Food Lovers' Guide to Chicago: Best Local Specialties, Markets, Recipes, Restaurants & Events (Food Lovers' Series) [Paperback]

Jennifer Olvera (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2011 | Series: Food Lovers' Series

The ultimate guide to Chicago's food scene provides the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings. Written for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information including: food festivals and culinary events; specialty food shops; farmers’ markets and farm stands; trendy restaurants and time-tested iconic landmarks; and recipes using local ingredients and traditions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jennifer Olvera serves up the skinny on all things edible, sippable and growable in her new book. To that end, she's even pulled together a list of Chicago eats far more unusual than the expected hot dogs, deep-dish pizza and Italian beef." - Chicago Tribune

"Food Lovers' Guide to Chicago is as comprehensive as eating guides get... You won't find Pupuseria el Salvador on 106th Street or old-school Vito and Nick's on South Pulaski in Fodor's... Thumbing through the book, even natives are bound to come across plenty of places, and foods, to add to their bucket list." - Chicago Sun-Times

"Jennifer Olvera has done an admirable job cataloging the city's restaurants, cocktail haunts, brewpubs, wine bars, gourmet shops, farms, farmstands and cooking classes, fitting the breadth of Chicago's food world into a squat and reasonably portable 400-page tome."- Tasting Table

"It offers an incredible wealth of information about hundreds of restaurant picks in just about every neighborhood... It also features helpful sections on speciality stores. That said, we most enjoyed the recipe section, which includes picks from some of the most respected chefs around town." - Grub Street

"Olvera covers the high-high end as well as everyday corner haunts, leaving nary an ethnicity uncovered. She also dedicates a chapter to local farms and farmer's markets... cooking schools and cooking classes. But one of the more personal touches... is the inclusion of recipes from some of Chicago's most respected chefs." - Eater

From the Back Cover

Savor the Flavors of Chicago

From ethnic enclaves to haute haunts to seasonally minded delicacies, Chicago is a food city to behold. In Food Lovers’ Guide to Chicago, seasoned food writer Jennifer Olvera shares the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate the Windy City’s culinary treasures. A bounty of mouthwatering delights awaits you in this engagingly written guide.

With delectable recipes from the renowned kitchens of the city’s iconic eateries, diners, and elegant dining rooms, Food Lovers’ Guide to Chicago is the ultimate resource for food lovers to use and savor.

Inside You'll Find:

Favorite restaurants and landmark eateries • Specialty food stores and markets • Farmers’ markets and farm stands • Food festivals and culinary events • One-of-a-kind restaurants and landmark eateries • Recipes from top Chicago chefs • The city’s best wine bars and brewpubs, plus area wineries • Cooking classes and wine courses • Local food lore and kitchen wisdom

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Globe Pequot; First edition (June 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762770155
• ISBN-13: 978-0762770151
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jennifer Olvera--a graduate of DePaul University--has been covering Chicago food and dining for internationally recognized print publications and websites for over a decade. A contributor to the Zagat Chicago Restaurants Survey, she regularly pens stories (and tests recipes) for the Food section of Chicago Sun-Times and writes about far-flung destinations--often with an eye toward edibles--for Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Orbitz.com and Frommers.com. In the past, Jennifer also served as a dining critic for Chicago magazine. Food Lovers' Guide to Chicago is her first book, and she's hard at work on her second, a visitors' guide for London-based Insight Select. When she's not searching out great eats, you'll find Jennifer tending to her garden, canning and cooking up a storm.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So much more than the traditional guide book! July 11, 2011

By Tiki

Format:Paperback

This book is a great guide for anything related to food in the Chicago area (and not just the city). I love the inclusion of local farmer's markets, food related festivals (yes, Taste of Chicago is in here, but there's so much more!), shops, cooking classes, recipes from some of Chicago's top chef's, etc. in addition to the extensive list of bars & restaurants that you'll find in many other guide books. Delicious food is such a huge part of Chicago, & it's nice to see a book that does justice to the wide variety of food related activities in the area!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource August 7, 2011

By MJS

Format:Paperback

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in food in and around the Chicago area. It provides a unique perspective and has information on subjects that most similar guides would gloss over, if not omit entirely.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great quick guide to the Chicago food scene July 22, 2011

By Robyn

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I lived in Chicago for several years, so I recognize many of the places described in the book, and the pithy descriptions capture the essence of each spot at a quick glance. For those places I don't recognize, Olvera's accounts given enough flavor for each place so you know what to expect, whether it's dress up, or down home. I love the different indexes that allow you to browse by cuisine or the restaurant's name, and the additional listings for cooking schools, specialty stores, markets and food festivals. But the best surprise? The recipes at the back from some of the city's great chefs. Gougeres from Bin 36? I'll take a dozen or two.