidewalk "lip" or, not as a Fest attendee, but a diner of one of the numerous restaurants operating independently from the Taste Of Randolph. And "the [Taste of Randolph] food was just ok," to quote that previously-quoted 2023 attendee's review. My favorite? Greek sausage from Nicholas High Quality Meats, which was just as good as and cheaper than...some other sausage with an odd mustard on it from Publican Quality Meats. (Sorry, Paul. Your sausage was very good, but I like greater texture in mine when I'm hungry, which Nick's had.) There were stages with live music, which were nice, but not worth going out of one's way to see. Ultimately this was a nice event but I won't revisit it or recommend it to others.